Tim Berners-Lee invented the Internet in 1989-90, for the benefit of all humankind. Unfortunately, like any invention, the Internet is used today both for good and for harm. Due to the lack of awareness, many people misuse the Internet, damaging their daily lives. Several studies provide examples of how the Internet negatively affects physical health, psyche, and communication skills. The challenges of changing lifestyle – the way we work, learn, and shop, deserve particular attention. Finally, the Internet has become a handy tool for criminals and fraudsters who threaten our cybersecurity. This paper will provide an overview of everyday practices and areas of life negatively affected by the Internet. It will also present suggestions on improving the situation, provide counter-arguments, and generalize how the Internet changes our daily lives.
Negative Effects on Health
Health is the necessary condition for happiness and harmonious existence. However, the hours we spend in front of the computer or the smartphone do not pass without consequences. According to many studies, the Internet can negatively affect our health, causing poor posture, bad eyesight, and insomnia. The Internet can also be addictive, lead to sedentary lifestyles, cause depression and anxiety, and harm our relationship. Noteworthy, Greenwood, in her article “9 subtle ways technology is making humanity worse,” notes that poor posture can lead to back and neck problems, as well as psychological issues. The author speaks of the dangers of lowering “self-esteem and mood, self-confidence and productivity, as well as an increased tendency to recall negative things” (Greenwood). According to Greenwood, physical posture relates to the psychological one and can be the key to a happy life and self-confidence.
Unrestrained and uncontrolled use of digital devices can also impair eyesight. The author cites concepts that the American Optometric Association calls “computer vision syndrome” and “digital eye strain” (Greenwood). Excessive eye strain can cause “headaches, difficulty concentrating, watery eyes, dryness, itching, burning, pain, and eye strain” (Greenwood). Besides, handling digital devices more than two hours a day puts a person at risk. Of course, it is challenging to avoid daily work on the computer. To reduce adverse effects, one can spend less time in front of screens or replace their tablet with an e-reader.
Noteworthy, e-books use a unique technology to produce screens that do not harm the eyes. Therefore, it seems to me that using laptops and monitors with similar screens could make humanity a little happier. Most people have nothing to do with watching videos at work, and they might choose an option. Besides, black and white screens can be more convenient to focus and concentrate as they create fewer distractions. Another way out of the situation is to wear contact lenses or glasses with a UV filter.
Remarkably, screen flickering affects some areas of the brain that are responsible for sleep-related processes. Therefore, using a smartphone just before going to bed can lead to insomnia. According to Greenwood, the use of technology before bed immediately increases alertness, and the shortwave blue color delays the circadian rhythm and suppresses the release of melatonin. Hence, device use delays the onset and reduces the total amount of REM sleep, which leads to a decrease in alertness the next morning. Together, these effects can lead to chronic sleep deprivation, damaging people’s lives and hindering academic, career, and self-development efforts. Besides, irritability can lead to quarrels with loved ones and friends.
Finally, our passion for technology at work and home may lead to sedentary lifestyles. Greenwood emphasizes that according to the WHO, 60% to 85% of people worldwide are inactive. It is an alarming sign, as a sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor for obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and colon cancer. Few people would like to expose themselves to such danger, so doctors advise getting into the habit of doing 10-15 minute exercises once a day. Besides, taking breaks from work to stand up and move around are beneficial for improving concentration.
Negative Impact on the Psyche
While the negative impact of the Internet and technology on physical health is noticeable, the consequences for the psyche are latent. However, unconscious, minor mental problems can lead to the development of nervous and mental disorders. At the same time, Internet addiction will ensure negative impacts will be permanent and cumulative. According to Greenwood, the average American adult spends 11 hours a day interacting with digital devices.
The daily use of devices is addictive, and given the long time spent daily interacting with technology, the Internet can shape our personality, mental state, and lifestyle. Technology and the Internet also harm mental health: young people who use 7 to 11 social platforms are three times more at risk of depression and anxiety than those who use two or fewer media (Greenwood). Therefore, depression and anxiety are the hallmarks of Internet addiction. Besides, according to the Liberty Classical Academy, digital lifestyles have resulted in a person’s average attention span falling from 12 to 8 seconds over the past ten years (“How Technology Affects your Social Skills”). These are quite startling results, and it’s hard to imagine what will happen to our ability to concentrate in another ten years if the trend is stable.
