Web 2.0: To be taken in small doses, or as recommended by a doctor

In the article “It’s All About Us”, Steven Johnson argues that Web 2.0 has helped shine the media’s light on small stories that would have otherwise stayed within the community. On the other hand, in “Enough About Us”, Brian Williams claims that Web 2.0 is less beneficial because it allows us to filter out what we read and hear that doesn’t agree with our viewpoints. Even though Web 2.0 does allow us to post our opinions, it does more harm than good because people tend to just post rude comments. People who leave these comments tend to take advantage of the fact that it’s not a face to face interaction by using insulting comments or comments that don’t have anything to do with the subject at hand.

The list of benefits that Web 2.0 brings to our everyday life is endless. It would include things such as: allows us to view the latest news stories through out the day, gives us faster access to information from the past, present, and (sometimes) future, lets us communicate with people who are miles away instantly, plus many other. But one things that must be omitted from the list is that it allows us expand our horizons. Just like television and radio, we can be selective about what we use Web 2.0 for, and thus filter out what we don’t agree with. Williams states “the problem is that there’s a lot of information that citizens in an informed democracy need to know. .”. This is true in the sense that if we don’t expose ourselves to other viewpoints and perspectives, we risk only seeing the partial truth to everything. And if we continue on this path we will never get to the absolute truth and we will go on about our lives misinformed.

Another thing we need to consider is that we have become irresponsible with what we post and/upload online. It has recently become a trend to not keep anything personal or private. We have gotten to the point where we are sharing everything from what activities we are participating in currently to what we are doing in our bedrooms. These things should stay in our homes but instead they have become status updates on our facebook, myspace, or twitter accounts. And there they stay for those interested to see, laugh, and comment or leave feedback about. But for what purpose do these need to shown for? Simply, to either gloat about our lives, or to hope someone who is online at the time will offer us a cybernetic shoulder to cry on.

This practice and these sites can lead to much more dangerous situations. For example, a teen who blogs or posts about how her personal life is not going well can be befriended by a sexual predator (who thanks to the invisibility offered by the internet) can pose to be her same age, and even friendly looking. In her time weakness he can offer her a safe haven at his place to which the teen can choose to take and be captured in the trap. This scenario has repeated itself countless times and has even lead to the police having to create undercover agents who under go this scenario in order to capture these sexual deviants. Not only are we exposing our teens to danger, but also feeding pedophilia. There have been recent news reports that as more young mothers appear so do pictures of their young newborns on these social sites. Since people who suffer from pedophilia don’t have legal pornography websites to subscribe to, they go on to the next best thing. From there the “pedophilians” can copy and paste those pictures onto hidden “pedophilian” community websites for others to view for their pleasure.

Now aside from the lack of privacy we have given ourselves and the dangers that Web 2.0 has unleashed upon humanity, it also seems to be leading us away from having intellectual conversations. In every forum, blog, or every other type of website where you can post your opinion there is insulting vulgar language. No matter for what topic you are looking for opinions on, whether as controversial as abortion or simply what concert to go see you will get these people who post things like “(THIS BAND) . SUCKS B*!!$, go WATCH .(this other band) .THEY ROCK”. But its not only a couple of bad apples that are doing this, but pages upon pages of users log on to post similar comments. Now the language used isn’t too bothersome, what is troubling is that these comments offer no validity towards their argument. They offer no statistics or any rational as to wich is better or for what reasons. Thus eventually leading us to become a society of loud obnoxious brutes who will prove ours points true by seeing who can state it louder.