The Impact of the Internet
As a new medium of communication, the Internet has significantly changed many aspects of our life. For example, the issue of gender identity may be complicated due to the phenomenon of gender swapping in the Internet, friendship can mean something quite different because more and more people make friends through telecommunication rather than the traditional face-to-ace manner, and family relations may experience crisis since the Internet provides many opportunities to develop “virtual” intimate interpersonal relations.
There are two conflicting opinions regarding of the impact of the Internet on our life. The first one believes that he current rapid development of the Internet will cause more harm than good to our society and culture. The solution is to slow down the development of technology, and be willing to accept that there are something that we can do technologically but should not do in order to preserve our values and culture. The other pinion believes that the development of the Internet will eventually provide solutions to many of our social problems. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of technology. The solution is to speed up the development of technology, be willing to give up some of our customs that are in conflict with the new technology, and be prepared to use technology to solve social problems.
Write an essay to discuss a specific aspect of the impact of the Internet on our social, cultural, or ethical life. The following is the guideline or you to prepare the essay:
1. Present an illustrative case. You should not discuss the impact of the Internet in abstract; instead, you should select a specific angle and focus on a particular issue of these impacts. The best way to narrow down is to discuss the issue with an illustrative case. This case must be real and current (within the last five years). The best place to find relevant cases are newspapers, many of which are now available on the Web. You should provide references to cited articles.
2. Examine the impact of the Internet. You need to explore the social, cultural, or ethical issues behind the case. To explain why the case should cause our concerns, you need to show how interpersonal and social relationships have been shaped by the traditional communication media (e.g. face-to-face conversation), and how our lives will be changed by the Internet as a new communication medium.
3. Provide solutions. You need to propose specific policies as responding to the changes caused by the Internet. If in case the impact of the Internet are positive, state how we should take advantage of it; if the impacts are negative, come up with s solution that can eliminate ar at least minimize the harms.
4. Respond to this debate regarding the impact of the Internet. Should we slow down the development of technology in order to reduce its damage, or should we speed up its development and sue it to solve social probl4ems? You should continue to use your illustrative case in your discussions. You should provide evidence to justify your position, and use relevant ethical theories that we have discussed in class to back up your arguments.
Alternative cases / articles (You can pick one or find one yourself if you like):
Positive:
http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2015-05-04/boy-with-aspergers-syndrome-turns-to-social-media-to-make-friends/
Negative:
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/11/12-year-olds-online-life-brings-an-abductor-to-her-doorstep/
http://abcnews.go.com/US/bullied-teen-amanda-todds-video-passes-13m-views/story?id=17548856
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/us/suicide-of-girl-after-bullying-raises-worries-on-web-sites.html?_r=0
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