Negative Impact on Self-Esteem
Another significant “side effect” of indulging oneself with the time spent online is the potentially devastating effect of technology on self-esteem. Since technology has become portable, it has received an additional function of determining our social status. Smartphones and tablets have become luxury and prestige items, and the demonstration of smartphones has become narcissistic. Much more narcissistic than bragging about mobile phones that had fewer built-in features and were primarily a means of communication. Self-admiration has penetrated inside everyone’s digital life, as the internal functions of the smartphone were developed not just to facilitate our daily routine but also to get people used to spend money on an intangible ‘smart’ product (“Cyber Security: Spam, Scams, Frauds and Identity Theft”). Our lives were filled with apps, games, movies, music, books, audiobooks, and podcasts that could be downloaded online in the blink of an eye. A new expense item has firmly rooted in the budgets of smartphone owners encouraged by consumerism culture.
Therefore, social status criteria have moved from the range of things to the field of ideas or digital space. Today, many people spend quite a lot of money buying games and music online and having dozens of subscriptions to various websites. I heard that there are even platforms where you can buy a virtual piece of land for tens of thousands of dollars, and one famous model did just that. These changes led to alterations in the way people evaluate and perceive themselves. Internet users began spending more money online, but this spending did not increase their self-confidence since an intellectual product is too fluid to provide a sound base for self-esteem.
The Internet Destroys Our Communication Skills
As Aristotle said, man is a social animal by nature and cannot live happily outside society. No matter how close our relationship is, we are concerned with other people’s opinions. Nonetheless, communication through the exchange of pictures, videos, and text messages cannot substitute for real interaction and destroys our communication skills, plunging humanity into silence and a sensory vacuum. Greenwood notes that people who mostly socialize online lose their ability to understand other people’s body language. Further, Liberty Classical Academy published an article according to which technology is destroying young people’s ability to make eye contact, communicate on the phone, and maintain a meaningful conversation (“How Technology Affects your Social Skills”). The over-focus of young people on technology is also a threat to spatial awareness since the brain has limited bandwidth, and doing two tasks at once slows down the reaction.
Other authors speak about the negative impact of messaging habits. According to Storm, online users behave more rudely because they do not see the other person’s reaction and cannot sympathize with them. Online communication habits also lead to the overuse of slang, which may be inappropriate in live communication or business correspondence (Storm). The author agrees that people who prefer ‘silent’ communication cease to recognize non-verbal signals and criticizes technologies as a source of constant distraction.
Internet Destroys Relationships
The Internet is an essential component of socialization for many people. At the same time, socialization is the only way to build relationships, including close ones. And intimate relationships are the primary condition for happiness. But, since technology forces us to communicate all the time, we may feel obligated to respond to messages from friends and loved ones when we are not inclined to speak up. Such forced ‘dedication,’ Storm says, can ruin even satisfying bonds. Because text messages do not allow for voice intonation, they are often misunderstood (Greenwood). Moreover, non-verbal communication contains up to 40% of the information (Greenwood). Therefore, messaging can make us feel lonely and unhappy in relations.
Cyber Bullying
The Internet and social networks have become something natural for the younger generation. Young people have become less dependent on their peers’ opinions, as they have more opportunities for high-quality self-presentation through beautiful photos and videos. On the other hand, adolescents became more open to aggressive actions by strangers or personal enemies. According to an article published in Science Daily, cyberbullying can be even more dangerous than other forms of bullying because of its extent (“Cyberbullying Linked to Increased Depression and PTSD”). The article cited data from a study that involved young people in a teenage psychiatric hospital.
The study found that regularly surfing the Internet or social media was not a factor in determining who was bullied. On the contrary, bullying was defined by being exposed to abuse in the past, creating a vicious circle. Scientists also found that cyber-bullying occurred in all economic classes and ethnic groups and mainly through Facebook and text messages. Other channels for spreading aggressive content, including images and videos, were Instagram, instant messengers, and chats. Bullying resulted in worsening symptoms of PTSD, depression, anger, and fantasy dissociation. Because cyberbullying is so dangerous, parents and teens should take action and block senders on Facebook, Twitter, or another network, as most technologies allow it, scientists say.
