CDZ How the internet is destroying us

[Luddly Neddite]

How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity

The internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems. It gives power to the people.

It’s a platform for equality that allows everyone an equal share in life’s riches. For the first time in history, anyone can produce, say or buy anything.

But today, as the internet heads towards putting more than half the world’s population online, all this promise has evaporated.

The dream has become a nightmare, in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries.

In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes.

Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment. Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy.

Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us.

You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality.

Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain.

And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule.

An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women.

For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing.

The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk.

Read more: The internet would transform society and a new book says it has in a way that diminishes humanity Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Read the rest at the link.

So, what do you think?

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Part of what I get from this article is that its the bullies who are victimizing those who are the least able to fight back.

 

[RKMBrown]

How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity

The internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems. It gives power to the people.

It’s a platform for equality that allows everyone an equal share in life’s riches. For the first time in history, anyone can produce, say or buy anything.

But today, as the internet heads towards putting more than half the world’s population online, all this promise has evaporated.

The dream has become a nightmare, in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries.

In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes.

Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment. Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy.

Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us.

You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality.

Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain.

And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule.

An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women.

For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing.

The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk.

Read more: The internet would transform society and a new book says it has in a way that diminishes humanity Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Read the rest at the link.

So, what do you think?

Just a really long winded straw-man.

Right from the start "the internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems." No one has ever said that the internet is the answer to all our problems.

Platform for equality? lol... yeah clearly it's a liberal article, so reader beware, most of this article is gonna be made up feel good phraseology.

"...all this promise has evaporated..." what promise? Your strawman?

"The dream has become a nightmare..." nonsense, well certainly this article is a nightmare.

"... in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries." ROFL victims? ROFL.... beneficiaries? ROFL

"In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes." No, socialism is doing that, not the internet. "Fairness"... always with the fairness with these liberals.

"Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment." ROFL yeah the internet causes unemployment... ROFL

"Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy." Wait, google is the only search? Amazon is the only online retailer? ROFL ROFL ROFL... this guys is a whoot.

"Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us." If it's such a secret, HOW DOES THE AUTHOR KNOW ABOUT IT?

"You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality." These TVs are not THE INTERNET. The TVs are TVs, what did you think SMART TV WITH A VIDEO CAMERA MEANS? What did you think the TV meant when it asked you IF IT WAS OK TO SEND INFORMATION GATHERED BY THE TV TO THE MANUFACTURER? Turn the smart features off if you don't want em. DUH!

"Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain." Evil companies wanting to make profits!!! This must be stopped immediately!!!

"And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule." HUH? More democracy is less mob rule? I think the author is confusing democracy with political parties.

"An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women." HUH? WTH? where when?

"For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." HUH war on women again? Is this guy a democrat? What a BS lie.

"Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing." HUH?

"The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." COMPLETE UTTER NONSENSE!!!

"Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk." Now the author is blaming the internet for parents not "parenting?"

 

[Luddly Neddite]

How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity

The internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems. It gives power to the people.

It’s a platform for equality that allows everyone an equal share in life’s riches. For the first time in history, anyone can produce, say or buy anything.

But today, as the internet heads towards putting more than half the world’s population online, all this promise has evaporated.

The dream has become a nightmare, in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries.

In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes.

Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment. Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy.

Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us.

You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality.

Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain.

And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule.

An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women.

For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing.

The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk.

Read more: The internet would transform society and a new book says it has in a way that diminishes humanity Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Read the rest at the link.

So, what do you think?

Just a really long winded straw-man.

Right from the start "the internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems." No one has ever said that the internet is the answer to all our problems.

Platform for equality? lol... yeah clearly it's a liberal article, so reader beware, most of this article is gonna be made up feel good phraseology.

"...all this promise has evaporated..." what promise? Your strawman?

"The dream has become a nightmare..." nonsense, well certainly this article is a nightmare.

"... in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries." ROFL victims? ROFL.... beneficiaries? ROFL

"In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes." No, socialism is doing that, not the internet. "Fairness"... always with the fairness with these liberals.

"Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment." ROFL yeah the internet causes unemployment... ROFL

"Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy." Wait, google is the only search? Amazon is the only online retailer? ROFL ROFL ROFL... this guys is a whoot.

"Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us." If it's such a secret, HOW DOES THE AUTHOR KNOW ABOUT IT?

"You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality." These TVs are not THE INTERNET. The TVs are TVs, what did you think SMART TV WITH A VIDEO CAMERA MEANS? What did you think the TV meant when it asked you IF IT WAS OK TO SEND INFORMATION GATHERED BY THE TV TO THE MANUFACTURER? Turn the smart features off if you don't want em. DUH!

"Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain." Evil companies wanting to make profits!!! This must be stopped immediately!!!

"And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule." HUH? More democracy is less mob rule? I think the author is confusing democracy with political parties.

"An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women." HUH? WTH? where when?

"For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." HUH war on women again? Is this guy a democrat? What a BS lie.

"Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing." HUH?

"The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." COMPLETE UTTER NONSENSE!!!

"Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk." Now the author is blaming the internet for parents not "parenting?"

Okay, so you've "LOL'd" and "ROTF'd" but you haven't shown any evidence that what he says is not true. Nor have you made a case for it being a left-leaning pov.

In point of fact, cyber-bullying is very real and affects a lot of people. I suppose we could say that we should not punish that crime but you might not feel that way if it were your daughter.

How do we make the internet work for us instead of against us? How do we protect our children and others?

 

[beagle9]

Just your typical lefty liberal loon chicken little the sky is falling nonsense. ......

I think there is truth and context to a lot of these things being analyzed and spoken about, but just as you all are doing, it is good to place it all in context or separate it out the bad from the good.

 

[hortysir]

My main beef with the Interwebz is that it's too much information.
Anybody and everybody can put anything out there and it's taken as fact.
We see it here all the time.....

There's a sign in front of a business near my house that says:
Respect you parents.
They passed without Google.

 

[Sunni Man]

Why do I get the suspicious feeling Luddly's OP is leading up to how Obama's new "Net Neutrality" plan is going to cure all of these alleged social problems caused by the internet? ......

 

[beagle9]

How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity

The internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems. It gives power to the people.

It’s a platform for equality that allows everyone an equal share in life’s riches. For the first time in history, anyone can produce, say or buy anything.

But today, as the internet heads towards putting more than half the world’s population online, all this promise has evaporated.

The dream has become a nightmare, in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries.

In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes.

Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment. Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy.

Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us.

You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality.

Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain.

And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule.

An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women.

For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing.

The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk.

Read more: The internet would transform society and a new book says it has in a way that diminishes humanity Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Read the rest at the link.

So, what do you think?

Just a really long winded straw-man.

Right from the start "the internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems." No one has ever said that the internet is the answer to all our problems.

Platform for equality? lol... yeah clearly it's a liberal article, so reader beware, most of this article is gonna be made up feel good phraseology.

"...all this promise has evaporated..." what promise? Your strawman?

"The dream has become a nightmare..." nonsense, well certainly this article is a nightmare.

"... in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries." ROFL victims? ROFL.... beneficiaries? ROFL

"In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes." No, socialism is doing that, not the internet. "Fairness"... always with the fairness with these liberals.

"Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment." ROFL yeah the internet causes unemployment... ROFL

"Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy." Wait, google is the only search? Amazon is the only online retailer? ROFL ROFL ROFL... this guys is a whoot.

"Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us." If it's such a secret, HOW DOES THE AUTHOR KNOW ABOUT IT?

"You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality." These TVs are not THE INTERNET. The TVs are TVs, what did you think SMART TV WITH A VIDEO CAMERA MEANS? What did you think the TV meant when it asked you IF IT WAS OK TO SEND INFORMATION GATHERED BY THE TV TO THE MANUFACTURER? Turn the smart features off if you don't want em. DUH!

"Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain." Evil companies wanting to make profits!!! This must be stopped immediately!!!

"And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule." HUH? More democracy is less mob rule? I think the author is confusing democracy with political parties.

"An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women." HUH? WTH? where when?

