The Good:
The Internet has become a bottomless pool of information, as well as a modem
for human connection. While it can also breed alienation, it is also a way for
others to feel more comfortable communicating with people that they otherwise
wouldn’t. It is a way for people to cross oceans without leaving their own
living rooms, and therefore find people that share the same favorite color, the
same connection to their family, perhaps they share the same heartache. Sarah
and Paige’s story was made possible because
of the Internet. Because communication media such as Skype exist, two girls
who understand each other’s pain and daily struggles more than anyone else
they’d ever met were able to find each other, bond with each other, teach each
other, become sisters with one another, all from hundreds of miles away. Their
story is one that is possible for so many that feel ostracized, that are
otherwise unable to communicate their feelings, or find people to connect with
that understand them. Social connection and mass collaboration in order to
establish genuine connections with others, I believe is an example of the world
of “good” that the Internet is capable of.
The Bad:
With such vast accessibility, the Internet is virtually modifiable by any human
source. This is a great way to share and expand upon ideas, but with so many
people posting so many things on the Internet, we face the problem of
inaccuracy and misinformation. This article, the story of a naïve eighth grader
misinformed by a hate site, (unbenounced to him) of a false history of Martin
Luther King’s life and accomplishments. His paper, by correlation slandered the
very name of one of our nation’s finest heroes. Hate sites in general, are an
aspect of the truly ugly side of the web. However, with the ability to make
your web page seem legitimate, we are at risk of dangerously misinforming our
youth. Counterfeit websites and fictitious sites put us all at the risk of
ignorance, and it is up to us to think critically about what is legitimate and
what is a sham.
The Ugly:
The Internet allows for complete anonymity, a way to hide behind a computer
screen and a false identity without facing consequence for anything said or
done to others in this virtual world. This world unfortunately is one that we
have become more and more present in. It’s a permanent world that we can’t
escape. The story of Rebecca to me truly exhibits the negative effects of
online bullying and the toll it can take on so many of us. For someone so young
to have taken her own life due to the cruelty of two others so young really
exhibits to me that those two girls did not realize the volume of what they
were doing because they did not have to see her face. It is so easy to type
such hateful things without actually having to say them out loud, watching that
girl cry, and feeling the tinge of guilt. The Internet makes bullying more of a
game. It is easier to convince yourself that the feelings of the person on the
other side of that screen do not exist, because you can’t see them.
