The Darker Side of the Information Sensation

It's a subject that's been bogging down my mind for the past few days. Back before I had the internet, I didn't really do much but play on the computer and read. As soon as I moved to France, discovered the so-called "wonders" of the Internet. Until recently I've been quite happy using it, but there have been a series of events that have left me incredibly disallusioned with the whole information sensation.

The main thing that worries me is the anonymity of people on the internet. It's no secret, I'm a total slave when it comes to social networking sites and forums such as Myspace. I always used to think that these sites were a great way of meeting new people, and a good way of furthering my social development. But, alas, for every one decent person on the internet, you're always bound to have two nutters in their place. The problem is that you can never be sure just who you are dealing with. You can't peer through the screen and see who they are, you simply have to put your trust in them. There are some very sick people on the Internet who try to take advantage of that naïvety. I remember a few months ago, on one of the forums I was on, a woman came on there and claimed her life was full of strife, and always had been. Among her endeavours, she claimed that within the last six or so months, she had:

• Been shot, and wrestled her assailant to the ground while a bullet was lodged in her
• Been diagnosed with cancer. She claimed it was uterian, however she knew nothing about the specific diagnosis, nor the treatment she would be recieving.
• Lost one of her nephews in Iraq, although various sources of all troops killed in Iraq yield no evidence that a Brian Weaver ever existed, let alone went to Iraq.
• Her daughter was dating an emotionally abusive brute. Take from this what you will

There were a few other things too. But that list should be enough to make anyone suspicious. When I found out she had been lying, that naïvety of mine suddenly turned into a suspicion for everyone I knew on the internet who I hadn't met in real life. As I said before, you can't be certain just who you're chatting to, unless you know who they are in real life.

This brings me to the actual subject of today's blog. People claim that the Internet has revolutionized our communication methods, a fact which cannot be disputed. Emails are recieved instantly, you can chat to people on the other side of the world; hence the reason people claim it's a wonderful way of expanding your social maturity. I disagree. I personally believe that chatting on the internet is hindering our social awareness and our common sense. The majority of the youth today spend towards 5 hours on the Internet per day chatting to people they may or may not know. They neglect their friends who they can see, hear and touch, and therefore become socially constricted from the rest of the world.

Take from this what you will. As I said before, there are decent people on the net but there are also some very sick people on the Internet.

~peace~