Laziness VS. Empowerment

Is the Internet dumbing us down and making us lazier? Or is it empowering the masses by giving access to more information?

Is the Internet dumbing us down or is it empowering us? I believe this all relates to the dreaded answer of, "It depends." We are all different people with different likes and interests. Relating this to the Internet, we all use it for different purposes.

In some ways, yes, it is dumbing us down. One side is that the easy access is making us lazier and pulling us into a vortex of media. We are able to sign into Facebook and get the latest update on our friends and what they're up to in seconds. Oh, Stacey is eating a sandwich. Wow, I'm going to comment. "Revolutionary." Posted at 11:55pm. Wow, didn't even realize that it's almost midnight and I'm still on my phone, scrolling my life away. Haven't even started my homework yet. This is not an uncommon situation that could take place with the average person, typically teenagers. With the media all around us and its easy access, it is so easy to get engulfed into it. It has become a resource that we spend much too much time on. And what for? Have our lives really gotten to the point where we get validation from how many likes we get on a status or photo? In that way, I can easily see that the Internet has changed us. We get such a surreal experience from our phones, our technology. The Internet, specifically, has given us so many opportunities to live in a virtual world, so unreal from the one we actually do live in. I can agree that it is dumbing us down in some ways, with big companies constantly waving these advertisements in our faces, the ones that we get easily wrapped up into. In some ways, we have become so vulnerable to our Internet that it must be like taking candy from a baby.

However, as pessimistic as I can try to be to represent one side, I do believe that it is empowering. The Internet, as crazy or controlling as it can be, has made us a much more connected global society. For example, with the Paris bombing that took place a few months ago, the word was able to be spread globally in a few hours. #PrayForParis trended worldwide on popular networks like Twitter and for the next couple of weeks, it was everywhere online. More recently, with the performer Kesha, she has come out to address her contract and her boss, explaining how confined and restricted she has been. Suing him for harassment, (many different kinds of harassment, it seemed as if it was suing him for every sense of the word) but losing, her story and the verdict went viral online creating multiple petitions and the hashtag #FreeKesha, which have been circulating for days. These are obviously two out of the many, many different events that have been shared through the Internet, but these two are just examples of the ways that we have been able to get information across quickly. Whether it is producing awareness for something, or getting details spread about an important event, I believe that there are so many helpful ways that the Internet is used. Even 50 years ago, information would not be able to circulate this quickly and I think we have a huge advantage in this day and age. I think it definitely gives us a voice, and that is one of the most empowering things in the world.

It depends how you use it and for what purpose, but I ultimately believe that the advantages and abilities the Internet has given us is worth more than the downsides.  

Marija