Public concern has arisen about the way the internet has transformed sharing information and what serious problems it has created. This essay will highlight the main issues caused by the internet and possible solutions to overcome them.
Some people assert that cyber bullying is the worst outcome of the introduction of online spaces. Mean words could often hurt more than physical actions and in understanding of that, people start to take advantage of power and use it against each other. Consequently, it can lead to depression or other mental illnesses which can drastically affect your life by inducing social anxiety or uncontrollable mood swings. One of the most dangerous results can end up being selfharm.The most common sign of cyber bullying is lower self esteem and self-confidence. In order to solve this issue, certain measures should be taken such as establishing more help centers and youth help lines. What is more, more social workers or psychologists could be employed in schools so students would have someone to talk to.
The second factor we need to take into consideration is the spread of propaganda and fake information using the internet and AI tools. This problem was relevant before too, but since there were not any advanced technologies all the rumors and disinformation was traveling slower and with a possibility of disappearing. As a result of the propaganda people fall for the fake news and it creates disturbance in the society. The most affected groups of people are the elderly and the ones living in small towns with less reliable sources of information. The perfect example would be the year 2020 when the Corona virus started and everyone was in the unknown or just misled by the false information and the stores were left empty due to the excessive purchasing. However, if we implement education programs on how to detect trustworthy channels such or check a couple of sources this problem would be resolved. Also, to promote digital literacy to help people to identify misinformation and prevent the risk of using false websites.
To sum up,I believe that the internet is a great invention and sign of evolution but it comes with a lot of downsides, such as online bullying and false information. This can be controlled by help centers and phone lines, social workers, educational programs and digital literacy.