"For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." HUH war on women again? Is this guy a democrat? What a BS lie.

"Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing." HUH?

"The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." COMPLETE UTTER NONSENSE!!!

"Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk." Now the author is blaming the internet for parents not "parenting?"

Okay, so you've "LOL'd" and "ROTF'd" but you haven't shown any evidence that what he says is not true. Nor have you made a case for it being a left-leaning pov.

In point of fact, cyber-bullying is very real and affects a lot of people. I suppose we could say that we should not punish that crime but you might not feel that way if it were your daughter.

How do we make the internet work for us instead of against us? How do we protect our children and others?

Just bring back or create privacy laws and/or enforce them again, but as long as there are powerful interest against this (Google and such), then it will be an up hill fight all the way to gain back peoples right to their privacy. Just look at the Android or other phones, and look at all the questions it asked of us when using these phones. If a person isn't educated properly or is lacking in some sort of ways, they may have everything about themselves placed out there in the internet land, and all under the guise of corporations seeking to market to them. The bad who are among us is exploiting this technology like nobodies business these days, and just look at all the tragic stories we have seen and heard across this land so far, and how they have been tied to this internet, and the usage of it by people who ended up getting bush whacked in life by it.

The real crazy thing is that we are supposed to be smart ones in life right, but for some reason we can't control something in a good way like the internet, and these so called devices or smart phones that are tied to it all these days ?

 

[beagle9]

Why do I get the suspicious feeling Luddly's OP is leading up to how Obama's new "Net Neutrality" plan is going to cure all of these alleged social problems caused by the internet? ......

My exact thoughts, so you are not alone on that one because he is OBAMA obsessed.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

My main beef with the Interwebz is that it's too much information.
Anybody and everybody can put anything out there and it's taken as fact.
We see it here all the time.....

There's a sign in front of a business near my house that says:
Respect you parents.
They passed without Google.

I would bet that more than 99% of what is on line is opinion, rather than fact.

 

[beagle9]

Obama is not the one to cure anything, because in a lot of ways he has been a part of the problems in which we are experiencing today, and not a helper and cure for the problems in which we are experiencing today.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity

The internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems. It gives power to the people.

It’s a platform for equality that allows everyone an equal share in life’s riches. For the first time in history, anyone can produce, say or buy anything.

But today, as the internet heads towards putting more than half the world’s population online, all this promise has evaporated.

The dream has become a nightmare, in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries.

In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes.

Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment. Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy.

Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us.

You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality.

Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain.

And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule.

An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women.

For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing.

The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk.

Read more: The internet would transform society and a new book says it has in a way that diminishes humanity Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Read the rest at the link.

So, what do you think?

Just a really long winded straw-man.

Right from the start "the internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems." No one has ever said that the internet is the answer to all our problems.

Platform for equality? lol... yeah clearly it's a liberal article, so reader beware, most of this article is gonna be made up feel good phraseology.

"...all this promise has evaporated..." what promise? Your strawman?

"The dream has become a nightmare..." nonsense, well certainly this article is a nightmare.

"... in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries." ROFL victims? ROFL.... beneficiaries? ROFL

"In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes." No, socialism is doing that, not the internet. "Fairness"... always with the fairness with these liberals.

"Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment." ROFL yeah the internet causes unemployment... ROFL

"Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy." Wait, google is the only search? Amazon is the only online retailer? ROFL ROFL ROFL... this guys is a whoot.

"Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us." If it's such a secret, HOW DOES THE AUTHOR KNOW ABOUT IT?

"You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality." These TVs are not THE INTERNET. The TVs are TVs, what did you think SMART TV WITH A VIDEO CAMERA MEANS? What did you think the TV meant when it asked you IF IT WAS OK TO SEND INFORMATION GATHERED BY THE TV TO THE MANUFACTURER? Turn the smart features off if you don't want em. DUH!

"Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain." Evil companies wanting to make profits!!! This must be stopped immediately!!!

"And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule." HUH? More democracy is less mob rule? I think the author is confusing democracy with political parties.

"An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women." HUH? WTH? where when?

"For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." HUH war on women again? Is this guy a democrat? What a BS lie.

"Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing." HUH?

"The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." COMPLETE UTTER NONSENSE!!!

"Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk." Now the author is blaming the internet for parents not "parenting?"

Okay, so you've "LOL'd" and "ROTF'd" but you haven't shown any evidence that what he says is not true. Nor have you made a case for it being a left-leaning pov.

In point of fact, cyber-bullying is very real and affects a lot of people. I suppose we could say that we should not punish that crime but you might not feel that way if it were your daughter.

How do we make the internet work for us instead of against us? How do we protect our children and others?

Just bring back or create privacy laws and/or enforce them again, but as long as there are powerful interest against this (Google and such), then it will be an up hill fight all the way to gain back peoples right to their privacy. Just look at the Android or other phones, and look at all the questions it asked of us when using these phones. If a person isn't educated properly or is lacking in some sort of ways, they may have everything about themselves placed out there in the internet land, and all under the guise of corporations seeking to market to them. The bad who are among us is exploiting this technology like nobodies business these days, and just look at all the tragic stories we have seen and heard across this land so far, and how they have been tied to this internet, and the usage of it by people who ended up getting bush whacked in life by it.

The real crazy thing is that we are supposed to be smart ones in life right, but for some reason we can't control something in a good way like the internet, and these so called devices or smart phones that are tied to it all these days ?

"... as long as there are powerful interest against this (Google and such), then it will be an up hill fight ..."

I really had not thought about net neutrality when I read this but you're right that those with money will eventually control what we see.

Honestly, I don't know how we can stop that from happening.

 

[beagle9]

My main beef with the Interwebz is that it's too much information.
Anybody and everybody can put anything out there and it's taken as fact.
We see it here all the time.....

There's a sign in front of a business near my house that says:
Respect you parents.
They passed without Google.

I would bet that more than 99% of what is on line is opinion, rather than fact.

That's a very high number, and I guess you could rate it site by site somehow, but for an overall, I very much doubt it..

 

[beagle9]

How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity

The internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems. It gives power to the people.

It’s a platform for equality that allows everyone an equal share in life’s riches. For the first time in history, anyone can produce, say or buy anything.

But today, as the internet heads towards putting more than half the world’s population online, all this promise has evaporated.

The dream has become a nightmare, in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries.

In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes.

Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment. Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy.

Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us.

You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality.

Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain.

And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule.

An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women.

For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing.

The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk.

Read more: The internet would transform society and a new book says it has in a way that diminishes humanity Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Read the rest at the link.

So, what do you think?

Just a really long winded straw-man.

Right from the start "the internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems." No one has ever said that the internet is the answer to all our problems.

Platform for equality? lol... yeah clearly it's a liberal article, so reader beware, most of this article is gonna be made up feel good phraseology.

"...all this promise has evaporated..." what promise? Your strawman?

"The dream has become a nightmare..." nonsense, well certainly this article is a nightmare.

"... in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries." ROFL victims? ROFL.... beneficiaries? ROFL

"In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes." No, socialism is doing that, not the internet. "Fairness"... always with the fairness with these liberals.

"Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment." ROFL yeah the internet causes unemployment... ROFL

"Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy." Wait, google is the only search? Amazon is the only online retailer? ROFL ROFL ROFL... this guys is a whoot.

"Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us." If it's such a secret, HOW DOES THE AUTHOR KNOW ABOUT IT?

"You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality." These TVs are not THE INTERNET. The TVs are TVs, what did you think SMART TV WITH A VIDEO CAMERA MEANS? What did you think the TV meant when it asked you IF IT WAS OK TO SEND INFORMATION GATHERED BY THE TV TO THE MANUFACTURER? Turn the smart features off if you don't want em. DUH!

"Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain." Evil companies wanting to make profits!!! This must be stopped immediately!!!

"And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule." HUH? More democracy is less mob rule? I think the author is confusing democracy with political parties.

"An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women." HUH? WTH? where when?

"For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." HUH war on women again? Is this guy a democrat? What a BS lie.

"Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing." HUH?

"The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." COMPLETE UTTER NONSENSE!!!

"Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk." Now the author is blaming the internet for parents not "parenting?"

Okay, so you've "LOL'd" and "ROTF'd" but you haven't shown any evidence that what he says is not true. Nor have you made a case for it being a left-leaning pov.

In point of fact, cyber-bullying is very real and affects a lot of people. I suppose we could say that we should not punish that crime but you might not feel that way if it were your daughter.

How do we make the internet work for us instead of against us? How do we protect our children and others?

Just bring back or create privacy laws and/or enforce them again, but as long as there are powerful interest against this (Google and such), then it will be an up hill fight all the way to gain back peoples right to their privacy. Just look at the Android or other phones, and look at all the questions it asked of us when using these phones. If a person isn't educated properly or is lacking in some sort of ways, they may have everything about themselves placed out there in the internet land, and all under the guise of corporations seeking to market to them. The bad who are among us is exploiting this technology like nobodies business these days, and just look at all the tragic stories we have seen and heard across this land so far, and how they have been tied to this internet, and the usage of it by people who ended up getting bush whacked in life by it.

The real crazy thing is that we are supposed to be smart ones in life right, but for some reason we can't control something in a good way like the internet, and these so called devices or smart phones that are tied to it all these days ?

"... as long as there are powerful interest against this (Google and such), then it will be an up hill fight ..."

I really had not thought about net neutrality when I read this but you're right that those with money will eventually control what we see.

Honestly, I don't know how we can stop that from happening.

Thanks for the clarification, and it starts with everyone winning and wanting their privacy back. The only way to get the message across is to boycott those who are behind the problems. Without our dollars they are NOTHING!

 

[Disir]

And rock and roll destroyed the world.
And video games destroyed the world.
And cell phones destroyed the world.

But you know what the article didn't say?
It didn't say the PR firms are destroying the world.
It didn't mention "information warehouses" of the 1990s. It didn't mention the card/clubs that are used for immediate discounts in places like Walgreens and Speedways where you earn discounts so they can sell your information. It didn't mention that your state DMV is selling your information.

It didn't mention the world of murderporn
South Park Episode was Right About Informative Murder Porn

ZOMG Amazon.......can sell me books that I can't get locally. Evil bastards.

And somehow women are unwelcome on line was woven into the picture. I would wager the vast majority of women on the internet are going to get hit with a bullshit combination of rape/murder/stalking/threats at some point. Your blog, twitter account, chat room or even posting on a forum is going to get nailed. That occurred before the Democrats even bothered with the War on Women. It definitely occurred before Amanda Hess started writing for Slate.

Fuck back. I was online before the great big powerful online was online. I'm not going anywhere. Unless people bore the living bejeezes out of me.

 

[beagle9]

And rock and roll destroyed the world.
And video games destroyed the world.
And cell phones destroyed the world.

But you know what the article didn't say?
It didn't say the PR firms are destroying the world.
It didn't mention "information warehouses" of the 1990s. It didn't mention the card/clubs that are used for immediate discounts in places like Walgreens and Speedways where you earn discounts so they can sell your information. It didn't mention that your state DMV is selling your information.

It didn't mention the world of murderporn
South Park Episode was Right About Informative Murder Porn

ZOMG Amazon.......can sell me books that I can't get locally. Evil bastards.

And somehow women are unwelcome on line was woven into the picture. I would wager the vast majority of women on the internet are going to get hit with a bullshit combination of rape/murder/stalking/threats at some point. Your blog, twitter account, chat room or even posting on a forum is going to get nailed. That occurred before the Democrats even bothered with the War on Women. It definitely occurred before Amanda Hess started writing for Slate.

Fuck back. I was online before the great big powerful online was online. I'm not going anywhere. Unless people bore the living bejeezes out of me.

It has been a progressive thing, and so all you've listed are a part of it all for sure, but it may be reaching a point of no return soon, otherwise because of the greed being driven in this, and also because of the people who want to hold millions of people hostage by their own information being gained, hacked or otherwise. I think it is finally getting out of hand for the nation out there these days, but the government trying to punish the good along with the bad is always the wrong way to go in America, because it steels our freedom as good people from us, and that is unacceptable by many peoples standards.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

And rock and roll destroyed the world.
And video games destroyed the world.
And cell phones destroyed the world.

