©2001 Alan Chung

The Internet and Me         The Internet is something that affects the entire world.  It brings people together, as well as keeps them apart.  It helps people stay in touch over long distances.  It aids in the exchange of information.  But it can also be seen as a mental addiction that somewhat inhibits human contact.  It becomes an addiction through our constant usage of the tool.  Most people deal with the Internet several times every day.  We do it because we have to and because we want to.  Though I’d like not to admit it, the Internet has affected the way I write, read, and even the way I think.         For the most part, my Internet activity is made up of checking email, chatting on instant messenger, and reading posts on websites my friends have created.  If I am near a computer, my first thought is, “I wonder if someone wrote back?”  I do not think that the Internet is necessarily bad, but I do think that it can become somewhat of a mental addiction.  This is not an addiction that will make me go insane if I can’t get to a computer every six hours.  I have no overwhelming need to get back home as soon as possible just so that I may look into my In-box.  But if I am near a computer, I want to get online.

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Because of its’ wealth of information, the Internet is labeled as something that can help people learn how to write cover letters, cook beef stew, or build a bookshelf.  But I find that it is all a matter of how one chooses to use this device.  I believe that, in my case, my writing, and even my very way of thinking, has been slightly affected by my use of the Internet.  I write informal emails to friends and chat with them online.  However, when I sit down to write a paper, I find myself typing the same way I would when talking online.  I begin to use shortcuts like, “b/c” for “because,” and I want to type, “...” instead of simply using a period and starting a new sentence.  When I write for class, I must be sure I am not using the shortcuts that my fingers so easily type.  I have to consciously change the way that I think in order to write properly for most classes.         I think that my reading habits have changed as well.  Because of the many shortcuts we can use on the Internet, I find research that I must do in the library to be tedious.  I have also grown accustomed to shorter clips of information.  Anything beyond a particular length looses my attention.  I get a headache after looking at a screen for too long, so my body simply does not let me read for a long period of time.  Everything has become shorter, faster and more accessible.  The question is, is that a good thing?