I stumbled upon this question in a popular internet forum I forum I frequent. The thread seemed to attract a lot of attention very quickly. It was already on its 8th page, within just a few minutes of being posted, before I was able to read through it. And I was shocked by what I saw.

I had no idea how many people think the internet is bad for society. Surely, this forum’s participants are unlikely to constitute a representative collection of the American population, but regardless, the ratio was something like 10 to 1. Again, I was absolutely staggered.

I could not feel more differently about the internet. In fact, I think just about the only true harm the internet “causes” is increased fraud and identity theft by criminals. The other negatives the internet poses I believe to be minor and therefore negligible. On the other hand, the benefits of the internet are enormous and so far-reaching that they are boarding immeasurability. The internet allows for better commerce (Amazon, eBay), improved communication (email, IM), and the ability to expose the entire world to information and new ideas (Wikipedia, and blogs like this). To me, these benefits trump any and all negative aspects the internet brings to our lives.

What do you think?

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