Hazique Hibri Hairuddin

S10160009D

Hazique Hibri Hairuddin

S10160009D
T103
Written Communication

THE INTERNET BANE OR BOON?

The Oxford Dictionary of English defines the Internet as a global computer
network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting
of interconnected networks using standardised communication protocols (Internet).
In our rapidly modernising world today, the Internet has become an important tool
utilised by many people around the world. The Internet has undeniably brought many
benefits to our society, and made our lives a lot more convenient. Carr explained that
Internet grants us easy access to unprecedented amounts of information (Does the
Internet Make You Dumber), and also makes activities in our daily life more efficient.
However, these benefits come with negative consequences and effects that are
impossible for us to ignore. For instance, Carr also states that researching information
online has helped to cut down the hours that we used to need to spend in the library
(Is Google Making Us Stupid?), though he has acknowledged that people who do
online research tend to understand less compared to print research (Does the Internet
Make You Dumber?). Hence, this essay aims to establish that the Internet brings
about more harm than good to our society because threatens our personal privacy,
limits our intellectual capabilities, as well as our social capabilities.

Firstly, the Internet threatens our personal privacy in various different ways. With the
rise of social networking sites on the Internet, posting our personal information has

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become very natural. Although it may not be very apparent, publishing our
information online can be very dangerous. On the Internet, we believe that our social
media accounts are safe with passwords. However, hackers have found ways to gain
access to our information, and they are able to alter what we have originally posted.
Recently, a group of hackers, known as Anonymous, hacked Singapore websites and
defaced them in a bid to make a statement to the Singapore government (Tham).
Through this incident, we should consider the fact that if government protected
websites can be hacked by others then our personal accounts are definitely at risk. The
Internet has also become a platform used by many to take advantage and benefit off
the carelessness of others who post their personal information on the Internet. As the
Internet starts to gain more users over time, many websites are looking for ways to
benefit off this large number of consumers. Some websites have sold the personal
information of its users to other websites that make use of this information for
commercial and advertising purposes. Online shopping websites have become very
common in our society in this modern day era. Bargh and McKenna argue that we are
placing a lot of trust in these websites when we give them our bank account details or
credit card numbers to make purchases online, trusting that these websites will not
misuse our information in fraudulent ways (587). However, phishers have started
creating fake professional-looking profiles to gain the consumers trust and obtain
their personal information. Phishing is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of English as
the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies
in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and
credit card numbers, online (Phishing).Though not all websites are scams, it can be
very hard to distinguish the genuine ones from the fake ones. Through this
misplacement of trust, people are at risk of losing their money to these fraudsters and

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are putting their privacy in jeopardy. Furthermore, the incessant problem of cyber
bullying has been introduced via the Internet. Cyber bullying is a form of attack on
our privacy as people try to defame others. Bargh and McKenna also mention that,
We write frank and confidential messages to our close colleagues and friends and
trust that they wont circulate these messages to others (587). The Internet has made
it difficult for us to put our trust in others with our personal information that we
publish online as our privacy can be attacked by absolutely anyone online.

Beyond threatening our personal privacy, constant use of the Internet has
limited our intellectual capabilities. Carr suggests that the use of the Internet has
restricted our thinking capacity instead as we are easily distracted online and this
interrupts our thinking process (Does the Internet Make You Dumber?). Cohen
claims that with the knowledge that the Internet carries all the information we need,
we neglect using our own intellectual capabilities (14). Furthermore, we are becoming
over-reliant on search engines found online that we frequently use to provide us with
easily accessible answers and information, such as Google. Online databases like
Wikipedia have also encouraged the society to be unmotivated to make use of their
own memory. The extensive use of search engines and databases has altered the way
we store information in our minds (Cohen 14). Assistant professor of psychology at
Columbia, Dr Betsy Sparrow, argues that when we are asked a tough question, it has
become second nature for us to turn to the Internet for answers instead of actually
thinking (qtd. in Cohen 14). Cohen claims that with the Internet being readily
available to us, we no longer see the need to store information in our brains as we take
advantage of the Internet as a main external storage system (14). On top of that, using
the Internet as a means of education or getting information is not very efficient. As

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Carr mentioned, People who read text studded with links, the studies show,
comprehend less than those who read tradition linear text (Does the Internet Make
You Dumber?). As such, the Internet has restricted our intellectual capabilities as it
has changed the way our minds process for the worse.

