Shouldn’t We Blame Ourselves Instead

Today, the most powerful media is probably the Internet. It gives us - the information receivers, a lot of advantages that the traditional media cannot provide. Before, media only allowed the audience passively received whatever it delivered. It is a one-way communication. For instance, you can only choose whether listen or not listen t

While most Internet users speak positive about it, Clifford Stoll provides opposing view in his easy Isolated by the Internet (p. 648). As a U.C. Berkeley astronomer, an Internet pioneer, and a regular commentator on computer-related issues, he argues that the Internet brought up serious negative long-term social effects. Based on several academic studies, the author concludes that the Internet reduces physical human touches, increases stress and loneliness, and takes out our individual lives. First, since the Internet is an individual activity, it takes our attentions away from our family, friends, or any other human beings (p. 649). The results of reducing social involvement are stress, loneliness, and depression. Second, the Internet users spend too much time in virtual reality; their basic communication skills in “real reality” become weaker (p. 651). People don’t know how to talk to each other, how to read facial or gesture expressions from others, and how to express their own feelings. The ordinary social situations become awkward to them. Finally, the Internet invades our personal lives because of its convenience (p. 653). People work at home more and more, and homework is not just for students anymore.

On the other hand, several E-articles, based on similar psychological surveys, provide different points of views. Allan R. Andrews, the executive news editor of Pacific of Stars & Stripes, the newspaper serving U.S. military personnel. His website is one of the best journalism-related resources (http://www.toad.net/~andrews/contentsf.html). In Blaming the Internet for Bad Days, he claims that the internet is not an anti-social instrument, and none of those psychological studi

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