The internet - good or bad?

[glitzyglamgirl]

Do you think the internet is a good or bad thing, or a balance of the two?

I personally love the internet, I have made some very good friends through the internet - including my best friend/soul sister, and my fiance. Ive learned so much about the world, its a wonderful way to stay in touch with my friends all over the country, and any thing I need to know is just a google away. I can check out new music/games/films without the old fashioned way of having to buy a magazine

Plus of course this great place, where I have learned so much about fertility and pregnancy - its invaluable.

But there are negatives, such as the increase in availabilty for peadophilia, porn, information on stuff such as how to make bombs, pro-anorexia sites, the list is endless.

I see the internet as a double edged sword - and like freespeech, you cant have one without the other.

I do feel that it needs to be monitored more closely and sites that are geared towards anything that is harmful or abusive shut down immediately, and everything we do on the internet already has the possiblity of being monitored and user "profiles" being created for certain types of users ie abusers, terroists etc - but this raises the question of wether or not we want to be monitored, or wether we should be allowed to keep it free.

Your thoughts?

 

[Baileysmummy]

I love the internet and would be lost without it, this place has been fab and your all like a family to me now..

i agree with things like certain websites like youtube needs to have more monitering, and the internet can be a powerful place for perverts etc, and kids who get trapped with them,

i love browsing internet its my next best hobbie

 

[leckershell]

I think in general it's as good as the people using it.

For the likes of people like us, if we created all the sites available, then fantastic. But there are nasty people around, and therefore nasty people want to create their nasty imprint on the world too. There are a lot of free basic web hosting packages around (thinking back to when I made a very basic free Tripod site when I was at school) so it can be very easy to make a basic website. With the world we are in now, things are very technology based and internet is the best, cheapest (sometimes), and most effective at reaching a large amount of people quickly.

I think there are a lot of very useful sites - this one has been better than the 3 attempts at antenatal classes I've been to - Wikipedia, bbc.co.uk, and thousands of other fun, friendly and/or informative sites. But people in the past have still occasionally spammed this site even, so an innocent person may have found this site on one of those short unfortunate occasions and thought this was a bad site? You never know! (thank god for the mods who are uber quick at deleting bad threads).

I think freedom of speech is a good thing - people should be able to have their say. But as in a pub, restaurant, on the bus or train etc.. 'overhearing' other people's 'freedom of speech' may offend you, so it depends what you choose to do with that information. You can choose to ignore it, or you can choose to do something about it, but at that moment in time you can't get away from it.

That's how I see the internet - it's one big conversation that we are all overhearing, and we just have to learn to ignore what the posh shiny girl on the back of the bus is saying, or join in with the poor homeless man on the row in front who shares our views. (everyone is different and appearances can be deceiving).



Sorry - that was a lot longer than I thought it would be

 

[Happybunny]

I personally LOVE the Internet and would find it difficult to get by without it. I use it for grocery shopping, buying books, clothes, music, gifts etc. I can check what time a film is on or book tickets for a gig or a show. I can keep in touch more easily with my friends and family who live far away. It helps with my job immensley...there are millions of lesson plans, ideas, activity sheets and forums wherein I can expand my knowledge and skills. It is great that teachers can share their interactive and printable resources, it saves time and leads to better teaching through sharing of good practice. This could not be done without the internet.
I read the daily news when it is convenient for me, I can research my holiday destinations and find out what other people think about hotels I am planning to stay at. I have avoided many a nightmare because of Tripadvisor.com!
It has only served to improve my life. I am not a geeky nerd who sits in front of a PC all day (well, sometimes )...I have a fun, active real life. The internet just helps me get the most out of my real life.

I saw Elton John ranted about the Internet on in The Sun today (I read it, yes, I am aware it is terrible, but it amuses me ) http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007350453,00.html
He says it is ruining the production of good music. Well, I don't know if anyone else agrees, but I personally think that music hasn't been so good for a good few years. Look at all the excellent bands that are writing at the moment, The Killers, Artic Monkeys, The Enemy, The Kaiser Cheifs, The Hoosiers, The Editors, (I could go on). I am genuinely very excited about music at the moment!! It seems as though Elton John is frightened that he is getting too old and his music becoming too boring.

Anyway...I had to rant about Elton as I thought it was slightly relevant
As a teacher I do worry about children and the Internet. It is a great tool, but open to abuse from unscrupulous people. I think there must be stricter policing by one regulating body (if that is possible on a World Wide scale). I also think the Government should make Internet Safety a compulsory part of the curriculum. Children should be taught explicity how to be web savvy and safe.

