Horror Aficionados discussion

Heard this question on NPR... what do you think?

Hmm, interesting question. I am not sure my brain has suffered or improved due to the overload of news, images, and crap on the Internet.

I miss my pre-Internet privacy. Although it's nice expressing opinions and sharing stories and photos with friends, family, and acquaintances, I miss people not knowing too much about me.

I sometimes feel like unplugging and enjoying a simpler, quieter life at work and at home with my family.

In other words, "the world is too much with us..." KWIM?

The volume of information available now is astounding.

When the internet was first getting rolling, I was employed at Merrill Lynch. Merrill was very slow on the pick-up of the phenomenon, seeming almost to defend the perceived grasp on research about companies that they held along with a handful of other brokerage firms. The internet crushed that perception. It got to the point that I was talking to customers who had more information about companies than I did. Times they were a changin'.

That was mid 1990ish. The volume of information, good, bad, relevant and irrelevant, has grown exponentially since then. You have to take the good with the bad. For every bit of timely news, information about new books, new authors, sports scores, etc, there is a heavy dose of news about Khardashians, mis-information about health scares and chain letter emails.


Do I miss the more naive pre-internet days? No. Give me info!

Besides, before the internet, there was no Caturday!!!! Happy Caturday!

I agree, Ken. I love being able to look up information online (although you have to be wary of the source) that I would have had to flip through books and do a lot of research on in the past. Seems like a lot of info. about stuff I was interested in and learned pre-Internet was by chance. Now it's more purposeful. I especially love the health info. I can get online.

And, also, it's so easy for the media/politicians/entertainers/garden-variety liars to be called out on their lies. I really love this.

Oh, and finding info. about shitty companies and businesses before I waste money.

Oh, and the wonderful ease of ordering crap online I'd have to spend hours driving around and searching through stores.

God no, I mean I was a kid when internet was first coming along so I didn't really know or care about it. Now? it's hard to imagine life without it.

I think the information aspect has been hijacked by the drooling masses.

It's a tough question. I'd love an escape from civilization but only if I still had WiFi access in which case it would no longer be an escape from civilization.

There is little "civilization" in the virtual world.

And yogurt has more culture.

Jon Recluse wrote: "There is little "civilization" in the virtual world.

And yogurt has more culture."

Lol. There is also the problem of more content, less information.

I was around 12 before my parents let me use the internet, so I still remember what it was like to not have it. If I wanted information, but couldn't find a book on it, tough luck! If I couldn't find anyone who had said information, oh well! The wealth of information that you can find on the internet is by far my favorite feature. Of course you have to be careful where you get your information, but the same can be said of books, magazines, and even "reliable" news sources.

I honestly don't see why some people have such negative views of the internet. (I know way too many people with internet-phobia; there are quite a few in my family.)
Sure, there are some bad things about it, such as the lack of privacy and the predators that lurk on every website, but these are similar problems to what people encounter in real life. It's all about using the same common sense and good judgement that you would use IRL.
There have been many positive things that have been brought about by the internet though! I've already spoken about the increase of knowledge, but there's plenty of other positive things about the internet. For example, cultural exchange.
Thanks to the internet, anyone can communicate with just about anyone else anywhere in the world. Before the internet, aside from actually going out of your country, how many opportunities did you have to speak with someone living in Italy? Spain? How about Japan? (Assuming you don't live in these countries, that is.)
I think it is fantastic that we have more opportunities for sharing culture, language, and experience because of the internet.

So that's my two cents. I'm gonna go ahead and end this post before I go on too long. :) (Too late? XD)

The social and information aspects of the Internet should be separate, IMO.
The social aspect changes how information is presented.
If I look up vaccinations, I should get medical journals, not Jenny McCarthy first.

I feel the Internet is becoming the Social Superhighway, and the Information Superhighway is filling up with potholes.

I definitely agree that they should be separate. It is frustrating to search for something, especially something scientific or medical, and come up with results from some blogger or journalist (Or even celebrity, in your example.) who likes to pretend that they're qualified to give you this information.
But again, hasn't this always been the case? It's been my experience that, regardless of the medium, you have to sift through junk of some kind in order to find what you're looking for.

The internet is still a great place to find information, in my opinion, even if I have to spend an extra 10 minutes to find a credible source or put "-jenny mccarthy" in the search bar. :)

Well, if I'm not sure where to find what I want in the "real" world, the librarian can direct me to the proper section.

On the Internet, you're lucky if you wind up in the right zip code sometimes.

Although the internet has provided new access to information I think the type of things that get around online cause real problems...nowadays any violent crime or scandal is picked over by thousands of people and anyone related to the incident is bombarded and attacked with the conjectures and insults and all the facts that they might not have known or come to terms with or wanted anyone to know yet but people across the globe now have access to. People's lives are just out there for everyone to judge and I really hate that.

It's a lovely question. I agree with Rei in that the cultural exchange is phenomenal now. Oh, don't get me wrong, I miss the past when life was simpler and less hectic, but these days, let's face it, we have the world at our fingertips... And, with my e-book reader, I can carry a complete library around in my back pocket!

The internet has given me some of my best friends and my girlfriend. It's allowing me to self-publish, it's let me network, research, etc. etc. I was only pre-internet for my first 10 years of life.

Come to think about it, the Internet allowed me to self-publish as well. I'd forgotten that. Yeah, and making new friends is wonderful!