But you know what the article didn't say?
It didn't say the PR firms are destroying the world.
It didn't mention "information warehouses" of the 1990s. It didn't mention the card/clubs that are used for immediate discounts in places like Walgreens and Speedways where you earn discounts so they can sell your information. It didn't mention that your state DMV is selling your information.

It didn't mention the world of murderporn
South Park Episode was Right About Informative Murder Porn

ZOMG Amazon.......can sell me books that I can't get locally. Evil bastards.

And somehow women are unwelcome on line was woven into the picture. I would wager the vast majority of women on the internet are going to get hit with a bullshit combination of rape/murder/stalking/threats at some point. Your blog, twitter account, chat room or even posting on a forum is going to get nailed. That occurred before the Democrats even bothered with the War on Women. It definitely occurred before Amanda Hess started writing for Slate.

Fuck back. I was online before the great big powerful online was online. I'm not going anywhere. Unless people bore the living bejeezes out of me.

It has been a progressive thing, and so all you've listed are a part of it all for sure, but it may be reaching a point of no return soon, otherwise because of the greed being driven in this, and also because of the people who want to hold millions of people hostage by their own information being gained, hacked or otherwise. I think it is finally getting out of hand for the nation out there these days, but the government trying to punish the good along with the bad is always the wrong way to go in America, because it steels our freedom as good people from us, and that is unacceptable by many peoples standards.

"It has been a progressive thing ..."

Please stop trying to make this about left and right. Both sides are equally to blame and saying that its only one side or the other makes meaningful dialog impossible.

 

[hortysir]

My main beef with the Interwebz is that it's too much information.
Anybody and everybody can put anything out there and it's taken as fact.
We see it here all the time.....

There's a sign in front of a business near my house that says:
Respect you parents.
They passed without Google.

I would bet that more than 99% of what is on line is opinion, rather than fact.

That's why, in any "debate" around here, we can always find any quote, graph or chart to support our side of the case.

 

[Disir]

And rock and roll destroyed the world.
And video games destroyed the world.
And cell phones destroyed the world.

But you know what the article didn't say?
It didn't say the PR firms are destroying the world.
It didn't mention "information warehouses" of the 1990s. It didn't mention the card/clubs that are used for immediate discounts in places like Walgreens and Speedways where you earn discounts so they can sell your information. It didn't mention that your state DMV is selling your information.

It didn't mention the world of murderporn
South Park Episode was Right About Informative Murder Porn

ZOMG Amazon.......can sell me books that I can't get locally. Evil bastards.

And somehow women are unwelcome on line was woven into the picture. I would wager the vast majority of women on the internet are going to get hit with a bullshit combination of rape/murder/stalking/threats at some point. Your blog, twitter account, chat room or even posting on a forum is going to get nailed. That occurred before the Democrats even bothered with the War on Women. It definitely occurred before Amanda Hess started writing for Slate.

Fuck back. I was online before the great big powerful online was online. I'm not going anywhere. Unless people bore the living bejeezes out of me.

It has been a progressive thing, and so all you've listed are a part of it all for sure, but it may be reaching a point of no return soon, otherwise because of the greed being driven in this, and also because of the people who want to hold millions of people hostage by their own information being gained, hacked or otherwise. I think it is finally getting out of hand for the nation out there these days, but the government trying to punish the good along with the bad is always the wrong way to go in America, because it steels our freedom as good people from us, and that is unacceptable by many peoples standards.

We hit the point of no return when the Patriot Act was signed into law in 2001. But, let's not get all Bush-weepy.
Biden introduced an earlier version back in 1995.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d104:s.00390:

Republicans and Democrats both utilize data mining.
Not Just the NSA Politicians Are Data Mining the American Electorate The Nation

And yet, I can find no reason to trust a corporation either. Not one single reason. They take the information and sell it to the government.

It's beyond too much. It's become pivotal that it is addressed at all levels whenever we encounter it but you may be right. It may already be too late.

