Speaking of the Internet...A Revolution?

[VintageJess]

Since we are on the topic of the Internet in another thread here at the bar, just thought I would bring this up for conversation...

Would you characterize the Internet explosion as a social revolution? Is it comparable to the Industrial Revolution, or more like the invention of the TV or telephone? Or does it fit into a larger "Technology Revolution" with the invention of the computer? How do you think an Internet Revolution will impact our lives, communities, families, social systems over time?

I for one, am really starting to notice the impact of the Internet on more aspects of our lives. As a stay at home mom now, I do a lot of my socializing and social networking through on-line groups or forums, such as these. It helps to replace some of the social contact that I miss from having an "office cooler" to chat around. But I find it amazing that we can build such strong social ties with people that we know only virtually, and from all corners of the globe. Will this eventually change the way we socialize as a society?

Another example, my brother recently graduated from high school and was still debating about his college decision. So, he decided to go ahead and try out the summer session at the college that he was leaning towards (a fairly small midwestern college, where my parents graduated from 30 years ago.)
Anyway, my brother was quite surprised to arrive on campus to find it pretty much deserted. The cafeteria wouldn't open for the session, and his one class was completely cancelled for lack of enrollment. My parents were shocked as summer session was VERY popular when they were students. Well, it turns out that it still is--just most of the students were taking their courses online. So, with the Internet being incorporated into more and more of our social institutions--banking, education, dating, shopping!!, etc. how will this change who we are as a society?

Any thoughts or further examples?

Jessica

 

[harmonslide]

I think so. Internet has made the world a lot more impersonal.

Instead of having to know people and to go out and find answers, gaining other valuable skills in the process, we Google the problem.

Instead of developing close relationships with colleagues in person (after all, much of communication is body language), we chat on AOL and MySpace.

Instead of various regions having specific characteristics local to each region, culture is becoming very homogenous. The same music and news is available in New York City and a place such as "Grover's Corners".

Instead of information coming with a context and relevance, we are swamped with lots and lots of stories and words -- most of which have no real meaning to us.

The internet has massively changed us. For the better? I don't know.

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

I'd call it an entire new social revolution.

On the down side, it allows corporations to increase profits by farming out American IT, software engineering, customer service, etc. jobs to underpaid telecommuting workers in 3rd world countries; but on the up side, it allows people with common interests to connect with others at places like The Lounge.

Swing High,
- C H

 

[Lincsong]

I think it's all part of the on going efficiency of a society that is progessing. (with a little p not the big p) Being able to to more work, for less time and money.

 

[Braxton36]

I would certainly rank it with the invention of television if not more profound than that.

As with all new products with far reaching impacts, there are pluses and minuses.

IMO, on the (-) side, it prolly means the further erosion of written communication. <------- see what I mean? It also seems to be taking the place of alot of face-to-face social interaction. I'm sure we all know people who have met someone via the internet and started dating or even married but I also envision many people who sit in front of their computer screens for hours on end and "chat" with on-line friends in lieu of getting out into the mainstream.

On the positive side, it has brought a wealth of information to our fingertips and brought us a global marketplace as well.

Great question!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Much of what's said about the Internet today was said about radio in the early twenties -- that it was having an unhealthy homogenizing effect on the people, that it was contributing to social isolation, that it was bringing Unwholesome Influences into the home, that it was interfering with the role of the family, and on and on. I think it's natural for any new technology to draw that kind of response from the first generation to experience it -- just as it's natural for the generations that come along later to tend to take a more measured view.

Personally, I think of the internet as a tool, nothing more than a typewriter crossed with a telephone crossed with the public library. What we make of it, for better or worse, depends entirely on ourselves.

 

[scotrace]

Revolutionary

I think it is an enormous revolution in many areas and we won't understand the impact for many years. The internet has changed society in ways that probably surpass the impact of the telephone and the Model T.

Information that could previously take months or years to track down is now seconds away. If, as recently as 1990, the Dr. said to you, "you have disease X," you would have to pretty much rely on the info he/she gave you and on what you could dig up in hours spent at the library. Now, you can be fully informed of your own illness and it's probable treatment within an hour.
Government documents and important files that were previously only obtainable via the mail and very slowly are now available at any time. Another revolutionary change is the ability to search just about any library collection for what you want before making the trip. And what about the way you get information? You no longer rely on the talking head at 6PM on TV. You get your information, if you choose, first-hand and immediately. That's an information revolution.

