Is the Internet Harmful?

Texts of General Interest (link)

Dr. James Manos (MD)

January 1, 2018

Is the internet harmful?

It is widely recognized that the advent of the internet has changed modern life in a way that may be considered detrimental to everyone, especially the young. Recently, there has been a great deal of controversy about surfing aimlessly on the internet due to the amount and the type of data that people can access.

Undeniably, the internet is not per se harmful, but the way we use it may have deleterious effects. Primarily, the internet is not personalized, meaning that the real identity of an individual is not confirmed. Thus, it may be fictitious. Indeed, myriads of fake profiles over the web make chatting with cyber friends unsafe, especially on social media.

There are many cases of minors who were lured by pedophiles or women who were sexually assaulted by an unknown person to whom they had been chatting online and whom they later met. These perverted people aim to snare innocent victims. An effortless way to find a fake profile is with a ''reverse image search'' of the profile's photos. In fact, every time I have tried this, I came across pictures that were tracked down on the internet that belonged to a different person, for instance, a celebrity. Noteworthy, we should all wonder if it is possible that most social media profiles have photos or avatars of young, good-looking people with flawless complexion, as if all people were that attractive in real life.

Secondly, regarding the information that travels almost at the rate of light speed through the internet, it should be argued that the quality and not the quantity matters. In other words, much of the available information is often false or at least unreliable. Recently, fake news has been a matter of discussion, and many question the credibility of the information uploaded from unconfirmed sources. Indeed, many sites even manipulate news for their propaganda as well as for libelous accusations.

Regarding news, we should only trust information from reliable sources such as international news agencies. However, many people are keen to accept any information they meet without confirming it from reliable sources. Consequently, this may enhance biases, stereotypes, and generalizations, as data is ingested unprocessed without being analyzed and criticized for its reliability. I have personally met myriads of prejudices and stereotypes on the web, more often on internet chats and comments, and I find it worrying these to be uttered not by trolls but by ordinary people and – more disappointingly – by the young.

To sum up, the menace of the internet has serious repercussions, especially for the young, if used unwisely. The data that people are bombarded with when they get online can be questioned about the reliability and credibility of the sources. Surfing aimlessly on the internet is not always safe, as many social media profiles are, in fact, fake. So, people may be lured by perverted people, including pedophiles, and this is more dangerous, especially for minors.

Thanks for reading!