Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
When used judiciously to promote healthy identity formation and development or to facilitate human communications, the Internet can be a boon for society. However, the Internet has quickly become an emblem of deep-rooted social problems related to the disintegration of traditional communities. Instead of serving as an ideal substitute for social isolation, the Internet has exacerbated alienation. Addiction to the Internet is flourishing among youth all around the world from Taiwan to the Netherlands. Anxiety, loneliness, and depression are unfortunate by-products of the new media.
Because the Internet has enabled remote call centers and telecommuting, the workplace has been remarkably transformed. It seems as if the Internet creates more opportunities for social integration such as by connecting people and coworkers with one another in spite of geographic obstacles. The ability to communicate long-distance at virtually no cost to the consumer also helps fragmented families reunite in a virtual world. Yet the very fact that globalization has resulted in fragmented communities and families is symbolized by the Internet. Impersonal usernames have taken the place of hugs, kisses, and handshakes. Whether the Internet has united or fragmented the world depends on how the technology will be used in the future. If the Internet can evolve to embrace traditional social values, post-conventional moral reasoning, and social justice, then the new media can transcend its own limitations. The Internet has enabled socially anxious individuals to hide in their homes and avoid contact with the outside world. The new media has allowed those who prefer not to have face-to-face interactions to work and chat without ever seeing another human being. Therefore, the Internet reflects the tendency to become self-absorbed in a society that...
The Internet needs to be combined with traditional social interactions in school so that children, adolescents, and young adults use the media as an adjunct to, not a substitute for, face-to-face communications. The following is an illustration of the two possible futures for the Internet and its role in shaping social and psychological futures.
Social integration Social disintegration networking with friends and family Internet addiction meeting new people through social networking Self-absorption or special interest groups Increased loneliness, reading new material and encountering new ideas anxiety, open-mindedness and increased awareness and depression appreciation of diversity Internet reflecting social fragmentation
References
Crain, W.C. (1985). Kohlberg's stages of moral development. Chapter Seven in Theories of Development. Prentice-Hall. Retrieved Jun 11, 2008 at http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm
Liu, C. & Kuo, F. (2007). A study of internet addiction through the lens of interpersonal theory. CyberPsychology and Behavior. 10(6).
Poster, M. (2007). The secret self: The case of identity theft. Cultural Studies. 21(1). Jan 2007.
Schmitt, K.L., Dayanim, S. & Matthias, S. (2008). Personal homepage construction as an expression of social development. Developmental Psychology. 44(2).
Unfortunately, many consumers may not be aware of their photographic image being used in this fashion and even if they were, existing privacy laws fail to provide any substantive protections. For example, in response to these trends, the Harvard Law Review published an essay entitled, "In the Face of Danger: Facial Recognition and Privacy Law," with a majority of the article describing how "privacy law, in its current form, is
At the bottom line, the issue at hand is with the sanctity and safety of the students and the responsibility of the university to preserve and develop that. Moreover, many of these students are dallying into multi-dimensional virtual worlds that are beginning to closely resemble the physical world and that are having their own ethical issues arise (Wankel & Malleck, 2010). Universities need to educate themselves as to what those
Internet Censorship The internet came to prominence as a tool and pursuit of the masses starting in the early 1990's. The capabilities, depth and breadth of what the internet has to offer have increased exponentially over the ensuing two decades. Such expansion has greatly eased the spread of information (Palfrey, 2010). The ease in which people communicate and disseminate information has created a cause for concern among many different parties that
It is likely that this trend will continue along the same lines as other technologies; just as telephones, the Internet, and cell phones each individually became more or less essential parts of living in Western society, the web-enabled cell phone will almost certainly be just as essential to conducting business and daily life in the next decade. For the majority of citizens in the Western -- and as increasingly the
Some programs are even able to track keystrokes and take snapshots of computer screens, allowing criminals even more information, such as credit card numbers and usernames (Bahl, 219). While the obtaining of information through fraud is a problem related to Internet activity, there are other concerns with privacy that are still considered legal. For example, a company can obtain your personal information from transactions, and legally sell that information to
Computer-Mediated Communication Since its advent in the 20th century, Internet technology has become a platform for social, political, and economic interactions and transactions. Currently, cultures and societies are exploring new ways of optimizing Internet technology, from making social interactions easier, more expansive, and more frequent to minute concerns such as transferring money from one person to another via wireless Internet technology. Indeed, from its current uses and applications to human society,