[Butters 2011]

This has been something that I've been thinking of for some time now, and decided to see what you lot thought of this. At first, I was going to put this in the D&D section, but for two reasons I chose to stick the topic in Gen Chat. The first reason is that the D&D section is rather dead these days, and the second reason is that I thought it's a general topic that everyone on here can have some input on, since at the end of the day, we are all online anyway in this topic.

Back in my day ( ), whilst growing up, the internet was still one of those things that only certain people had, and was not a major issue if you didn't have it. If you wanted to chat to a mate, you actually walked out of your house and went to meet them. The only real thing I remember the internet being used for back then was for people who were pirating CD's, and even then it was only a small minority of people doing it. What a massive change it has been, that in this day & age, it seems that everywhere we go, everything seems to be about the online world. We see programmes on TV that are purely created using videos from Youtube (RudeTube), or programmes that have hashtags all over them. Even adverts on TV purely tell you to go on FB to find more information out about them.

It seems to be that if you aren't on the internet, you miss out on a lot of what goes on in this world. As I said, many of the stuff we see and hear about is from virals online, especially a recent advert for a phone network that has a guy chasing a dog, shouting "Fenton"...

The main point of this topic though is to ask what you lot make of this new 'online world' that we seem to be living in. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing?

We've seen Governments toppled by people using social networking sites. We've seen riots that have had people set up targets using social networking sites.

Social Networking sites give everyone instant access to what's going on around them, and around the world in general. Remember that tweet where a man in Pakistan tweeted about the attack on Bin Laden?

But then we've also got the nasty side, where people believe they are 'invisible', and troll whoever they want and whatever they want, such as R.I.P sites and whatnot.

In a day, I could do absolutely everything I wanted, simply by logging on to the internet. I can order my shopping, order my meals, talk to my friends and plan future events.


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I'm sh*t at making opening posts, but I'm hoping you lot get at what I'm trying to get at with this topic. I'm actually hoping for a mature, adult discussion in here, hence why I wanted it posting in D&D in the first place.

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Discuss.

[El_Diablo]

QUOTE (Butters 2011 @ Sunday, May 13 2012, 15:06)

The main point of this topic though is to ask what you lot make of this new 'online world' that we seem to be living in. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing?

the internet is what you make it.

some use it to spread evil.
some use it to do good.
some use it to avoid getting a girlfriend.

on the whole I think it's a good thing.

[Irviding]

I think you're going to get a skewed opinion simply because everyone on this site is well acquainted with and uses the Internet for most things. Forum users especially tend to be very tech-savvy. I'd say though if you asked the older generation, maybe 60+ you'd get a different view. My grandfather loves the internet, my grandmother not so much, infact she hates technology and wants to go back to Gone with the Wind times. My other grandparents both love it. I mean I think it's getting to a point where the people even who complain about and hate the internet are just drowned out by those who actually use and enjoy it.

[Robinski]

I only just got myself a smartphone in December, so until then the internet was always something that I'd be using when sat at home or uni or whatever. Now that I've got facebook and stuff on my phone I've really appreciated the convenience of having it all when out and about. I'm usually quite a private person, and I hate that it's become a weird thing to be uncontactable thanks to mobile phones and the internet so I didn't expect to enjoy it but I really do.

I do like to be able to compartmentalise parts of my life though, and the increasing inter-connectedness of everything makes this difficult sometimes. For example, I have two very distinct groups of mates, one from uni and one from home, and there are definitely things that I don't want to transfer over (nothing serious, just like nicknames or embarrassing stories) so I manage a lot of the things I do on facebook quite carefully.

The idea that's long been a staple of online communities where there is an online life and an offline/IRL one, and they're completely seperate is breaking down too. Nobody knows about how involved I am here (5k+ posts) and I like it that way, but I've got a movie blog where some posts are just copied straight from what I've written on here so if any of my friends wanted to they could easily find this account and find out just how little of a life I have.

