The Internet Does More Harm Than Good

Student Name Course Instructor Date The Internet Does More Harm Than Good The internet is a brain child of the vast technological developments and advancements that have taken place over the years with studies indicating that it took full effect from the early 1990s and its usage has exploded in the early twenty first century. The internet is a global network of computers that has revolutionalised the communication and sharing of data in seconds. However, utilization of the internet has caused negative effects which make it more harmful. Internet addiction and mismanagement of information sources are just two examples of its negative effects. The essay will examine the argument that the internet is more harmful to the society than its good by analyzing some of its negative effects in the modern world. The internet has enabled free flow of information to the point that nothing is really private anymore and at the click of a button, people are able to obtain information that others consider private. Through social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter individuals have been sharing private information in form of pictures and text messages with details like their phone numbers, social security numbers and date of birth. Such information in the wrong hands can be very detrimental and reports attribute the rising cases of identity theft to the uncontrolled sharing of private information over the internet and social media platforms. There have also been incidences of public figures and celebrities being manipulated by malicious people who found their private details online. Innocuous applications such as Facebook have been identified to be collecting a wealth of data that ranges from an individual’s gender, their physical address, one’s religion and political affiliation, relationship status, an individual’s physical appearance, information of ones friends and family members and details on an individual’s hobbies and interests. Other online entities through the use of “cookies” have enabled the tracking of one’s movement over the internet and note aspects such as the sites ones frequents and what items one purchases online. Maras in is his article states “privacy is completely and utterly dead and we killed it” (Maras 102). He notes that most if not all the online platforms that people subscribe to have the “terms and conditions” that no one ever reads and that by continuing with the subscriptions individuals actually sign away their privacy at that point. The rising cases of cyber bullying are another negative impact of the internet. Cyber bullying otherwise known as cyber harassment refers to bullying over the internet using electronic means. It is characterized by posting of rumors, threats and private information on social media platforms and in plain sight of the rest of the world with the intention to harm and shame the victims. Cyber bullying entails harassing someone by continuously sending emails and text messages even after they had cut off communication with the sender and subjecting an individual to online ridicule by posting false information that would defame or get the public to dislike the individual. Celebrities and public figures like politicians are often the victims of cyber bullying as the perpetrators find it easier than physical bullying because there are no laws controlling it. Most of the teenage and student suicide cases that have been reported in the recent past have been attributed to cyber bullying because of their vulnerability and sensitiveness. Victims also tend to have low self-esteems and are often scared, angry or depressed. Reports indicate that: That the recent rise of smartphones and mobile applications have yielded a more accessible form of cyber bullying. It is expected that cyber bullying via these platforms will occur more often than through stationery internet platforms. In addition, the combination of cameras, internet access and the instant availability of these smart phone technologies yield specific types of bullying not found in other platforms (Tsatsou 78). Cyber bullying has been identified to take place majorly on social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter because of the large number of users with a large chunk being teenagers who spend most of their time in these sites. The internet has also killed creativity among teenagers and students. There are unlimited sources of information over the internet which can be easily accessed. As a result students don’t put in so much effort in their assignments because they are sure that they can get all the information regarding the task at hand and will probably end up completing it in a few minutes. Teachers and lecturers are experiencing increased cases of copy pasted assignments and plagiarism as a result of the information on the internet that many of their students rely on (Ko, Myung and Ahn 491). It is also quite common nowadays to find individual seeking answers on the internet regarding a medical condition he assumes he has based on the symptoms instead of visiting a health care facility for the full diagnosis. There are hardly any new ideas being developed nowadays with the majority coming up being just mere repetitions or slight improvements of the original ideas. Also there is an increased deterioration of interpersonal relationship from the overreliance on internet related applications. Most people nowadays prefer to communicate over internet applications such as Messenger, Viber, and Whatsapp as opposed to the traditional face to face communica...