The Internet

[Onyxaeon]

Today's menace, or tomorrow's miracle?

I need to see both sides of this argument, but for all honesty on the matter, I'm neutral. =/ This makes it difficult to take a side (I need to be for or against), and so I'm hoping you guys can point out issues I missed. Anything is helpful, I'd just like to see how everyone here takes it so maybe my brain can be like "Oh! I'll be for/against now!"

[Desert]

i'm neutral too, really. i see the pros and cons. i can point out the good and the bad and let you make the decision... though if i were you i'd just use those marvelous storytelling skills of yours and bullshit your way through it on just one perspective. XD or if you're hellbent on being neutral, then include both sides of the argument and say "it's neither good or bad in the big picture". that last one is what i'd do, actually.

anyway.
pros: instant access to needed information. instant communication.
cons: any idiot with an internet connection can post complete bullshit. another outlet for crap like identity theft.

in my objective opinion it's more of a bad thing than good, but since i happen to be addicted to it and i know that, i won't condemn my beloved intarwebz. XD

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[pandoraMisfit]

Pros:

- Makes research easy and fast
- Means you can keep in touch with long distance relatives without expensive phonecalls
- Internet shopping allows those who have very little free time to buy what they need without having to take a chunk out of their shedule
- Can create new interest and hobbies by way of internet games, forums, fanfictions, webcomics etc
- Internet banking makes managing finances so much easier


Cons:

- Can become addictive, many people spend too much time on the internet and dont interact with real people as much as they should
- You could be talking to anyone, and they aren't necessarily who they say they are - this can lead to abduction
- Has made access to disgusting/sensitive imagery far too easy (e.g. child porn, self mutilation, etc.)
- It is a lot easier to steal personal information via the internet
- Information can get disorted by user input, so slander, untruths, rumours and hate messages can spread pretty quickly


That's all I can think of right now, and as there's five each... it looks like i'm neutral. Although, I guess it could be said that I'm fairly positive as the internet has helped me a lot more than it has hindered me =]