This seems to be the anti-Internet month by the major mainstream media. All month I have read articles or seen stories on TV that have blamed the Internet for:
- Young adults not getting get enough Vitamin D because they stay inside too much and play on their computers and the Internet. They are vitamin deprived because they don’t get enough sunshine and natural vitamin D;
- Young adults and the increasing obesity rate. Kids aren’t exercising enough anymore. They stay inside and play on the Internet;
- Cyber bullying is rampant. Kids are being psychologically abused all because of the Internet;
- Texting is responsible for many of today’s traffic accidents. Don’t text and drive. Don’t connect on the Internet while you are mobile. The Internet can literally kill you;
- Craig’s List and the Internet are not safe. There are murderers stalking the Internet looking for you;
- There are more than 50,000 pedophiles stalking the Internet looking for children. Be careful out there;
- The Internet is responsible for the US Postal Service’s $7 billion loss and for the closing of 1,000 postal service centers;
- The Internet is responsible for the troubles in the newspaper industry and layoffs of media types;
- The Internet is responsible for the troubles in the magazine industry, cutbacks and closings;
- The Internet has killed the music business and made it a requirement that artists now tour to earn money;
- One Hollywood studio exec said in an interview this month, “There isn’t one good thing that has been caused by the Internet.”;
- The Internet is killing the DVD business;
- The Internet causes people to divorce their spouses. Meet this one man who stayed up all night playing video games with friends;
- There are people in Nigeria that still want to rip you off on the Internet. Here is how to not be a victim to this con game;
- Internet spammers are criminals. Meet one in your own hometown…News at 11:00;
- The Internet has made the porn business thrive;
- And on and on.
This is “The Science of Fear” personified. Don’t hold an individual accountable for individual actions. Don’t hold management accountable or parents accountable. Blame a big dark secret thing in the clouds for all of your troubles. The big bad Internet is to blame for everything bad out there. There is no one responsible for the Internet, no individual to blame. So just blame the “Internet”. Yikes. What a month for the mainstream media. The boogeyman is here and his name is the Internet.
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Ted – didn’t you know – nothing is your own fault anymore. Did you get upside down on a mortgage? Blame those dirty lying mortgage providers.
Did you end up fat and obese? blame those savage fast food producers with the dollar menu.
Did you kill someone because you had too much to drink at a bar? Blame that dastardly bartender who should also parent you while you are consuming and should have cut you off.
It’s out of control. MASS HYSTERIA!!!!!!!!!
Sure the internet has shapped the minds of a new generation , it’s a fact ,and I agree the internet should not be judged but that generation hasnt been schooled in internet ethics. There is no respect by most users for the artist’s ownership of their content. This is certainly resulting in Dawinian changes as to how entertainment ( music, movies ,books etc ) will be funded in the future. If THE INTERNET USERS are not made aware that they are stealing the artists material without their permission they may not have anything to steal in the future.
The newest thing in town always takes the blame for the evils of society. Mainstream media is not to blame for the creation of that message, though they certainly are fanning the flames. However, some of the things on your list are true: 1) Texting is causing fatalities, 2) the internet is killing the print media business, 3) the internet has hurt the music business. That being said, change is inevitable and with it, some things thrive and other things go away. It’s easy to look back on how folks went from horses to cars, but I bet it was a messy transition for those who lived through it. So it goes with the internet.