Is the internet ruining our lives?

[Tesserax]

I'm interested to see opinions. I have a very neutral view, but I will start off with a positive aspect:

The internet gives us the opportunity to conduct research with far more efficiency than books, in far fewer steps. Not to mention, it helps to keep us connected to friends even when we are apart. There are many aspects of the internet, many websites like youtube, that entertain and can often educate us as well. There are a great number of things that the internet has to offer, and we must keep these things in mind when looking towards the future.

[everlong]

The internet, like just about everything, has its ups and downs. The internet has allowed us to connect with so many people around the world, it's a huge step up in evolution. As long as you don't use it as a lifestyle, there's not much wrong with it.

[Yolodolo]

Yes I think the Internet is kinda ruining our lives even tho I love it :)

[Let Me Be a Pony]

The time when the internet was distributed between people, sounds like a better place to be in, when back in the days the internet was used for knowledge purposes only.
Now that it's filled with people who stay on it most for most of their spare time, it saddens me.

I'm okay with the people who use it to exchange knowledge with other people. Ain't quite fond with those who waste their time by watching videos 24/7.
The internet is turning out like the television.
The television was primary used to escape reality(were harsh days during WW1/WW2 when the televisions were massively produced), and over time it just started running the lives of people.

[Microcosm]

You pretty much have to use the internet in moderation if you want it to actually be helpful in your life. For instance, good use of the internet would be research on subjects that interest you. Bad use of the internet would be always playing video games that make you angry every time you play them. Things like this are unhealthy, yet addictive for people and some don't realize how harmful it can be to their character.

[Let Me Be a Pony]

You pretty much have to use the internet in moderation if you want it to actually be helpful in your life. For instance, good use of the internet would be research on subjects that interest you. Bad use of the internet would be always playing video games that make you angry every time you play them. Things like this are unhealthy, yet addictive for people and some don't realize how harmful it can be to their character.

Lol, video games are the pillar of "modern knowledge".
If you're too lazy to read, just play a damn video game and you'll surely be introduced to such swagger level knowledge.

Videos - when you watch them all day is one of those cases too, unless you're watching a documentary aimed video, still though, you tend to forget most of it if you're doing a marathon type thing.
Movies also.

It all depends on how you use them. Too much of something is always bad.

[Microcosm]

Lol, video games are the pillar of "modern knowledge".
If you're too lazy to read, just play a damn video game and you'll surely be introduced to such swagger level knowledge.

Videos - when you watch them all day is one of those cases too, unless you're watching a documentary aimed video, still though, you tend to forget most of it if you're doing a marathon type thing.
Movies also.

It all depends on how you use them. Too much of something is always bad.

The key is to pay attention when learning things. Like, you have to be aware of it the whole time. You can't just stare at a page and expect the words to talk to you :P

I'm not saying video games are bad, but they are in excess. It's really an addiction when you think about it. You don't want to be getting angry all the time because then it will become part of your personality and you'll start being angry at things that shouldn't make you angry.

It's just generally unhealthy.

[Let Me Be a Pony]

The key is to pay attention when learning things. Like, you have to be aware of it the whole time. You can't just stare at a page and expect the words to talk to you :P

I'm not saying video games are bad, but they are in excess. It's really an addiction when you think about it. You don't want to be getting angry all the time because then it will become part of your personality and you'll start being angry at things that shouldn't make you angry.

It's just generally unhealthy.

It requires focusing, that's for sure.
With time, it's harder to focus if you're doing the same thing over and over again.
Video games are good if you're wasting a short amount of time on them.
You can fuck up friendships when you get pissed, because of a game.

Same applies with the internet here. Yeah, you can gain friends from the internet, but you can also lose them of course, when you're spending too much time with them for example.
IRL friendships are better in my opinion, sadly though, I don't know how to communicate with people IRL, so I communicate with internet friends.
It ain't good to talk internet friends all the time, it gets tiring and the friendship itself can become rusty. It's the same as IRL.

[ptz7649]

It defiantly depends how much time you spend on it!
I would say if you use social media more than you see people then yes. People should be more social in real life. :yeah:
But it can be very helpful for research though and stuff you want to know. Forums are good for opinions of different people. But I'm not a fan of online games, I think they are a waste of time.

[planetzorb]

Honestly I think that the internet has become so integral in our lives that it's now seen as just another everyday tool. How we use it (or abuse it) is in our hands.

For example, a wheel is not an inherently dangerous object, but on a bike or a car it has the power to easily hurt people. That's sort of how I see the internet. It is not inherently evil, but there are people who will become addicted to it or use it as a platform to preach their own prejudiced opinions to the masses.

There is also the 'deep web' full of human trafficking and drug sales and all sorts of illegal activity. But, as the OP said, the internet does have the power to bring us closer. To connect people who would never have met~

I guess everyone experiences the internet differently, so it's hard to say for sure :)

[DoodleSnap]

To suggest that the internet is ruining our lives is silly, IMO. What it does do is reflect what goes on in society in a very quantifiable way. It is a medium, not an evil; the evil is the issues in society that are shown through the internet.

[Hudor]

The internet is a commodity and resource. Assigning blame to it is pointless. Rather it is the person itself who ruins his/her life. It is upto us to use the internet in a judicious manner. An excess of everything is bad and I think it is better to work on eradicating the cause of the problem rather than the manner in which it manifests.

[Capto]

Yeah, the internet is definitely ruining my life— it's leading me on the path to a history major.

[tonymontana99]

It has its pros and cons, but lately it's turning into pure degeneracy. Back when there was no internet, all the outcasts and crazy people were scattered throughout the globe, and never did have contact with each other apart from the ones who lived near one another. Nowadays, everyone and everything is connected. These people are starting to have a voice, and we, the 99% have to take up with their crap and change our ways and behavious just to appeal to a mentally ill part of the population. And God forbid if we aren't liberals! God forbid if we try to debate a liberal, it's pointless. They either throw racial slur at you or say you're "opressing" them. The internet also has corrupted our lives with media sensationalism, shallowness and stupidity, instead of actually educating us and being useful.

[Kahn]

The internet is a big proponent in both the degradation of modern social interaction and the erosion of national discussion in the United States, in my opinion. We've become a people satiated only by the most immediately emotionally gratifying behaviors, substances, and whims.

I do believe this hedonistic abuse can be changed. I do believe we are still understanding and discovering just what sort of capabilities we have with this awesome web of connectivity. But, for the moment, I am in line with the thinking that the internet is having a negative effect on the social interaction of the society at large. It's a wonderful tool for communicating, entertaining, and learning (be wary of echochambers), but too many people use it for satisfying the need for immediate emotional gratification in all sorts of fleeting and sometimes depraved ways.

[Babs]

Like anything, in excess the internet can be a bad thing. But it's also quite helpful. We have every piece of information we could possibly want at our fingertips, that's pretty damn amazing.

[Miserabilia]

Internet is the best thing that has ever happened to communication. Never in human history have ideas been able to spread so fast and efficiently. Is that a good thing? I don't know, it might be. It might also lead to dangerous ideas with a lot of following similiar to why people used to fear books with ideology.