No wonder that the Internet has become a part and parcel of this generation’s life. Definitely, it has an influence on the way we think and deal with everyday life, family and friends. Of course, it had made our life easier; you can buy everything online without carrying the burden of going out at night or on snowy days. It also made it easier for people to communicate and to be noticed of their friends’ updates on the social outlets like Facebook and Twitter. However, the Internet has proven to be a double-edged weapon. It may have offered us an easy life, but surely it has destroyed some lives and BRAINS! Following is a list of 10 negative effects of the Internet.
10 Internet affects your social life
“I fear the day when technology will surpass human interaction” says Albert Einstein. Anyways, the day Albert Einstein feared has come and is keeping on imposing its influence on the elder and younger generations. The good old days when families used to gather in parks, theaters and restaurants; when we used to make friends with those whom we meet at clubs and parks. Unfortunately, those days have gone with the wind, leaving human beings incapable of face-to-face interactions. Of course, social media websites have given introverts and shy people a fertile space where they can communicate and make friends without burdens; where you can rewrite and edit messages before sending them. However, in real life, once you utter a word you cannot take it back. Anyways, such websites have attracted the public, introverts and social people to them and all human beings were turned into accounts and profiles on the screens.
9 Makes you influenced by stupid people
Social media sites are the space where those wanna-be-famous guys resort to. Apparently, you do not have to invent a flying car, discover an island, or liberate a country to strike the world or to be famous. The internet can make someone famous with uploading a tacky video, posting their controversial opinion, or making up a fake narrative where they are victims to arise empathy towards themselves. Despite the various narratives and scenarios, you definitely get affected while scrolling down your timeline and you cannot avoid seeing trivial posts or prevent your kids from seeing them, as well.
8 The Internet renders us unfocused
In his book How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember, Nicholas Carr attempts to find out the influence of the Internet on the amount and efficiency of concentration the human being has and the difference between those who spend a lot of time behind their computers and those who read and listen to the information. Carr says “People who read text studded with links, the studies show, comprehend less than those who read words printed on pages. People who watch busy multimedia presentations remember less than those who take in information in a more sedate and focused manner. People who are continually distracted by emails, updates and other messages understand less than those who are able to concentrate”. Hence, scientifically it has been proven that the Internet distracts us from real life and makes us soaked in the virtual one with no real intelligence or manner of thinking.
7 A waste of energy
Have you ever stalked your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend? I assume the answer is yes. Facebook’s search box is made to make us suffer; it is a means of torture. A Large proportion of Facebook users stalk their exes and get into the lives of the people whom they were connected with, either with tagged pictures, likes or mentions. Undoubtedly, you compare yourself to their assumed new lovers and you may review the footprints they left on their profiles.
6 Publicly posting about your private life
Sometimes you feel like you have an opinion and you have to let the world know that you exist, so you share your thoughts. However, it may backfire as your private life, feelings and opinions may be out there to the public. Imagine you have no secrets and people whom you are not even acquaintance with knows the details of your life you blog about. Chances are they gossip about your life and your latest news which leaves you under pressure.
5 Celebrities’ Instagrams and the feeling of insecurity
Browsing celebrities’ Instagram is life cutting your brain into slices and grilling those slices for hours. Viewing pictures of a celebrity on a private jet, holding a glass and look out the window, not paying attention to the person capturing their picture may leave you devastated that you are sitting in your bedroom with no plans or even private jet. Not to mention the filters and the Photoshop applications that render their skins and bodies on fleek, leaving us insecure because of our flaws. Of course, your mindset does not comprehend that having moments of sorrow is part of the human nature and even those celebs have their bad times.
4 Kids’ exposure to unsuitable material for their age
Undoubtedly, the Internet is not a safe space since there are millions of sites, picture and videos made and uploaded every day. You may think that your kid is playing an online game when a rated site pops up on the screen. Surely, nobody is capable of blocking every rated site. Even if blocking the sites is in handy, there are social media sites that contain such offending material. We all know that parents have to guide their kids and to teach them morals, but we also want to guarantee a safe space for our kids where they can have the moral they are taught uncorrupted and we wish they are subjected to a suitable environment for their age.
3 Insomnia
Some may think that insomnia is a natural thing and there is no clear cut reason for it, except for stress which is pretty natural. Anyways, researchers have proven that youngsters aged from 19 to 28 suffer from insomnia and lack of sleeping hours. What could be the reason behind the lack of sleep when you are young and are not burdened with responsibilities? “many people are struggling with an information overload caused by the blurring of boundaries between their work and home lives” according to The Telegraph. Actually, some youngsters have claimed that they spend up to 150 hours per week, in front of screens. Moreover, women are more likely to develop depression because of heavy use of the Internet than men, according to researchers from the University of Gothenburg.
2 Cyberbullying
Around 92 percent of children and teens in America login to their social media accounts on a daily basis, according to research by the Pew Research Center. Usually, the idea of creating profiles with many accomplishments and a good looking pictures haunts teenagers. Although they stay in their bedrooms with their family, holding their portable devices, they are not quite safe; they can get bullied on the Internet. You can educate your kids to keep their privacy, not to share any personal information and to keep their online circle of friends confined to their real friends and family members. However, surprisingly, it is not the answer; many youngsters are cyberbullied by their friends and family members. The real reason behind such a dire cause is that social media users can adopt a difficult attitude when they deal behind screens as it makes their harsh words seem natural to them.
1 Hard to tell truth from lies
Back in the good old days, we used to get our knowledge and information from TV and radio anchors on talk shows and news channels. Due to the fact that the information circulated are broadcasted on TV, it was rare to find so many rumors circulated because channels aim to be up to the spectators’ expectations and do not want to lose its integrity which is an important parcel of the media and journalism codes. However, nowadays small groups create pages and accounts on Facebook and Twitter, and they circulate rumors and lies just to get more likes, comments and shares.
Finally, on using the Internet, you have to bear in mind that you are putting your life on the edge, so you have to educate yourself and your kids that a limited use of the Internet is an imperative issue. The Internet saves you loads of time and effort, it has millions of books, researches and articles, it allows you to communicate with your longtime best friend who moved to another overseas country, and gives the opportunities of working from home. Honestly speaking, we owe the Internet a lot, but avoiding the excessive use of it is an issue that should be taught at schools.