What I Think The Internet/Technology Has Done To Society

[PrincessPie]

I as many others use the internet on a daily basis, but i do think its done a lot of harm in our social skills.

This is not to say i dislike the internet as i'd be lost without it and do a lot online, but these are some bad points i think.

-Its making us more lazy.

I believe its making us in some ways dumber, we use to have to remember information now if we forget some knowledge, all we need to do is go straight onto Google and we have found out the answer, i think our brains are used a lot less than they use to be and there for it has caused us to have more "lazy brains".

-Its making us Anti Social.

I'd be interested to know how anyone could argue that point, if technology didn't exist how often would you talk to your friends or see them? texting is simple and easy and i feel like so many people would rather have there face glued to there phones or laptop than talk to someone in person anymore.

-Its making people less empathetic.

I strongly believe the internet makes people care less for others, if you are friends with someone online and someone points out a problem they have with something you're doing that is upsetting them, you don't need to respond to it or deal with the situation, you can either not reply, go offline and go back to it when you feel like it, etc.. in real life most people wouldn't act like this they'd deal with the situation because the person is right there with them.

-Its creating a look at me society.

This one is mainly linked to social media, look how many people involve there life around showing there life of to others, being obsessed with how many likes they can get, posting pictures they think look good to draw and attract attention from others to feed there egos, the world has become obsessional about it and i can't see any positives with it.

-People are less in the real world.

You don't need to go outside your house if you don't want to, you can order anything you want online, clothes, food, games, you don't need to go outside your house for anything anymore really, point being that its creating the anti social to become even more anti social and making it possible for these people to just hide away from the world.

Do you Agree or Disagree with this?

What do you think?

I think the internet/technology had brought many positives but i can't help think its done a lot of harm as well.

[lumos]

I disagree with pretty much all points except for the last one.
The internet/technology is not some sort of entity that’s telling us what to do, or even forcing us to do things. Humans created both and as such, how we use them are entirely up to us. It’s our responsibility to be able to take a step back. We’re the ones shaping both the internet and technology, not the other way around. How we behave on the internet is entirely down to us.
We, as humans, need to take responsibility for our own actions. Nobody is being forced to post 10 selfies a day on instagram or facebook, that’s their own choice. And although there might be some societal pressures to have a certain amount of friends or to be active on a regular basis online, we as individuals still have the choice to not follow these ”rules” and to possibly surround ourselves with people who don’t buy into this social media hivemind.
For me personally, the internet is actually helping me be more social and to keep in touch with my friends. It would be so much harder to keep in touch without being able to text or call them. I agree that it can be taken to the extreme, but anyone with a little bit of self-awareness will still value face to face interactions more. I probably would have lost a few friends if it weren’t for us keeping in touch online.
I also don’t think it’s making people less empathetic. It’s true that it’s easy to ignore people, but anyone who has been bullied in real life knows that people are just as capable of flat out ignoring you face to face too. If anything, the internet is an excellent tool to use if you want to spread awareness about different kinds of societal issues. Many people would be so ignorant to these issues if it weren’t for the internet and its shareability.
As for laziness, again it all boils down to self-control. Nobody else is forcing you to binge-watch that series on Netflix when you should be doing your homework. If it wasn’t Netflix or the internet, it would be something else. As a kid I used to procrastinate by hanging out with my friends.
I agree with the last point though. The internet makes it so easy and convenient for you to make all your shopping online, so a good chunk of your day that would have been spent outside running errands, you can now spend more time at home.

[Wolframium]

Eeeeh, no. Just no. Here is why:
Internet is just a tool. Largest one build, sure, but nothing more. It doesn’t change us, just like with better detection methods of (exoplanets come to my mind), it only shows you, what’s already there.
If anything, this thing has helped me a lot, and still helping.
I don’t have any memory. How could I remember anything without tech? How the absence of it would make my life better? It wouldn’t.
And I am, on my own, anti-social. I guess. Again, this is my nature. And guess what, thanks to the internet, I am able to talk to people without talking to them.
People don’t really care about others. Sorry. And what you describing, is acting like coward. People do that to me a lot, I don’t do that.
I don’t want to go outside. I am lazy. Because my body doesn’t want me to waste energy. Because my body wants to survive. Simple as that.
Oh, boy, do I disagree. I don’t even know how to say how much I disagree. To me, all of this seems like someone/something crushed your ideals. And you starting to see people as what they are. Ain’t pretty, isn’t it? Well…welcome to reality, what you’re looking at is the human nature and the ONLY thing standing between it’s worse and civilization (thing you want, even you might say you don’t), is technology. Unlike anything, it gave us better lives in general.
And just btw…do you know, what nice (ironical, hypocritical, feel free to choose your poison)? You are bashing the internet on internet, using tech. I mean…you cannot go better than that.

