The Internet has received a great deal of attention recently as consumers, analysts and even government officials tout it as the coming way that Americans will not only do business, but also shop, communicate and receive entertainment. From a small, geographically dispersed group of users only a decade ago, the Internet has added millions of users in the intervening years. Internet users remain geographically dispersed, but their ranks are no longer limited to government employees or scholars. Like companies or organizations which experience such rapid growth, the growth of the Internet has not been without its difficulties. However, the Internet is not the creation of any one company or organization, but rather encompasses many different offerings from a broad variety of companies, groups and individuals. This proposal examines the Internet and focuses on the negative aspects of the Internet on both an individual and societal level, including increased isolation of individuals and increased economic costs to society. Included also is an evaluation of the supposed benefits of the Internet and whether those are benefits to society or whether these benefits may actually mask negative effects.
The Internet encompasses the World Wide Web (Web), file transfer protocol sites (FTPs), newsgroups (electronic bulletin boards) and gopher sites (often used for government sites and one of the first widely used ways of accessing the Internet) (Stoll 43). Taken as a whole, the "Internet" connotes the interconnectivity of computers, information services and electronic mail services. From a single computer terminal or personal computer, individuals on the information superhighway are able to connect to a variety of other electronic resources for entertainment, information or to conduct business; most of these connections take place over telephone lines (Allen 1). Today, most users do not consider connectivity costs which once prohibited hea...