Is the Internet Good for Us?
“Closeness Is Not Related to Distance” is an advertising slogan, seen at the Blackberry Store at the Hartsfield International Airport. From a subjective viewpoint, has the Internet and other technologies added to our sense of connectedness and well being in our families and communities? The Internet was lauded as the technology that was going to connect the world together with the ability to communicate and work with people of like minds who may live around the corner or across the world. When it appears on the surface people are communicating more frequently with their intimate circles and others of like mind, what is the quality of those relationships?
We access the Internet in many ways; mainly through computers and our phones. “Residential broadband subscriptions among American households overall grew sevenfold between 2001 and 2009. It found that the percentage of households that connect to the Internet using broadband grew to 63.5 percent in 2009 from 9.2 percent in 2001, reflecting increases across nearly all demographics. The report -- prepared by the Commerce Department 's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Economics and Statistics Administration -- is based on a Census survey of about 54,000 households conducted in October 2009.” (Tessler, 2010)
Currently, the Internet is the primary source of information. People use the Internet to find movies, weather, traffic information, and for the news, just to name a few usages of the Internet. And that could be considered for all media platforms. Students use the Internet as their primary research instrument. The Internet is the source for current news information for a large number of people. News on browsers consist of teaser sentences and if people are interested, they can click to find out more. The PEJ’s 2010 State of the News Report looked at the habits of six out of 10 Americans who say they get at least some of their news online during a typical day.
We access the Internet in many ways; mainly through computers and our phones. “Residential broadband subscriptions among American households overall grew sevenfold between 2001 and 2009. It found that the percentage of households that connect to the Internet using broadband grew to 63.5 percent in 2009 from 9.2 percent in 2001, reflecting increases across nearly all demographics. The report -- prepared by the Commerce Department 's National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Economics and Statistics Administration -- is based on a Census survey of about 54,000 households conducted in October 2009.” (Tessler, 2010)
Currently, the Internet is the primary source of information. People use the Internet to find movies, weather, traffic information, and for the news, just to name a few usages of the Internet. And that could be considered for all media platforms. Students use the Internet as their primary research instrument. The Internet is the source for current news information for a large number of people. News on browsers consist of teaser sentences and if people are interested, they can click to find out more. The PEJ’s 2010 State of the News Report looked at the habits of six out of 10 Americans who say they get at least some of their news online during a typical day.