The Internet: A Neutral Tool of Globalization.

North America Group.
Week 1: “The internet generation: A new global society.”

The Internet: A Neutral Tool of Globalization.

The internet has changed the world. We now live in a society with a wealth of information at our fingertips, everything just a Google search away. Send an e-mail and it can reach a person on the other side of the world in seconds. It’s remarkable really, and it makes my brain hurt when I attempt to understand its inner workings. I love technology. I don’t know what I would do without my cell phone, my laptop, etc. I love having information so readily available, so easily accessible. I love being able to send a text or Facebook message or e-mail whenever I want. The internet has opened doors for us and has given us valuable opportunities.

But with everything good, there’s always the bad too. The internet can be abused, and it is abused all the time. I’ve heard people say that the internet is evil, but I would have to disagree. The internet is merely a tool, and a tool itself is neutral, neither good nor bad. How the tool is used is what can be good or bad, and even that can be a bit subjective.

A lot of the adults I know criticize the internet and technology because they say it is making relationships less personal by replacing face-to-face communication. I won’t deny that to a point they are right. Lots of people nowadays would rather send a text or an e-mail instead of rather than make a phone call. My grandfather once told me about a time when he was trying to get in contact with a young man he was working with. He tried calling him on the phone, but he wouldn’t answer, so my grandfather left a voicemail for him. The young man never responded to the voicemail, so my grandfather called him again. Still, the young man did not answer, so my grandfather decided to text him. Within seconds after sending the text, the young man had replied. It’s stories like that one (and there are plenty more like it) that make me shake my head and say, “No wonder so many older adults I know have so much against the internet and technology.”

But I love technology, and since I’m specifically supposed to be talking about the internet here, I love the internet! Personally, it has allowed me to branch out and grow as a person in ways that I couldn’t have done without it. Research, support groups, spreading the word about a cause, and making new friendships are all positive ways in which I have utilized the internet, and I must say, the friendships I have made through it aren’t impersonal at all. I can talk to people anywhere. I can talk to people on the other side of the world! And I don’t have to wait a month to receive a letter from them in order to do so (although some reply to e-mails so slowly that it might as well be snail mail). This ability is invaluable. It can be used for so many good things, but… the internet is neutral. It can be used for both the good and the bad in order to both better our world and make it worse, and this is controlled by the people who use it. Our world is changing in so many different ways because of the internet, but it’s up to the people who use it to determine in what manner this new globalization effects it.

By Shadow, United States of America
20 years old