Apart from just limiting our intellectual capabilities, the Internet has also
diminished our social capabilities. This is because computer-mediated communication
via the Internet restricts the full experience and effect of a real conversation unlike
conventional face-to-face communication that carries the personal tone of the sender
through important nonverbal qualities of communication (Bargh and McKenna 578).
We may feel uncomfortable or awkward speaking to others in real life as we are more
accustomed to having online conversations. With extended time being spent
socialising on the Internet rather than in real life, Dimaggio et al. states this has
caused declines in communication with family members, declines in social circles,
and increased loneliness and depression (315). Media found on the Internet can
affect what people, especially those who are less discerning such as children, think is
normal in our society (Dominick 30). The constant exposure to media that portrays
and promotes anti-social behaviour such as terrorism and violence, influences us in a
negative way, encouraging conduct that is not as socially regulated as normal (Bargh
and McKenna 578). Children may become desensitised to such portrayals with
repeated exposure to real-life violence, as well as from exposure to media violence
(Funk et al. 25). Funk et al. explains that when violence in real life or portrayals of
violence in media seems normal instead of uncommon to people, that is when
desensitisation has taken place (25). Some people may draw the idea that these
deleterious portrayals in the media are the norm in our society. This is an example of

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how exposure to Internet media may cause people to find it difficult to distinguish
right from wrong in our society and hence, have diminished social capabilities.

With these factors in mind, the Internet has definitely brought more harm than
good to our society as it jeopardises our personal privacy when we misplace our trust
in others online, limits our intellectual capabilities as we rely too heavily on artificial
intelligence in the form of the Internet, and diminishes our social capabilities with
extensive use of the Internet and exposure to its media. It is very much impossible to
ban or stop the use of the Internet in our world now as it still has its benefits in
different aspects of our lives. However, there is no doubt that we should be more wary
of the way we use the Internet, as well as the way the Internet has altered the way we
function today. As the world rapidly advances in terms of technology, we must be
prepared to face the consequences that the Internet brings to our own well being, and
not just look at how much it can benefit us. Quotting Geoff Mulgan, Chief Executive
of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts, As the Internet of
things advances, the very notion of a clear dividing line between reality and virtual
reality becomes blurred. This is when the world must start to feel worried about what
the Internet is doing to us.

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Works Cited

Bargh, John A., and Katelyn Y. A. Mckenna. "The Internet and Social Life. Annual
Review of Psychology 55.1 (2004): 573-90. Print.

Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company, 01 July 2008. Web. 1 Aug. 2014.
---. "Does the Internet Make You Dumber?" The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones &
Company, 5 June 2010. Web. 01 Aug. 2014.

Cohen, Patricia. "Internet Use Affects How We Remember." The New York Times. The
New York Times, 15 July 2011: A14. Print.

DiMaggio, Paul, Eszter Hargittai, John P. Robinson, and Russel Neuman. "Social
Implications of the Internet." Annual Review of Sociology (2001): 307-29. Print.

Dominick, Joseph R. "Functions of Mass Communication for Society." The Dynamics

of Mass Communication: Media In Transition. 11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill
Higher Education, 2011. 30. Print.

Funk, Jeanne B., Heidi Bechtoldt Baldacci, Tracie Pasold, and Jennifer Baumgardner.
"Violence Exposure in Real-life, Video Games, Television, Movies, and the Internet:
Is There Desensitization?" Journal of Adolescence 27.1 (2004): 23-35. Print.

"Internet." Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

---. Phishing. Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

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Tham, Irene. "Government Agencies on Alert after Hackers Threaten Attacks." The
Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings, 1 Nov. 2013. Web. 2 Aug. 2014