George Orwell’s 1984 and the Internet

In the United States of America, over 85 percent of people use the internet more than once in a single day (Internet Society). Why is it that this sensation called the internet is becoming such a phenomenon? Simply because all the services that the internet has to offer, but how could this fantastic internet be composed of only positive services? Here’s what is kept in the dark. The internet, also known as cyberspace or interweb, has an impeccable memory. With this said, this means that the internet stores every piece of information ever logged in the depths of the web. The web catches everything that comes in contact with it like a spider’s web, hence the name web. At first thought, this may not seem bad, but this information is permanent and powerful. In George Orwell’s novel, 1984, he clearly portrays a negative reputation to this supreme power. Even in the Orwellian society, the documentation of information is highly maintained: "It was another copy of the photograph . . . which he had chanced upon eleven years ago and promptly destroyed" (Orwell 246-247). When someone deletes an email or document, does it truly go away? The fact that the document or email can be restored must bring some uncertainty into play. Companies, thieves, even the government is taking advantage of this concrete memory of the internet. Because of society's increasing dependency on technology, the internet contains more information that allows the invasion of individuals' privacy to occur, leading the U.S. government closer to an Orwellian society and resulting in higher crime rates and the restriction of freedom.
The internet is a useful tool for gathering information and aids in sending messages; however, people’s reliance on the internet causes indi...

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