[ImMackFreeze]

You use your memory and then it gets better, the internet is what is making it worse

[Wolframium]

@ImMackFreeze No. Again. Just wrong.
Peope don't get, that some people, like me, just have shitty memory thanks to their shitty DNA. And there is NOTHING, what we can do about it.
And just by the way, the ability to look up any information any time (basically) is good thing. Not bad. What the hell, people? Seriously.
If somoeone is sooo against tech, then turn down everything what tech gave you (that means EVERYTHING) and go nakeg to the woods. Try to survive. Good luck. Oh, do you want clothes? No. You don't get any, they are product of tech.
Oh, the stupidity. It's unfathomable and immense. I wish we could somehow turn it into power. Clean energy for everyone, nonstop.

[surferfelix]

I look at this issue quite a lot. I disagree on the empathetic one though. Empathy often comes forth out of personal experience, and being able to understand a situation. If you meet someone online, you can still be empathetic to them and understand them. Personally, I have met many friends online, and if anything comes forth I am happy to listen and would help if I can.

The thing is that in many cases you can't really help those people. They are often lightyears away and the risk and effort of helping such a person often outweighs the rewards.

I think the strongest points you make are that its making us anti social and lazy. The lazy aspect has been in development for years though, think about what industrialisation did to our society. We don't really respect the amount of effort, and work it takes to get food for example, and with the internet we also take all information for granted. It really prevents your brain from constantly putting forth a lot of effort, and it makes us dumb in the process. Getting rid of my smartphone two months ago forced me to remember all the streets in my city, and the addresses of my friends. When you want to call a number on someone elses phone you need to remember these by head, now its all digitally inside of your pocket. (I do have a smartphone now)

The antisocial, aspect is another that really worries me. Even I feel affected by this problem. Im going to refer to another poster on here who went to this pub and who saw this qt sitting behind the bar, and she was using her phone like she was trying to hide it (holding it firmly underneath the bar). Upon closer inspection he saw left and right swipes of various men on her screen. It got him thinking why she prefers the safe, no-risk interaction on her touch screen over real human contact.

I do think the antisocial problem is being recognised though, there are some clubs "like club "The School" (in Amsterdam, Netherlands) who put stickers on your phones camera when you enter to prevent you from taking videos and pictures all the time. (Not sure if its done for social reasons though). It is also very important for web/app designers to recognise how their services are affecting their users.

For your other points,
"look at me society"-is for insecure people. Im pretty sure this doesn't apply to everyone.
The other argument is something that we will probably see more of in the future :)

[Snurfl]

There is nothing wrong with having information freely available, and just because it is does not mean people use it all the time. And besides, it's only a benefit as it can help people make much more informed decisions on many things and help educate a lot of people.

The internet is far from anti-social. If anything, it's more social as you can talk to people all over the world. Just look at how popular MMO's are, those games are literally designed around being a social experience. Furthermore, being able to text people does not stop you from going out and seeing them, and sometimes you simply don't have the time or ability to go out, but you can still talk to them thank to the internet.

Having an option to block people does not make people less empathetic. If someone has a problem with me, ok, I don't care. It's text on a screen, it doesn't affect me, only snowflakes who are too easily upset get offended. If they do have a legitimate problem though, that's the same as someone doing it in real life, and it's easy to ignore people in real life too.

It doesn't create a "look at me" society, it just helps spread images and such. TV and magazines existed before the internet you know.

Being able to order stuff online is only a good thing. Some people may not be able to go outside in the first place, but it doesn't stop those who can. Plus it's super helpful if you just want a specific item (s) that you would otherwise struggle to find, if it is even if your country.

[Anonymous]

I completely disagree.
If it weren't for the internet, many of my friends would've committed suicide by now, because you just can't talk to some people about this if you know them irl.
The internet has saved lives, and opened new doorways for communication.
The lazy thing? Eh, I guess. But did you know many people said the same thing about CHESS in the past? Also, because of the internet IT IS SO EASY TO LEARN NEW THINGS! Wanna learn sign language? There are tons of videos online which are a LOT more helpful than a book.
Having trouble learning something very specific? Well you could search the library for hours. Or you can google it.
Antisocial? Thanks to the internet, I can talk to people when Im sick at home. I can talk to people on the other side of Earth. I think it has done the opposite and made us more social, just in a different form.
Look at me society? Step into a museum, and look at the century old paintings. A LOT of these are paintings of people who paid Artists to create. Museums are literally full old fashioned selfies. Tell me a "look at me" society wasn't here before the internet, thats ridiculous
For the empathetic thing, that is like 100% false.
Whenever Im upset, most people offline will tell me Im fine and to get over it. My friends and even strangers online will comfort me.
And lastly the real world thing... No. The internet shows us so many updates on the "real world"
You can google how other countries work. You can google and see the terrible conditions people are living under. You can see videos of poor homeless men and women and see how they are getting by. you can use the internet to see the ACTUAL TRUE real world, instead of thinking going to see your friends everyday and hanging out at the coffee shop is "the real world"

[Opinion Owner]

Oh I forgot to add.
Im not saying the internet is perfect, there are some downsides (such as cyberbullying and being able to stay anonymous), but I am saying overall the impact of the internet is very good

[ImMackFreeze]

Yes the internet is more good than bad, but cyberbullying is a joke.