You have to be online these days to function properly sometimes though. I did a big group project in uni a couple of weeks ago and we had one lass in our group who isn't on facebook, and she essentially contributed nothing to the project because all the out-of-class communication was done in a big group message on there. She even turned up to the final class not knowing it was assessment day, when we'd all been freaking out about it to each other the night before. I'm pretty sure she's going to fail that module and essentially it's all because she's not on facebook.

[El_Diablo]

QUOTE (Irviding @ Sunday, May 13 2012, 15:29)

I'd say though if you asked the older generation, maybe 60+ you'd get a different view.

yeah but let's be honest.
old people don't count.

that's like asking a 60+ man what he thinks of reggae or hip hop.
he doesn't get it.

his opinion is invalid.

[EscoLehGo]

I think it's a good and bad thing. I recently deleted my social network profiles for Facebook and twitter because I'm looking to get a "real job" soon and I know 21st century employers now look up potential employee candidates on the Internet. Both my Twitter and Facebook were littered with my unadulterated comments on society, politics, entertainment and what have you so I decided it was best that I temporary delete them just in case I was being searched by an employer. People say some really dumb, exposing sh*t on those things without thinking who can and will see them, myself included in that bunch.

Some of the cons of this online world is how short our attention spans can be, we're constantly bombarded by the media and we can't concentrate on important issues like we could in the past. Look how quickly the Tea Party and Occupy fizzled out compared to past movements that predates mass media. I think we have also become very self important in this new day and age, everyone feels as though their thoughts and opinions are spectacularly original and that the whole world should see them purely because we have outlets where literally the whole world can see them. You take the good with the bad I guess.

[GTA_stu]

QUOTE (EscoLehGo @ Sunday, May 13 2012, 22:40)

People say some really dumb, exposing sh*t on those things without thinking who can and will see them, myself included in that bunch.

You can alter your privacy settings to prevent joe public or any potential bosses from seeing your profile.

I think it is undoubtedly a good thing, it's completely revolutionised the way we live our lives. Sure it has its drawbacks, but access to boobies on demand vastly outweighs this. I wouldn't say I was the most tech savy person out there, in fact I lag behind most people in my age group. I find that things just seem to get more and more complex, and so you do kind of feel a bit overwhelmed at some points with certain things. Not just with the internet, but technology in general for that matter. It's incredibly frustrating when something doesn't work and you have absolutely no idea why or how to fix it. By the time I'm in my 40's I'll have probably regressed to the stage that I'm living in a cave licking moss off a rock.

[Gareth Croke]

QUOTE (Robinski @ May 13 2012, 22:29)

You have to be online these days to function properly sometimes though. I did a big group project in uni a couple of weeks ago and we had one lass in our group who isn't on facebook, and she essentially contributed nothing to the project because all the out-of-class communication was done in a big group message on there. She even turned up to the final class not knowing it was assessment day, when we'd all been freaking out about it to each other the night before. I'm pretty sure she's going to fail that module and essentially it's all because she's not on facebook.

To be honest with you, I would feel gutted for that girl if she failed, simply because why should she fail a course because she's not on a 3rd party website which should have nothing to do with academia, call me old fashioned, but hey it works if you're doing a project then why don't you all meet up and actually do the thing face to face. To me that is a sign that we are heading into a frankly unwelcome social class of those who are connected and those who aren't, and the unfortunate thing is, is that it's not down to choice either, it's very much down to cost. I've spent long stretches not being connected to the internet simply because I couldn't afford it, and it's not been a case of not being able to afford it because I want spend a little more money on going out drinking at the weekend, it's been that I need the money to actually live.

QUOTE (EscoLehGo @ May 13 2012, 22:40)

I think it's a good and bad thing. I recently deleted my social network profiles for Facebook and twitter because I'm looking to get a "real job" soon and I know 21st century employers now look up potential employee candidates on the Internet. Both my Twitter and Facebook were littered with my unadulterated comments on society, politics, entertainment and what have you so I decided it was best that I temporary delete them just in case I was being searched by an employer. People say some really dumb, exposing sh*t on those things without thinking who can and will see them, myself included in that bunch.