 

[RKMBrown]

How the internet is destroying us: Its pioneers hoped the web would transform society. Now a devastating new book says it has - in a way that diminishes humanity

The internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems. It gives power to the people.

It’s a platform for equality that allows everyone an equal share in life’s riches. For the first time in history, anyone can produce, say or buy anything.

But today, as the internet heads towards putting more than half the world’s population online, all this promise has evaporated.

The dream has become a nightmare, in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries.

In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes.

Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment. Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy.

Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us.

You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality.

Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain.

And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule.

An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women.

For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing.

The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online.

Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk.

Read more: The internet would transform society and a new book says it has in a way that diminishes humanity Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Read the rest at the link.

So, what do you think?

Just a really long winded straw-man.

Right from the start "the internet, its many evangelists tell us, is the answer to all our problems." No one has ever said that the internet is the answer to all our problems.

Platform for equality? lol... yeah clearly it's a liberal article, so reader beware, most of this article is gonna be made up feel good phraseology.

"...all this promise has evaporated..." what promise? Your strawman?

"The dream has become a nightmare..." nonsense, well certainly this article is a nightmare.

"... in which I fear we billions of network users are victims, not beneficiaries." ROFL victims? ROFL.... beneficiaries? ROFL

"In our super-connected 21st-century world, rather than promoting economic fairness, the net is a central reason for the growing gulf between rich and poor and the hollowing out of the middle classes." No, socialism is doing that, not the internet. "Fairness"... always with the fairness with these liberals.

"Rather than generating more jobs, it is - as I will explain - a cause of unemployment." ROFL yeah the internet causes unemployment... ROFL

"Rather than creating more competition, it has created immensely powerful new monopolists such as Google and Amazon in a winner-takes-all economy." Wait, google is the only search? Amazon is the only online retailer? ROFL ROFL ROFL... this guys is a whoot.

"Its cultural ramifications are equally chilling. Rather than creating transparency and openness, it secretly gathers information and keeps a watch on each and every one of us." If it's such a secret, HOW DOES THE AUTHOR KNOW ABOUT IT?

"You need only have read the stories this month about how smart TVs can spy on us in our living rooms to realise that Orwell’s vision in Nineteen Eighty-Four, of a Big Brother society, is becoming a reality." These TVs are not THE INTERNET. The TVs are TVs, what did you think SMART TV WITH A VIDEO CAMERA MEANS? What did you think the TV meant when it asked you IF IT WAS OK TO SEND INFORMATION GATHERED BY THE TV TO THE MANUFACTURER? Turn the smart features off if you don't want em. DUH!

"Because such TVs are connected to the internet, they can watch us and listen to us, then beam that information around the world for companies to use for commercial gain." Evil companies wanting to make profits!!! This must be stopped immediately!!!

"And thanks to the explosion in social media, rather than creating more democracy, the internet is empowering mob rule." HUH? More democracy is less mob rule? I think the author is confusing democracy with political parties.

"An increasingly common kind of online attack involves the threat of rape against women." HUH? WTH? where when?

"For, rather than encouraging tolerance, the internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." HUH war on women again? Is this guy a democrat? What a BS lie.

"Amanda Hess, for example, a feminist writer and journalist in the U.S., has received threats ‘to rape you and remove your head’ from men who have disagreed with her writing." HUH?

"The internet has unleashed such a distasteful war on women that many no longer feel welcome online." COMPLETE UTTER NONSENSE!!!

"Pornography is so ubiquitous on the internet, and controls denying access so inadequate, that many parents rightly feel their children are at serious risk." Now the author is blaming the internet for parents not "parenting?"

Okay, so you've "LOL'd" and "ROTF'd" but you haven't shown any evidence that what he says is not true. Nor have you made a case for it being a left-leaning pov.

In point of fact, cyber-bullying is very real and affects a lot of people. I suppose we could say that we should not punish that crime but you might not feel that way if it were your daughter.

How do we make the internet work for us instead of against us? How do we protect our children and others?

You know what I tell people that don't like watching movies with cursing and nudity? I tell them to stop watching them. If you can't control yourself... fine. But don't blame me for your problems.