The Internet: The Positive And Negative Impacts Of The Internet

The year was 2001 and my family got its first home computer and the internet. I was 7 years old and I remember being excited and curious about this mystery known as the World Wide Web. Now I’m 21 years old and have had my fair share of internet access that has been both positive and negative in my life, as research shows is the case for the majority of Americans. It is not possible to paint the internet in simply a negative or positive way as it can easily be viewed in both. The internet is filled with endless possibilities, and as a form of Mass Media it is in a class entirely its own. For me personally I can think of numerous ways it has positively impacted my life. I grew up in a small town in Northern New York, in the Tug Hill Region, and it’s safe to say that my area is quite lacking in diversity. Through my access to the internet, and use of it for numerous school projects I was able to explore the diversity and culture the world as to offer, even though I lacked the ability to travel outside of my small rural town. Access to information about cultures and places other than where you grew up is crucial. An article that speaks to the importance of global awareness in students states “Global awareness and international collaboration

With all the benefits it does clearly provide it’s become easy for us to overlook the negative impacts that it can and is having on us. Obviously the internet isn’t going anywhere and will only continue to grow as a medium. Therefore the best thing to do is utilize it and gain the positive impacts and do what we can to search out the negative impacts, then do what we can to reduce or remove them. In all sincerity it comes down to each individual user, there will always be studies to highlight both negative and positive aspects. We as the users must be careful and mindful to reap the benefits while trying not to allow the internet to have a negative impact on our