Internet: Good Effect or Bad effect on society?

[StoneFrog]

wasn't too sure where to put this, so put it here.
What do you think the Internets effect on society has been like??

[Raúl Duke]

good

[Jimmie Higgins]

Good and bad, like any technological advance in capitalism. Television: great, but most of the potential is dumbed-down in profit-seeking by the large companies that control all of television.

There is a lot of potential in the internet that has gone untapped due to the capitalist system and it has been interesting to watch as the initial "e-topian" dreams of the early 90s as they have become increasingly a delivery system for targeted advertising, and the horizontal and democratic potential of the internet has become dominated by several large commercial companies.

It was common for people to claim in the early 90s that the internet would make capitalism irrelevant. In the late 90s, that claim change to the idea the internet would fundamentally change capitalism - the opposite has turned out to be true - capitalism has shaped the development of the internet while the internet has only provided a new outlet (advertising space, e-commerce, shipping, automating parts of the service-sector workforce) for capitalism.

[Foldered]

Good and bad, but a lot of its use and potential is beyond good. Sure as hell helps organizing, etc.

[Os Cangaceiros]

It's the single largest repository of human knowledge in all of history, so that's a good thing.

[MarxSchmarx]

Too early to tell, but so far it has utterly failed at challenging the capitalist order.

[Robocommie]

Almost every development in life brings solutions and new opportunities, but also new problems and complications. Same with the internet.

[mikelepore]

The Communist Manifesto commenting on the internet:

"Now and then, the workers are victorious, but only for a time. The real fruit of their battles lie not in the immediate result, but in the ever-expanding union of the workers. This union is helped on by the improved means of communication that are created by modern industry, and that place the workers of different localities in contact with another."

[Tablo]

Ever been to 4chan? I say bad.

[Mendax]

It's the single largest repository of human knowledge in all of history, so that's a good thing.
This, Then some more of this and then this again just to finish up.

[Crusade]

Good. The internet is probably the most socialist media there's been so far(and porn). Other than the ads, what's better than giving everyone access to have their voices heard(and porn)? I've been able to do extensive research on things I've been mildly to greatly curious about, as well as learning completely new things(and porn). And plus there's porn.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Ever been to 4chan? I say bad.

I think posting Goatse/tubgirl pics is a vast improvement over burning cats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-burning).

[AK]

Well without the internet, there'd be no Revleft.

Although some might suggest that Revleft is as much of a trashpile as 4chan.

[StoneFrog]

Places like 4chan are a breeding ground for racism, sexual exploitation, inequality.
The first time i went there after hearing about it on some forum, what did i see... Nazi signs, racism and under age girls nude.
Majority of the of the youth now a day in countries like the US have been to places like 4chan. So its not like an isolated site with limited users, but has thousands of users.


But on the other hand, it is a vast wealth of information. Without the internet i am sure we would have fewer people coming to the left than we do. Places such as revleft make it easier to show an alternative solution. It also give the alternative to teach ourselves rather than being feed information.

[Jeoh]

A completely decentralized medium for sharing information? Man, this is a tough one!

[Stand Your Ground]

I think posting Goatse/tubgirl pics is a vast improvement over burning cats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-burning).
Wow that's fucked up. :cursing: I hate how stupid humanity really is.

[Dr Mindbender]

I think posting Goatse/tubgirl pics is a vast improvement over burning cats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-burning).

Perhaps, but if i may go off topic for a moment I dont get why people have this irrationalist affinity over cats.

If burning lions or tigers was the 'in thing' i doubt anyone would give a shit.

[Panda Tse Tung]

Bad. People who use the internet are the biggest wankers in the known universe (cause maybe in the not known universe they have something worse).

[Foldered]

I think posting Goatse/tubgirl pics is a vast improvement over burning cats (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-burning).
Or playing curdled milk.

[Invincible Summer]

Too early to tell, but so far it has utterly failed at challenging the capitalist order.

To be fair, that wasn't exactly its goal, although people with such intent may have been floating around the birth projects of the Internet.


A completely decentralized medium for sharing information? Man, this is a tough one!
Exactly.

I mean, capitalism obviously detracts from what the Internet could be, with copious advertising and privacy issues and whatnot. But overall, I think it's pretty awesome. Imagine doing anything without the Internet... seems a lot more slow, cumbersome, and inefficient.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Plus anything that irritates the police can't be completely bad:

http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/12/columbia-missouri-police-chief