10 Reasons why the Internet is Good (and Bad)

10. The internet broadens your mind, offering different perspectives and increasing tolerance.

-10. The internet narrows your focus, allowing you the opportunity to insulate yourself with those who agree with you.

9. The internet is a egalitarian, it gives a voice to the silent, the downtrodden, and the quietly insightful.

-9. The internet is unregulated, it gives a voice to the extremists, the petty, and the zealously hateful.

8. The internet opens channels of communication for those of us who, whether by virtue of location, time constraints, or social awkwardness, would not otherwise find them.

-8. The internet cloisters us in an autistic society, neglecting normal, human methods of interaction until they become shriveled from disuse.

7. The internet provides mass distribution of petitions, manifestos, research, opinions, facts, news stories, and information.

-7. The internet provides mass distribution of rumors, lies, hate speech, propaganda, and pornography.

6. The internet allows for the interactive consumption of previously passive forms of media, such as television and radio, giving the listener more choice and less advertising, more multi-tasking and more time to enjoy.

-6. The internet's encouragement of "info-snacking," taking in media in bite-sized (byte-sized?) chunks pushes us to ever shorter attention spans and an even more ADHD society.

5. Every minute spent on the internet is a minute not spent in front of the television, in a gang, on the streets, doing drugs, loitering, shoplifting, drinking, partying wildly, or burning books.

-5. Every minute spent on the internet is a minute not spent playing an instrument, doing homework, dancing, philosophizing, teaching, eating, or reading a book.

4. The internet is bringing political protest, voting, involvement in the democratic process, and news to an entirely new generation and in an entirely new way.

-4. The internet is substituting virtual involvement for community involvement, idle talking for action.

3. The internet is new, constantly evolving, increasingly credible, and gains more power every day.

-3. The internet is vast, almost unregulated, and gains more power every day.

2. The internet creates a place for all of us who don't exactly fit in where we are.

-2. The internet discourages us from assimilating normally into our situations and lives.

1. The internet is unstoppable.

-1. The internet is unstoppable.