In this case it's because employers are dinosaurs and haven't kept up with the internet, I use my real name on here and employers might have looked me up on the internet and have seen what I post, hell my current employer might even be looking at this now, but this is my point, it's the internet. Now that might sound like a lame excuse, but it's not, the internet is a completely different world to that real one that we should all be part of and views expressed on the internet should not have bearing on what goes on in the real world, and even if it does what the hell has my opinion on say the political situation in France or Greece or some other country inserted at random, or even posting a rant about the internet like this, have to do with the ability to do whatever position I am looking to work in or am working in.

While I agree that the internet is a great leveler, it has help to bring down questionable regimes in countries all over the world, but it is dividing so many people into those who have and those who have not. Yes the internet is a wonderful thing that has been created and has shrunk the world in so many ways, but until the internet is free, both in terms of cost and in expression, then it is far too early for us to be able to say that we have a tool, a platform, for everybody to be able share and communicate with everybody else one a level playing field. But while a huge amount of people in the world don't even have access to electricity, hell even clean water, then this is a long way off.

@Butters: amidoingrite?

[nightwalker83]

What is that saying... We're all connected yet we've we've never been so alone?

[trip]

Ok. I'm not 60+, but I might fall into the older crowd here in the GTAF world. I did grow up before the internet and lots of other sh*t we take for granted.

Honestly, as far as it becoming disruptive (for some reason that is how I'm reading Butters' OP) - I don't think it has. Man and society has always been wacky and finds ways to do wacky things. Long before facebook, or even the telephone.

I might be a 'glass half full' guy, but I think the internet has done more good than harm. It certainly has made the world a smaller place. Not too many years ago you wouldn't even consider collaborating [in real time] on a project with someone outside of your country. I guess some of those collaborations are not always for the greater good, but honestly I believe it IS used more for the greater good.

[TinTinn]

A computer created the internet: 1949-1960

The internet created a web: 1990-2000

That web created cyber-socializing: Present

The year 3000 finally shows up.

Computers turn on us.

[Tyler]

QUOTE (El_Diablo @ Sunday, May 13 2012, 16:37)

that's like asking a 60+ man what he thinks of reggae or hip hop. he doesn't get it.

I don't usually like to jump in on random comments but this just makes no sense. You realize reggae was born in the 60s and hip-hop was something that got big in the 70s, right? Both of those decades were the prime era of living for someone who would be 60 today.

As for the technology topic, it's a great thing. We're advancing ever faster as forum and peer-review become easier for researchers across the globe. Even public forums and worldly interaction is causing a decay of absurd preconceptions that used to be horrendous problems in society, like racism, homophobia, general lack of knowledge on the ways in which people live and can live.

The time we live in now is amazing in that everyone can learn anything online. It will only get better as society learns to understand each other and the way in which the internet can work.

[nightwalker83]

QUOTE (TinTinn @ Monday, May 14 2012, 16:02)

Computers turn on us.

I don't know what twisted place you come from but women turn me on.

[*MURDOC*]

QUOTE (nightwalker83 @ Monday, May 14 2012, 01:46)

QUOTE (TinTinn @ Monday, May 14 2012, 16:02) Computers turn on us. I don't know what twisted place you come from but women turn me on.

He said turn on us, not turn us on.


But what about women on computers?

What about women with computers?

[El_Diablo]

QUOTE (Tyler @ Sunday, May 13 2012, 23:06)

You realize reggae was born in the 60s and hip-hop was something that got big in the 70s, right?

yes of course I realize that.

did you realize that I was making a very generalized point?
apparently not.

it wasn't meant to be as literal as to simply highlight the fact that most elderly people have a negative opinion of the internet because they don't understand it.
the same way that most elderly people don't like hip hop or reggae or heavy metal, etc.