Nice topic btw GGG

 

[glitzyglamgirl]

I agree completley that internet safety should be taught at schools, a friend of my daughters is only 13 and has a bebo profile where she says she is 17 and likes sleeping with boys Shes asking for trouble in my opinion and im sure she has no idea what she is saying, but has copied another profile she thought was "cool" (yes I have alerted her mother to it)

The internet is only going to get bigger and bigger, and a more important tool for life as technology progresses, I think we owe it to ourselves and generations to follow to ensure it is a safe place for children while maintaning the freedom of information availabe - if such a balance is achievable.

 

[jenna]

i love it, course theres bad points, everything has bad points.

 

[Nicola]

I see it as a good thing for many reasons.
I see it as a bad thing for many reasons.

Basically I agree with you GGG with the reasoning behind the good/bad thing.

 

[Dinski]

I think the internet is fantastic, a perfect reflection of the world around us - both good and bad.

I think that things like pornography, paedophilia, bad news, violence has always been around, its just more visible with the internet and in some ways that's a good thing since society discusses these issues more and they're not brushed under the carpet.

What I love about the internet is that you can find anything you are looking for and anyone. You can find the most obscure hobbies to the most bizarre characters. If you want to join a group for one legged lesbians with cheescake obsesssion you can probably find it.

The world would be totally dull without the internet and I think anyone trying to moderate it has got the wrong idea of what it is meant to be. The last thing we need is more nannying and telling us what is good or bad for us, its up to us to decide as individuals. Personally I think it is a good medium, especially when it comes to politics and blogs since there are so many political websites and blogs that find out the truth (or at least their truth ), not what the papers or the BBC want you to believe and completely deconstruct propaganda. You can find pro and anti anything websites, but this protects our most important right - freedom of speech.

 

[Sammystar]

I agree it's a double edged sword. It's absolutely amazing the information we can now retrieve at the touch of a button.
I think it's amazing the power it has, and how it can be used for both good and bad.
I think it's almost impossible to regulate fully, it's just too big.

My OH is a self employed web designer and he's built many websites. You'd be surprsed at how many safetly measures there are and how easily they can be put in place. Unfortunately not many people have the knowledge so they can leave themselves exposed.

As I said on the Madeleine thread, I've been following that story and I've been enthralled at how the internet is mobilising such a huge pro and contra movement. It's certainly led to me and OH having some interesting discussions about the print we all leave behind on the web. He hates me posting picutres of our LO's anywhere, because once it's out there, anybody can access it if they want to. You can leave behind little snippets of information about yourself all over the place, and if somebody wanted to, they could piece it all together to get a really accurate picture about you and your personal life. My eyes have really been opened to this whilst reading all the amateur sleuthing which has been done in the Madeleine case. Photos of those involved, postings from them on various forums, their Freinds Reunited profiles etc are all being dug up and re-published in order to 'out' them and their personalities. It's quite scary but also fascinating.

On the other hand it can be such an amazing tool to bring people together and share information. I'm setting up a series of sites with my husband just now, and they are all about community and exchanging ideas and advice (inspired by forums like this one!) The sheer volume of people using the web each day its phenominal. I think if you can harness some of the energy and use it to get a positve message accross it's great. But of course, you can also harness the negative and that's unavoidable.

I think, like with anything, we just need to be aware of the dangers whilst enjoying what it has to offer.

Sorry that was a bit long too!

 

[Misslarue]

I LOVE the internet. For me it is one of mans greatest inventions.
Knowledge at your fingertips. I wished it had been around when I was at school as I am sure I would have done so much better! All the information has always been there, if you really wanted to make a bomb you could have before, it was just a lot harder to find out how.
As far as the peado argument, yes it has given them a new outlet but on the other hand its rounded them all up. Now when you hear of internet busts, it isn't just a couple of people being arrested but entire paedo rings.

I can't wait to show Dan how to use it. Luckily my OH is a computer programmer so he's going to write a program that record everything he does, because yes, unfortnately there is a bad side.

 

[Gem & Leland]

i wouldnt have meet my hubby without it

 

[Dee1985]

i love it, saves me going shopping i get to read reviews on products look for the cheapest bits
made alot of friends

this forum has channged me as a person i used to judge every one but coming on here i see how different so many people are and i love it really intrests me.
but forums are addictive
and some people can be nasty not here but other places i have been in the past
i dont spend alot of QT with oh anymore

 

[x-kirsty-x]

Im addicted to the internet, I use it for everything 8)