As with any new technology, everyone is always talking about the negative side effects of the internet and saying how it ruins real face to face relationship, fills our minds with filth and damages our eyes and melts our brains. As usual it’s the panic mongers whose voices are most heard in the media and it’s gotten to such a point that people begin to feel guilty when they boot up their computer. The same things were said about rock music when records were at their most popular, and about televisions when they were first invented. The fact of the matter remains however that we still use both music players and televisions and that the internet isn’t going anywhere either. The reason for this is that although all these things do have a few downsides (like anything), they also have a plethora of upsides. The positive effects of internet use far outweigh the negatives, whether you’re a child, a pensioner or a business man and to say otherwise is not only small minded but destructive.

Before we get onto the positive effects of internet use, let’s start with these much touted negative side effects. The naysayers would have us believe that the internet prevents us from interacting on a face to face basis and destroys old fashioned pursuits of writing letters and speaking on the phone; people even meet their spouses online these days! With business and finance now handled online we’re also far too dependent on the internet and would be at a loss should it break down. With the internet in our pocket we’re now never ‘disconnected’ and are at our boss’ beck and call 24 hours a day. Our bank cards are also more susceptible than ever to fraud and theft… And through all this we’re getting addicting and neglecting our real relationships, stuck inside in a more and more hermit like existence. They also say that sitting in front of a computer prevents us from getting outside and basking in fresh air and instead gives us repetitive strain injuries, hunched over spines and square eyes. As though this wasn’t enough, when we are sat inside on the computer we’re mostly looking at filth as that’s what the internet is comprised of – and having so much temptation and porn at our finger tips can only be a bad thing. The temptation isn’t limited to porn though – we’re also surrounded by bad investments a...

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