Only if we are responsible to ourselves are we able to use the Internet effectively and efficiently.
Do we use the Internet to benefit our life or waste our time? As far as I am concerned, it depends.
I firmly believe that the Internet plays a double-sword role in our life, which might benefit us or distract us somehow. According to author Nicholas Carr mentioned, our Internet use really changed our brain activity; I used to surf my friend’ blogs frequently. When I clicked their link, all of a sudden I heard a lot of noise and faced glittering text. I found out I can’t see very clearly what my friends wrote, let alone figure out the meanings of their writing. On the other hand, I should say that we have access to look for the latest information, check our mail box, share our perspective and experience of the use of new technologies; there is no doubt that the Internet is such a useful tool to human beings, and it truly somehow changed the way of our living and communicating.
However, our Internet use is able to turn us into shallower thinkers. Many of us, I believe, have got used to surfing the websites, information searching, and social platforms on the Internet. Similarly, we get used to a lot of photos, noise, and advertising as using the Internet, which might distract us when we’re trying to read a passage online. Additionally, too many hypertext links might weaken comprehension of our reading; we might turn out to be the superficial thinkers, for the Internet use gradually declined our concentration and ruin our independent thinking and critical thinking: we may have limited ability to acquire the knowledge on the Internet. When it comes to the physical part, I prefer to grab the information and knowledge in the traditional linear-text format, because my eyes might not feel comfortable to deal with digital document, especially the links surrounded by images.
Furthermore, in terms of the cognitive effects the Internet use might bring, we should call for a balance between using the Internet and not using the Internet. Nowadays, the information explosion has led us to face too many resources, which might ruin our ability to transfer the information from working memory to long-term memory, for we have always been overloaded using the Internet. Besides, I frequently forget what I just read online; the outcome of depending primarily on Internet might be that we are unable to remember what we have learnt yesterday: we frequently rely on the web searching, upload the files on the server, and even friends’ cell phone numbers etc. Interestingly, nevertheless, it’s very hard to imagine the life without the Internet, and I was wondering can you enjoy our life without the Internet. Yes, we all can. Yet, we have been gradually wasting a lot of time using the Internet day by day without any significant purpose.
I do know we all need the Internet, but there is a possibility that we might have truly been addicted to it. Although I’d like to learn almost everything available on-line, I found out that I always want to be online aimlessly as possible as I can. Frequently, for instance, I chat with friends on MSN; I might be in a bad moon today trying to talk to a friend of mine, which probably makes me a little bit comfortable. However, when I have to study hard trying to concentrate on the work I find out I have difficulty concentrating and focusing on what I must deal with.
The Internet led us to a convenient life, so we are able to do what we couldn’t do in the past. For example, I used to get involved in the daily news via TV, newspaper, and radio etc. However, now things changed; we're allowed to do what we can't do simultaneously in the past: the Internet do offer a lot of functions as you can imagine; we can see a movie, gain the latest information, and even go shopping on the Internet. Furthermore, the Internet brings the information, people, and things all around the world, which makes us broaden our horizons; we feel so close with family and friends via skype. In other words, the Internet makes it possible for us to broaden our horizons and touch the base so easily with our friends.
Finally, we frequently use the Internet for nothing but for fun once we have access to connect it, which might have a significant impact on life style, such as reading behavior, time management, and personal privacy. Moreover, we seem to have lost ability to choose what kind of information would benefit us on our own, not because the Internet somehow facilitates our life, but because we unconsciously follow the rules set by the programmers, website developers, and platforms’ regulators etc. like "a tool". The worst is that so far the problems might be beyond our ability to handle and be worth evaluating in the near future. Perhaps we should get rid of all the distractions either by closing our computer or by achieving the goal within limited time period. In the end, I will conclude my reflection by demanding that we won’t be completely benefited without any by-product until we are responsible to ourselves for using the Internet.
I think you are right, we should call for balance using internet and not using it, after we find some information, we should shut off the computer or maybe make some notes on a paper to organize our own thought, or it may led to the "cursory reading, hurried and distracted learning and superfacial learning".
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