Internet technology, for better or for worse?

When I was in high school, I mainly used the Internet for email and Instant Messenger. I occasionally went into chat rooms, but didn't ever really get into using the Internet as a social networking tool. I chatted and emailed with people I saw at school, but mainly viewed the Internet as tool with which I could do research and find information I needed for school projects and assignments.

When I went to Pearson College, an international school on Vancouver Island, I met people from all around the world. After graduation, it was hard to keep track of people and stay in touch until I started using Facebook. Once I got an account and found a huge majority of my former classmates using the same site, it was like a whole new world opened up to me! In that instance, internet technology definitely changed my life for the better, as it has enabled me to stay in contact with friends who are scattered around the globe.

I cannot think of any ways in which Internet technology has changed my life for the worse. I don't always enjoy its ubiquity and sometimes long for the days of snail mail, but in every instance I believe the positive aspects of the Internet outweigh its disadvantages. The only negative thing I can think to say about the Internet is that it enables socially undesirable activities and images such as child pornography to reach a wider audience. However, just because the medium (Internet) is being used for an undesirable end does not mean that the medium itself is at fault. The aspect of the Internet that makes it possible to distribute child pornography is the same aspect that makes it possible to distribute my favorite oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookie to all my friends. I think the Internet is a neutral technology, and each person has the power to choose whether it will make her life worse or better.