The Narcissism of Social Networks
The era of the Internet, social media, and smartphones is often referred to as the era of the narcissism epidemic. Narcissism is included in personality disorders; a person with narcissistic symptoms usually has unrealistically high self-esteem and can cause psychological harm to others (Bleazby). Simultaneously, the narcissistic person suffers the disorder painlessly, except for the feeling of isolation, inability to build relationships, and lack of self-knowledge.
People with narcissistic disorder are less likely to see a psychologist because they do not experience irrational acute emotional pain as with other mental illnesses. However, narcissism is a problem, as narcissists harm public morals and ethics and lose themselves in pursuit of far-fetched ideas. Narcissism on the Internet is just a continuation of the problem existing in offline life. Scientists propose introducing courses in schools to help students acquire self-knowledge, allowing them to recognize their talents and consciously choose a life direction (Bleazby). Even more important, students need to attend philosophy lessons that explain narcissism from an ethical point of view for a deeper understanding of the problem.
Internet in Other Cultures
It may seem that the negative influences listed above affect only a small fraction of the world’s population living in the United States, but this is not the case. Problems related to the Internet are relevant to people around the world. According to a Pew Research Center study, which involved 32 emerging economies, 64% of respondents believe that the Internet in their countries positively impacts education (“Internet Seen as Positive Influence on Education”). Another 53% noted a positive effect on personal relationships and 52% – on the economy. Simultaneously, most of the respondents were concerned about how the Internet affects morality and politics; 36% of respondents said that the Internet has a positive impact on politics, and 30% said it negatively affects. Besides, 42% noted that the Internet negatively affects morality, and 29% reported a positive impact.
The survey was held in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, China, Russia, Egypt, South Africa, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and other countries. It was conducted in 2015, and at that time, the average Internet access in the developing economies was 44%, while the US indicator was 87% (“Internet Seen as Positive Influence on Education”). The general trends of how the Internet is changing people’s lives overlap with the themes presented above. Therefore, we can conclude that the ‘hypothetical’ spheres of human life, such as morality and politics, are most vulnerable to the Internet.
The study also examined access to the Internet, computers, and mobile Internet. According to the obtained data, 66% of people who had access to the Internet went online every day. The Internet was most often used for socializing, mainly to contact family and friends – 86% and to use social networking skills – 82% (“Internet Seen as Positive Influence on Education”). Another common reason for going online was getting information; 54% were interested in political news, 46% were looking for health info, and 42% were interested in government services info. About a third of respondents have used the Internet for career and commerce: 35% were using the web to look or apply for the job, 22% – to make or receive payments, 16% – to buy products online, and 13% were taking online classes. Therefore, in developing countries, the Internet is primarily used to connect with friends, family, and loved ones; only one-sixth of the respondents reported shopping online.
How the Internet Changed Our Shopping Habits
Many experts today say that the Internet has completely changed our shopping habits. Remarkably, this is the indirect evidence that the Internet profoundly affects other areas of our life, such as communication, socialization, and long-term relationships. According to an article published by Broadband Search, online shopping has changed habits such as searching for product information and comparing prices (“How the Internet Changed the Way We Shop”). Online shoppers also experienced more ad exposure and were more inclined to forming bias since advertisers were deliberately putting customers in bubbles. Buyers got substantially more information about the most prominent brands, which may be unfair to other manufacturers.
People spent less time in shops, which led to the closure of many brick-and-mortar stores. More and more shoppers were using mobile shopping since shopping on-the-go can be very convenient and entertaining. According to the data presented in the article, in 2019, mobile platforms made up 51% of all retail traffic, whereas 55% of consumers have bought something after seeing it on social media (“How the Internet Changed the Way We Shop”). Plus, most Americans compare selling prices to those listed on Amazon, making the platform somewhat of a benchmark for making a buying decision. One alarming trend noted by the authors was the deeper separation between producer and consumer, which can lead to lower product quality and unfair working conditions and wages for employees.
It was also noted that merchants are doing their best to make online shopping more convenient, including simplifying digital payments and providing free shipping and return options at online clothing stores. In general, the authors say that online shopping has made our life more comfortable. However, the closure of many old brands and brick-and-mortar stores, high exposure to advertising and biases, and deeper consumer and producer separation are troubling trends.