Also, many don't use the internet to its full potential. The Deep Web also has evil things inside it, there are also hackers, thieves, stalkers online.

[Being_a_good_Indian]

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Both, although not equally. Overall, the internet is having an amazing effect on humanity worldwide. On the other hand, there are problems.

The internet is improving life by allowing people to get in touch across the world for cheap, to order products online and have them delivered straight to their house, and to access almost all of the human race's collected knowledge throughout history. That's not too shabby.

On the other hand, it isn't like the internet doesn't have its problems. People can go way overboard with social media fame, and cyberbullying can induce some to suicide.

But again, the internet has had extreme benefits for everyone around the world. Even with the downsides, it's an amazing invention.

[Political_dude]

I partially agree with you. Internet it a great tool depending on how you use it. While researching (working as an assistant) I realized that internet is full of knowledge. There are about 20 Million scientific papers available online with about a million books!!

But we need to keep in mind that internet 30% internet is porn. I think it gives us a good example of the internet is what you want from it.
The abuse of internet is a harmful thing and addiction of social media is even more harmful. Social Media: Destroying Social Lives Since 2004 ↗

[Pettifog]

Some of this is short sighted. WHetever problems come from the internet, I think it's offset by the gains. People now have a chance to break through corporate talking points and find real news and information. Of course the new challenges are in filtering out the propaganda adapting to this new media, but before there was no chance to fight it at all. Also, with the hopeful future of crypto-currency, there is a chance to break away from the corrupt global banksterism that dictates how the economy is run.

[WTFliberals]

I agree with this !
And there is a scientific study that suggests : when you train your mind into the same procedure over and over again, for example any info you take from the net.
It will makes you less focused on remembering that exact info after a while because your mind is so used to accept different information through "multitasking" !!! that's what we call it "short memory loss".

Another example is when you forget where your keys are only after 10 minutes of putting it somewhere else and so...
Our minds are not designed to accept information like this...

And with the other points you stated, I would say somehow we crossed the moral line with the modern technology.

[Acuxx_Reflux-arC]

You're right. It is dulling people's feelings, like the women that I was targeting at my MyTake I recently did. Social media has tricked them into believing what the masses say about an issue rather than admitting the thesis of what was said and how I made thorough points to back up what I said.

Instead of those women being motivated to change, they used me as being just a teenager to ignore the truth to it. They chose to remain stubborn than to even test out what I said for 15 straight days. They would be better off mentally and at more peace and pleasuring towards their sexual creator matching their sexual brain dealings.

If simple things like overcoming that pisses them off, the female sex is a lost cause. It's not my fault many women do not have the logical intelligence to match it.

[Lopezz1999]

That's why I'm not buying the iPhone X. Don't buy the iPhone X lol

[JimRSmith]

Excellent take - I entirely agree, and I think a lot of this is woefully under-researched.

There are times I'd actually love to turn the internet off for a week or so, and just see how people coped (or didn't).

[Pink1996]

This is really technologically deterministic. Don't place the blame on technology as if it controls us. Those kinds of thoughts are problematic and outdated. You should discuss technology with the social shaping approach.

[BrittBratt2416]

Well you are right... you made a legit case for that ajit guy to get rid of net neutrality, better hope he doesn't see this. Lol

[Omega_brie]

Ajit Pai - the hero we need, but the hero we don't deserve.

[kitty71]

I agree with all what this post says everything is TRUE also I will add it had made many people STUPID too. The exception is that used wisely the internet can teach good things but it is just few exceptions.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes i agree with you , people depend too much on the Internet
This was a awesome MyTake of yours and very well written
Thanks for sharing with us !!!

[Rick912]

It is a great tool but like many tools, it is misused and over used.

[PrincessPie]

yes it has many good points as well :)

[Rick912]

For sure...

[clampfan101]

Very true. Movies and games are effected by technology making the creators feel less need for creativity with the kind of special effects and graphics they’re able to use for amusement.

[gobsmacked3]

It means privacy no longer exists for we are constantly monitored and trekked. The worse aspect is we facilitate this.

Bit like canaries to the cat :)

[jacquesvol]

For me the internet is the biggest reading room and library I know.

[jacquesvol]

And the pub talk moved to the internet

[Kdude010]

Evolving and progressing into a more advanced society comes with risk. If people aren't willing to evolve and progress, they might as well stay in their cave and build fire with sticks.

[Lumberman53]

Yeah there is some good to it, but this is the bad side