Pros and Cons of
the Net
The
internet has been improving the lives of people, both at home and at work,
since its creation in the 1950’s. Even
though it has come a long way since then, the net still has quite a few kinks
to work out before it becomes as close to perfect as possible. Don’t get me wrong: I personally think that
the pros of the internet vastly outweigh the cons. Some of the cons include not knowing whether
the source of an internet article is legitimate; the possibility of identity
theft; and social isolation. However,
the benefits of the internet such as fast communication; entertainment; and
informational resources make a huge difference in the lives of people who use
the internet.
One
of the bad points of the internet is that people are not really sure about
whether or not the information that one may get from a website is
accurate. For example, in doing research
for this blog, I stumbled upon the website “Buzzle” which appears to be an
encyclopedia of news articles. However,
upon further analysis, I wondered who had actually written the article and/or
whether that author was an expert on the subject. Another negative aspect of the internet is
the possibility of identity theft. According
to that Buzzle website, using the internet for activities like banking, social
networking, or shopping may result in our personal information being vulnerable
to theft. Social isolation is another
major problem with not just the internet but with using computers in
general. It is so easy to get hooked on
surfing the web that one might lose interest in life outside the four walls surrounding
you and the computer.
While
I do admit that these negatives about the internet may seem intimidating, there
are plenty of advantages to using the internet instead of other forms of media. Faster communication is one of these
advantages. Thanks to programs such as
Skype, Twitter, and Facebook, people can have real-time conversations with
others on the other side of the planet.
This can be handy if you are working with someone else to produce a
YouTube video. Another positive aspect
of the net is entertainment. There are
literally trillions of videos, movies, TV shows, games and pictures on sites
like YouTube, Deviantart, Netflix and Hulu-plus. The internet is also home to a large amount
of informational resources. But, as I
mentioned before, one must be careful about the accuracy of the information and
the legitimacy of the source.
As
you can see, there are many negative and positive aspects to using the internet. The negatives are legitimacy of a source;
possibility of ID theft; and social isolation; on the other hand, the positives
are communication; entertainment; and an information library. I believe that as long as people are aware of
what the negatives are and take precautions to avoid them, they can get all the
benefits of the internet without worrying about any trouble.
Although identity theft is a risk that a person takes when making online purchases and banking, I think it is too easy to get caught up on identity theft as a tragedy that befalls only those who expose their information on the Internet. According to statistics posted via privacymatters.com, people have their identities stolen or unauthorized purchases made with their credit cards through plenty of other methods that have been used before the Internet, like through lost/stolen wallets and stolen mail. Other statistics provided on privacymatters.com validate a higher percentage of identity thieves who steal personal information the "traditional" way (68.2% of the time) as opposed to through the Internet (only 11.6% of the time).
ReplyDeleteI agree with "faster communication" being an advantage of the Internet. I still find myself in awe at times when I receive a message on Facebook messenger from someone across the world. I tend to get so caught up in the excitement of what I want to "say" at a certain moment, that I forget about accounting for time differences!
The Internet has become today's most powerful communication tool, and usbbgcommunications.com backs this up with the example you have about instant and far-reaching communication along with the impact it has had on the business world (and saving paper!).
Internet communication has become such a major part of most of our lives, that it becomes subconscious (like responding to an email from one's cell phone, or commenting on a person's Facebook post in which most are notified of immediately on their phones). Technology has evolved so quickly; it is sort of scary and exciting to see what the cyber-tech future holds!
privacymatters.com. "ID or Identity Theft Statistics- Are You At Risk?" Web. Feb 18 2014
usbbgcommunications.com. "Is the Internet the Most Powerful Tool?" 13 02 2013 Web. Feb 18 2014
You bring up good points in the advantages that I completely agree with. I love the aspect of being able to connect with people so quickly as well through social media sites such as twitter. The entertainment part is my favorite personally. I love being able to catch up on my favorite shows when its good for me. Also the information part is one of the greatest parts in my opinion. Any information I want is just seconds away. Although sometimes its hard to decipher whats true and whats not. We all know the negatives about the internet but its only going to get bigger and faster.
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