Shopping - Unless you can buy it in person within a 30-40 mile radius of your home, just about anything you want can now be had cheaper via online (or catalog) shopping and having it shipped. Ebay is now the single largest venue for automobile purchases and is a serious contender for real estate sales. Ebay in itself has brought about astonishing changes in how goods & services change hands (think of the impact on the shipping industry!). You do your banking, check balances, pay bills, order dinner, buy theatre tickets, book a timeshare, book your own flights and rent movies via a computer. The once ubiquitous American Automobile Association (AAA) finds itself in the buggy whip business, and Kodak film sales have gone through the floor because we now use digital cameras to share pictures more quickly via the internet. Those are economic revolutions.

We now meet like-minded friends, exchange intimacies, date, seek child-rearing, dieting, clothing choice and pet adoption advice online. If anything, we now have broader person-to-person social possibilities than ever before, albeit more expensively. Again choosing 1990, it is likely that a person would meet not more than one or two people in a five year time span who also liked Borsalino hats, spectator shoes, pin curls and seamed hose. Today, you and I know about 2,700 such people. And we arrange to meet and have fun regularly. (though not all at once!) In war, we can speak directly with those affected and know within hours how they are coping. Parents with grown children living elsewhere on the globe can now talk to them daily - with video - for free. Socially revolutionary.

Since the internet is pretty much all about the written word, I don't have any fears for the future of writing or reading. Perhaps handwriting, but not writing itself. I suspect it is much, much harder to get published in book form today than it was twenty years ago, simply because there are so very many more people now who have a keyboard and fancy themselves writers. Besides, all one needs to be published today is a blog. Is that not revolutionary?


In my teen years, it was rare for a family to have an answering machine. The devices and technologies we have today have caused our world to expand at a breathtaking clip.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Internet forums are bringing back a public epistolary tradition that flourished in the 18th century and floundered afterward. Back in the Restoration and Augustan eras, intellectuals would inform, compliment, question, debate, accuse and savage each other via letters. Some of these "private" exchanges were actually published by the writers themselves -- or by acquaintances or servants who stole the letters and sold them to the printers.

Today's "letter writers" -- intellectual or not -- don't need publishers. The "letters" (which are now posts) are here for all to see.


.

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Much of what's said about the Internet today was said about radio in the early twenties -- that it was having an unhealthy homogenizing effect on the people, that it was contributing to social isolation, that it was bringing Unwholesome Influences into the home, that it was interfering with the role of the family, and on and on. I think it's natural for any new technology to draw that kind of response from the first generation to experience it -- just as it's natural for the generations that come along later to tend to take a more measured view.

Personally, I think of the internet as a tool, nothing more than a typewriter crossed with a telephone crossed with the public library. What we make of it, for better or worse, depends entirely on ourselves.

Very well said, Lizzie. I couldn't agree more.

 

[mysterygal]

as with most things, there are plusses and minuses to it. I'm still debating where the internet leans more.
I love the wealth of information that are at the touch of my fingertips. But, you also get a whole bunch of junk thrown your way if you're not careful. For men, I think it's a bigger issue since they seem to be visual, there's a lot of temptation .using the internet which taken down that road, which long enough, it spirals down very fast, can have devastating effects on the family.
As far as forums go, most places have intellect grossly missing from conversations. This is place is a rarity, which makes it very refreshing considering the bulk of what's out there.
shopping; the internet hasn't changed at all the way I shop. For me it's all about the hunt. I like getting into my car and finding the outfit. I don't trust hardly anything online [huh]

 

[Twitch]

Yeah, the internet is simply one more technical innovation that has had an effect on society. In the past it was the automobile, railroads, steel, gunpowder/firearms, bronze tools, fire and so on.

I think we are conscious of its impact perhaps like no previous innovations at their respective times. We today perceive things and recognize them as milestones where folks in the 1920s didn't necessarily get overly analytical about radio and any permanent socio-econimical effect on society.

Because of the forms of communication we have today we probably all recognize the world wide web as a major influence on the planet where as folks in 1922 simply enjoyed the entertainment and news of the world that radio brought without overthinking it too much. I believe today every "thing" that comes along is thoroughly dissected to see if there is profit to be exploited by someone somewhere.

The 1st guy that smelted copper and forged the 1st copper axe didn't immediately sit and ponder the income opportunities as would happen today.