Jun 5, 2009 11:32 am US/Eastern
The Good, Bad, & Ugly Of The Internet 'Takeover'
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
It has grown faster and spread farther than anyone expected.
New research shows Internet use has tripled in the past decade with 62-percent of American households now online.
Alaska had the highest rate of Internet use in the latest survey.
The lowest were Mississippi and West Virginia.
Let's take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the Internet "takeover."
You get the feeling we're only beginning to experience the impact of the Internet takeover on our cultural, social and economic lives -- for better, and for worse.
NEWS
More people get their news off the web than from newspapers.
The good news is we have easier access to more information than ever before.
The bad news is it's killing an industry that's a crucial source of in-depth reporting.
CONNECTING
The good news: the web makes it easier than ever for us to connect with friends and with strangers who share our interests, to shop and find trading partners.
The bad news: the web makes it easier than ever for predators to stalk our kids and run con games on the vulnerable, to rip us off and steal our identities.
POLITICS
Internet fundraising and organizing have made it possible for unlikely candidates to shatter the glass ceiling of American politics, IF they can overcome the rumors and smears that circle the web faster than truth can keep up.
HUMAN INTERACTION
We can chat and vent easily and endlessly on the web - but is it really a substitute for face to face contact, or the lost art of thinking before we speak?
The census figures prove the obvious -- the web is everywhere, and it's here to stay.
But are we really ready for the consequences of what we've created?
There's no turning back from the Internet's transformation of nearly everything we do.
The best we can hope for is constant discussion and vigilance to make sure this runaway train doesn't take us places we don't want to go.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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