Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet

One thing I see as an advantage of the Internet is having quick and easy access to information. If you need to know something you can just look it up on the Internet rather than going through books to find it. Especially if it’s just a simple question, like what year a band formed, you can Google it instead of going out and finding a book for only one simple question. Basically anything you want or need to know can be found on the Internet.

Another advantage of the Internet is that it’s an easy way to keep in touch with family and friends. A lot of people have family members or friends who they don’t get to see often. The Internet helps people keep in touch through different forms of social media or Email. More and more people are joining Facebook, adults included, providing a way to communicate not only by messaging but also posting pictures to keep people updated.

The Internet is also a good way to keep up with current news. News channels like CBS, ABC, and CNN all have their own website with videos and articles about current news. If you miss the news on television, you can just go on the Internet to see what you missed. The Huffington Post and Buzzfeed are also good sites that keep people updated on world news, with several new articles posted every day. You can even download news station apps on your cell phone, along with Huffington Post and Buzzfeed apps.      

A disadvantage of the Internet would be that it has a lot of misleading of false information. Not all Internet sources are credible, accurate, and reliable. Anyone can make a website on the Internet and put false information on it. If you’re not careful about where you search for things, you could wind up with the wrong information. This is especially dangerous for students trying to write papers and study for tests. Finding false information can affect their grade as well as their own intelligence; believing the false information they found is actually true. If people always believe that what they see and read on the Internet is true it can lead to a generation of people who don’t search to find accurate information.

Another disadvantage of the Internet is not remembering information. Knowing that certain information is readily available on the Internet means that most people will be less likely to actually remember the information. This in turn can cause people to be less intelligent and rely on the Internet to tell them everything they need to know. People get lazy when they know they can use the Internet for almost every question they have. In July 2011, New York Times Magazine talked about a study done by Betsy Sparrow to find out whether or not people are likely to remember information they knew they could access on the Internet. The participants of the study looked up certain facts on the Internet and were later asked to recall the facts. The results showed that the participants didn’t make an effort to remember the information because they knew they could look it up again.

The Internet also makes certain people more socially withdrawn. A lot of kids and teenagers sit at home on their computers when they’re not at school either playing games or going on social media sites. People talk over the computer rather than calling each other on the phone or seeing each other face to face. Since many cell phones now provide Internet access, people play on their phones all day. You can go to a restaurant and observe an entire table on their phones instead of having conversation.