Cyber Security
The Internet not only changes our habits and the way we communicate but can also threaten our well-being and safety. Today there are many ways to involve a person in criminal activity. Personal financial information, that is, credit card details and passwords to personal accounts, have become particularly vulnerable. These two categories, identity, and financial data, are the target of most cybercriminals, researchers note (“Cyber Security: Spam, Scams, Frauds and Identity Theft”). An ordinary person can also be of interest as a buyer, subject to all kinds of spam.
Therefore, the most common cyber-attacks include spam, identity theft, identity spoofing, and IP spoofing, scams, and website hoaxes. Many game manufacturers can incentivize players to unintended costs for upgrading avatars and getting through levels more quickly. Simultaneously, foreign online sellers often prove unreliable and may disappoint shoppers who do not receive the purchased items. The authors of the article emphasize that spam, which we most frequently receive in e-mails or instant messages, may contain links, the transition to which downloads malware, which may steal our data.
Fraudsters using phishing scams also act through e-mail, and they can use the symbols and names of real financial institutions trying to steal credit card details. Identity theft, identity spoofing, and IP spoofing are no less dangerous since, in this case, fraudsters can commit crimes or cyber-crimes under the guise of the victim’s name. One popular scam is requesting to help send money to another country by sending a small amount to the scammer’s card. In this way, criminals find out the victim’s data, which can then lose thousands of dollars.
Under no circumstances, experts advise entering credit card details on untrusted websites or otherwise disclose this information. Besides, if you have become a victim of identity theft or spoofing, you need to contact the police immediately, and the law will likely be on your side since such precedents often happened before. Scientists also note that general Internet skills are the main factor determining cybersecurity. A higher level of skills “enable users to reduce risks of privacy loss while obtaining the benefits from online activities that increasingly depend on the revelation of personal data” (Büchi et al. 1261). In this regard, scholars define Internet skills as a starting point for public policies aimed to empower users in privacy protection. The above examples indicate that the Internet may not be as pleasant and safe as it might seem at first glance. The main thing is that the user always needs to be careful and attentive so that individuals with criminal intentions cannot use their trust to damage them.
Social Media as a Sign of Immaturity
It’s no secret that student Mark Zuckerberg developed Facebook as a networking platform for fellow students to share photos from parties and put ‘likes.’ Most adolescents who go through the final phase of growing up often show extreme selfishness. Surprisingly, so many adults and even older people are attracted to social media today, given their intrinsic immaturity. Growing up is due to many changes, including hormonal ones. And it is these changes that make us feel so vulnerable, so sensitive. Believe it or not, this vulnerability disappears for many people at the end of puberty.
One day the fear leaves a person, and that’s it. But until that moment, adolescents remain the group most likely to develop Internet addiction and other mental health problems. According to scholars, parenting style has a lot to do with teenagers’ tendency to become addicted (Li et al.). This finding also echoes the fact that children who were abused in the past are more likely to become victims of cyberbullying. Therefore, if someone is lucky with their parents, they are less likely to have mental and other problems during puberty. At the same time, less fortunate teenagers can only rely on themselves to cope with psychological and mental issues.
Digitalization, Isolation, and Overcoming Life Difficulties
The Internet has brought a luxury that previous generations could only dream of – the luxury of being alone. Many have the opportunity to work and study at home while shopping online. On the one hand, such an experience can be liberating – there is no longer a need for commuting, and building a work-life balance becomes easier. On the other hand, for many people, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, freedom from socialization has turned into forced loneliness. Scientists note that some of the students who had to switch to distance learning expressed dissatisfaction with “the lack of face-to-face interaction with the instructor, response time and absence of traditional classroom socialization” (Adnan and Anwar 45). Socialization is vital for human beings, as it provides an opportunity to receive feedback, which is the main condition for internal development.
Socialization gives us the ability to change and move into the future, feeling the ‘beat of life.’ However, the Internet may deter us from socialization, subtly replacing live communication with online correspondence. It can be especially dangerous for teens that have mental issues and problems with socialization. Scientists note that young people with Social Anxiety Disorder and higher social phobia scores showed the inability to reduce Facebook use, were spending more time thinking about Facebook, and used it to forget their problems (Honnekeri et al.). Therefore, social media can provide an opportunity to ignore psychological issues indefinitely. The situation is also dangerous for adults, who have less free time, and often spend weekends on web activities instead of going out with friends and family. Therefore, I feel that the era of smartphones has stopped time, making people hostages of their imaginary reality, and the destruction of this illusory world is now perceived by many as a real threat.
