Is the internet good or evil?

[Lord Hayati]

With the age of the internet (and trolling), I think the internet has become a part of our lives.


but, are we using it mostly for good, or mostly for evil?

me, I say evil...

[Dju]

Everything has good and bad sides, I say internet has much more good ones than bad! Like art, we can share our pieces to everyone, learn from tutorials, watch funny videos, meet thousands of people...it's so fantastic! if it wasn't for internet, most of us wouldn't know almost anything!

Not to mention that thanks to the internet, we can donate to people and animals in need, or create campaigns for good causes!

I love the internet, you just have to know how to use it well! <3 It's like walking on the street, you can jump in front of a car if you want to or walk in that creepy alley full of thieves, but you can always stay on the sidewalk and watch your steps safely!

[Gelquie]

Internet has its own pros and cons. The cons are obvious if one only looks at the trolling and other issues of harassment. There are many obvious pros, however. There's a lot of information that can be found on the internet, which can help fuel the quest for knowledge. It's also proven very convenient, with emails and online reports, more often found in work but there nonetheless.

However, one also has to be careful about the information found online. There's plenty of things on the internet that are just plain incorrect. But at least one can cross-examine the information.

Overall, though, I don't really see things as "good" or "evil". But that's a debate for another time. The internet is neutral; it can be used for good or bad, depending on the people who use it. It just is, and one can use it as they wish, and ignore certain websites if they wish if they don't like it. It's pretty much just a tool. What's done with it is in the hands of the user.

What's it mostly being used for? Both good and bad things. I don't think there's any majority on either side.

[Deleted]

Neither. ^^; To make it a matter of good and evil would be oversimplifying it. The Internet, though a bastion of trolling and misinformation, is also an amazing innovation that adds so much to the world. It allows people from across the globe to communicate, so it's a lot easier to understand other cultures. The Internet removes a bubble surrounding people who otherwise wouldn't have a voice, either because of oppressive governments or social isolation.

It's not always pretty--and not always smart--but the Internet is nonetheless capable of amazing things.

[Deleted]

I think it depends on where you're surfing. The virtual world is just like the real world - there are people who do good and people who do bad. And in both worlds, there are those you can trust and those you can't. That's why many internet sites (especially those geared toward younger audiences, like Neopets) have a list of rules that if you don't follow, you get banned. In a way, they're like the "police force" of the web.

Of course, there are certain places in the internet that are very unsafe and there are about 0 - 5% of trustworthy people there, but if you think about it, it's the same thing as, say, a dark alley or a criminal gang hangout in the real world. There's also a very interesting parallel here - in the real world, unsafe places will most likely either ruin your life and end with you dead if you don't leave immediately, and some places on internet will crash the computer (which, in a way, is like murdering the virtual you since you're now locked out). Of course, the upside is that you CAN buy a new computer, but you can't buy a new life in the real world (of course, if you believe in reincarnation like I do than that thought is a bit questionable, but all personal/religious views aside, the point still stands).

So what I'm saying is that it's just like real life: the world (web) in itself is a force of good, but bad things happen.

[Kozma]

I'd like to add some opinions on here if I may (though be aware this may be a bit random):

Trolls are not the only problem one has to avoid on the Internet; users also have to avoid things such as sexual predators, malware, and identity theft while they are online. While the Internet is very beneficial, it is also very dangerous, even to those who know how to safeguard themselves against its most undesirable elements. About a month ago, a very nasty bit of malware found its way unto my mom's computer even though it had up-to-date antivirus software installed on it. No matter how hard you try to protect yourself from the worst things the Internet has to offer, those things will find a way to get to you.

Am I saying that the Internet is bad? No, it's not the Internet itself that's bad; the bad thing about the Internet is that there are bad people using it. It's like saying that cars are bad because they frequently kill people in accidents. While it is true that car accidents do kill a lot of people, it's not the cars themselves that are bad, it's the people driving them - the same is true of the Internet. You can't call a non-living object evil just because someone evil is using it.

Another point I'd like to bring up: even though the Internet is dangerous, there's really no point in trying to stay away from it. Many things in the world are dangerous: cars, electricity, chemical cleaners. We use these things because they are beneficial to our lives, just like the Internet. Could you imagine living a life avoiding everything that was dangerous? I don't think such a life is possible. The whole world is dangerous - there are so many evil things in the world there is no possible way to avoid it all.

I say, use the Internet wisely. Safeguard yourself against all the nasty things it tries to throw at you and use it for good. Anything can be used for evil, but anything can be used for good too.

[Deleted]

I don't believe anything in this world can be inherently good or evil. I believe it can exhibit traits that are both good and evil, and humans can act good or evil depending on how they choose to live their lives, but that doesn't make them the image of how they act, because those things can always change, and labeling a person or group of people as such basically puts them in a box and informs them that they can never ever no matter what change how they are acting.

So, no, the internet isn't good or evil. It's neither. But it can act as both.

[Sock]

For me, the internet is sort of like the world condensed. There are good things, bad things, dangerous things, and a lot of things that fall in the middle. I think to say that the internet is mostly evil or mostly good is vast over-generalisation. The internet is a tool that can be used for whatever you want. A lot of people use that for nefarious purposes, of course. But that doesn't mean the internet itself, as an idea, is bad.

For me personally, the internet has been a vastly good thing. I've met tons of people I love that I would never have otherwise, and it's given me an outlet both creatively and socially that I may not have had otherwise, considering I live in an extremely small town. I've also learned tons of things from the internet - if it weren't for the internet, I doubt I would be who I am today.

Yes, it's done bad things for me as well. I've had encounters with people whose intentions were less than savoury. But this can be said of real life, too, and if you lock yourself out from the internet just because of those people, you might as well stay in your house and never go outside.