[finn4life]

Well your facebook is never deleted, it's still there ready to reactivate at a whim.
A simple thing i did to hide my Facebook was simply change my Facebook name to my nickname, and since i have a long name i made my last name a joke on my real name.

Simple and i could keep my facebook.
--
Also i don't think being better connected is wholly bad, yes this is from a biased point of view.
If i wasn't on the net i would be watching tv anyway, and the net teaches you to take everything with a grain of salt, you see many different opinions on many different subjects, it leaves you with more general knowledge and an understanding of what different people are like.

[nightwalker83]

QUOTE (*MURDOC* @ Monday, May 14 2012, 17:38)

QUOTE (nightwalker83 @ Monday, May 14 2012, 01:46) QUOTE (TinTinn @ Monday, May 14 2012, 16:02) Computers turn on us. I don't know what twisted place you come from but women turn me on. He said turn on us, not turn us on. But what about women on computers? What about women with computers?

Oops!

[Butters 2011]

I remember reading about some new 'app' that was being developed some time ago, where companies/business would be able to bluetooth promotions and whatnot to our phones, whenever we were in their vicinity. I believe the latest update on this was that it has been cancelled, but personally I think this would be a great idea. I actually had this thought whilst walking through town this morning. Imagine being able to tell this app what I was looking for in my town/city, and whenever I came close to one of these types of business, I would get something sent to me, with information about what they offer, promotions they have, links to their website and whatnot. I know many people know their local city and whatnot, but, like for me this morning, I was walking aimlessly around looking for estate agents, so imagine me being able to get a notification whenever I'm near one. I know that's why Google Maps and that are about, and that's handy enough, but I don't exactly want to be walking around staring at my phone. Imagine it coming up to dinnertime, so I change a few options, and suddenly I get bombarded by promotions from fast food places etc about what they have on offer.

I love this online world, specifically for the instant access I have to anything and everything I want, and believe that this is only a psoitive thing for the society on a whole. It could finally rid the world of ignorance and whatnot. Facebook now has intergrated news feeds and whatnot, such as The Guardian etc, and the amount of people I see reading these news articles is surprising, especially when it comes to people I believe would never read it if it wasn't on FB.

There's no doubting we live in a digital age now, and it's going to be exciting to see what people can come up with.


And yeah, I agree with what Gareth said. The online persona we all have should never be intergrated in to our personal, real life, but this is where we seem to be going wrong. Too many times have I seen people sacked from their jobs for what they have on their social profiles...but yeah, obviously if you sit there and slate your job and whatnot, then yeah, you get what you deserve. But I don't agree with people getting sacked for posting pictures of them enjoying their life.

[zoo3891]

I too think we're better off connected. There are occasional problems (that can be mostly dealt with) though, and these problems can make it a horrible thing.

With the internet you can educate yourself to be a home chemist, a concert musician, an ultimate hero of justice, or just catch up on whatever you might be studying that you don't understand. You can also catch the latest episode of Television Show #81, or see the newest movie without going to the movies. It also allows those of us with social issues to not go crazy by the age of 20. Lastly it's a great waste of time and can entertain for hours. There are probably hundreds of other good ways to use the internet, but I could never catch all of them.

This probably illustrates in itself why the internet is bad. Every one of those links leads to somebody's personal security camera, and many of them are in homes. Privacy is being destroyed, and as the internet connects to more nodes, we lose a bit more of our privacy. There are ways to combat this, but as many people illustrated when Google changed its policies, Google is extremely hard not to use. (I use everything that is connected with my Google account on Google Chrome, my more private stuff is done with a heavily restricted Firefox, or Tor browser.)

[Wreckless Jake]

Remember back in the day when you couldn't use your landline! We only used our dial-up after 6pm because it was free. Then we got rid of it and got broadband several years later.