Does the Internet Enhance Communication and Socialization?
Not everyone will agree with my perspective, as many see people’s interactions on the Internet positively. For example, Chambers et al. note that the Internet can serve as a source of online mental health support, “mitigating the threat posed by harmful online content” (1). On the one hand, this statement is true, since today many online services provide moral support and information on overcoming mental health problems. However, I can’t entirely agree that such support can mitigate the consequences of harmful Internet practices. I consider the problem to be more complex and demanding more specific solutions.
Further, according to an article published by Broadband Search, online-shopping changed the way we shop, making our lives easier. However, I believe that access to the Internet of things needs to be analyzed in terms of users’ purchasing power. Indeed, as noted in a study published by the Pew Research Center, in emerging economies, a tiny percentage of people have the same opportunities as the average US resident. Besides, economic and class inequalities within the country can make online shopping practices less affordable for particular groups while others will benefit.
Finally, Storm notes that, in addition to negatively impacting communication skills, the Internet enhances communication. The author says the Internet helps us keeping in touch, doing business, overcoming disabilities, and reaching a broader audience. However, I’m afraid I have to disagree with the author. In the case discussed, the Internet simplifies the possibilities for interaction, not communication, since communication rather implies personal affection or interest in the interlocutor. Besides, I agree that the Internet helps us keep in touch, but always being approachable can become a terrible burden.
Conclusion
Thus, many reasons have been presented on why it is safe to say that the Internet negatively affects our daily life. In particular, over-attachment to online socialization can cause communication problems. Besides, the Internet is full of cyber threats that can only be dealt with by acquiring sufficient Internet skills. Further, Internet addiction can be hazardous for teens who have social phobia since social media helps them deny the problem. In light of the information presented above, I believe there is an urgent need for more research on the destructive impact of Internet addiction on adolescents with mental issues. In the future, such studies could become the basis for educational and parenting programs.
Besides, there is a need to pay more attention to cyber threats, since today, this aspect does not receive proper attention from scientists. Based on such research, the state should develop a system of laws that would allow better Internet activities regulation and make time on the Internet less dangerous. Since the Internet can indeed be a platform for initiatives to help people with mental issues, I see the need to develop detailed programs to provide such assistance. I also believe that conscious Internet users could form associations that will promote healthy Internet practices. For example, people with the requisite skills and knowledge could create an Internet Environment Protection Agency, or Conscious Internet Users Association, to present suggestions and develop useful initiatives. In general, the Internet cannot be considered an absolute evil, as it has positive aspects. However, this does not negate the fact that all the problems listed above require our utmost attention.
Works Cited
Adnan, Muhammad, and Kainat Anwar. “Online Learning amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Students’ Perspectives.” Online Submission 2.1 (2020): 45-51.
Bleazby, Jennifer Bernadette. “The Importance of Knowing Thyself: Philosophy in Schools as a Solution to the Narcissism Epidemic.” Australian Association of Research in Education Conference. 2017.
Büchi, Moritz, Natascha Just, and Michael Latzer. “Caring is not Enough: The Importance of Internet Skills for Online Privacy Protection.” Information, Communication & Society 20.8 (2017): 1261-1278.
Chambers, D., K. Cairns, and L. Ivancic. “Young People, the Internet and Mental Health.” Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine 35.1 (2018): 1-4.
“Cyberbullying Linked to Increased Depression and PTSD.” Science Daily, 2020.
“Cyber Security: Spam, Scams, Frauds and Identity Theft.” Media Smart.
Greenwood, Chelsea. “9 Subtle Ways Technology is Making Humanity Worse.” Business Insider, 2019.
Honnekeri, Bianca S., et al. “Social Anxiety and Internet Socialization in Indian Undergraduate Students: An Exploratory Study.” Asian Journal of Psychiatry 27 (2017): 115-120.
“How Technology Affects Your Social Skills.” Liberty Classical Academy.
“How the Internet Changed the Way We Shop.” Broadband Search.
“Internet Seen as Positive Influence on Education but Negative on Morality in Emerging and Developing Nations.” Pew Research Center, 2015.
Li, Shunyu, Hao Lei, and Lan Tian. “A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Parenting Style and Internet Addiction among Mainland Chinese Teenagers.” Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal 46.9 (2018): 1475-1487.
Storm, Laurel. “The Disadvantages of Technology on Communication.” It Still Works.