If you could flip this switch would you?

[CloudsInMyFrap]

If you could flip a switch and everything in the world was the same except the internet didn’t exist, would you?

Don’t bother saying “my job wouldn’t exist then so blablabla” - you’d obviously have a different job.

So. No email. No smartphones, just mobile phones. No google, no Wikipedia, everything done by telephone and post and catalogue.

I think I would! Can’t even justify it, but I feel I would welcome a simpler way of living.

A definite no, and that's with all the known issues about problematic usage, exposure of children & the corrosive affect of (some) social media.

The ability to open up worlds, enhance our knowledge, create connections & bring probity to political & governmental matters (eg the way in which the detail of the war in Ukraine is shared is powerful & wonderful.

I'm 45, so all the way to my university education was pre Internet. It's true there was more rigour to learning, compared to today's third level students (I work at a university), because there had to be, but the lack of resources & access to deep & rich resources was much more significant.

The challenges are all around our usage (and I include myself firmly in that category, from connecting too much with work, to scrolling MN while ignoring my kids 🤦🏻‍♀️)

The poster who mentioned the challenges in teaching & with young kids - again, it's usage & management. My DC are in iPad schools - it's fantastic for engagement & in class learning. It's not so good for actually studying & I have had to spend time with my 15 yo trying to work with her on the learning process. The idea that use of tech has a direct link to violence is nonsense.

Personally I don't have issues with the internet but I don't use social media at all other than reading Twitter. I am strict with the kids and don't care about them being outliers amongst their peers. The older ones seem unscathed by my cruelty.

I am amazed at the laxness/spinelessness of too many parents, with children left to their own devices (literally).

Also the political misinformation is astounding, it has exposed how vulnerable humans are to lies.

Would I flip the switch? Probably not. Would I be happier without it? Probably not. Life wasn't better just different before.

I think I would. I was in my early 30s when the chief exec first got the internet at work. Life, business etc all functioned perfectly well without it. The mid 90s was hardly the dark ages.

People communicated by speaking on the phone ... now you hear of people being phobic about it or having anxiety to pick up the phone.

I just don't think the benefits outweigh the down sides. At least I can be grateful my children grew up without it - although they are both now phone addicts at 18 and 21.

To the pp who posted about her retired husband and his phone addiction - that sounds horrible and exactly why I would rather be in a world without it. I think it cuts people off just as much as it connects them.

I remember being at uni when the www was starting to become a household thing. I was doing a communications degree and I remember a tutor expressing fears that unless it was regulated then it could grow into something so massive that there would be no going back and he was worried about the consequences. I think this has come to pass really. It's a wonderful thing but it did become too big too quickly and as a result the more unpleasant/criminal aspects of society have been able to use it to their advantage from the get go.

I think I would. There's lots I value about the internet but I did grow up without it. There's something to be said for a simpler world.

Yes but I would keep all the cat gifs in a museum.

Yes I was a lot happier before the internet and feel the negatives out weigh positives. I'm in my 40's.

Flip the social media switch off, yes. Turn on massive regulation of what’s on there, yes.

No. I don’t use social media but I’m a member of forums for my interests. For example currently renovating a VW bus and sourcing parts and information would be an impossible task. For everyone saying no take yourselves off social media honestly you will feel so much better.

Yes! Take me back to the 80s!
life was simpler, people happier .
Pandora’s box has well and truest been opened though :(

No, good god. It’s a world of information at our fingertips.
I would, however, get rid of social media.

Absolutely not. The ‘simplicity’ of being isolated and disconnected was rubbish.

Certainly in the 80s/90s life seemed simpler and people were happier. Hardly evey heard of anyone with mental health problems, no huge drug problems, more controlled alcohol licencing so less fighting for the police to deal with.

No.

But if I could flip a switch & remove all social media, ads & porn from the internet I'd do it.

I'd like to flip it so the internet was back to an earlier stage of evolution - a niche playground for geeks, as it was in the early 1990s - and didn't progress beyond that.

I would love my kids to grow up with no internet. I find it sad how little teenagers socialise apart from online. It is absolutely not the same. Also we wouldn't have had fucking Brexit.

Yes I think i would. I'd love my dds to grow up without social media

I would if it just turned off all forms of social media

No, I wouldn't.

Something else would have evolved to enable nefarious people to thrive.

Not the internet, it saves going to the library, but ALL social media and forums….yes, in a heart beat!!

Only if we could go back to a time when we'd never had it. If we just stopped it then millions would die as utilities wouldn't work, healthcare would be non existent etc.
If we hadn't got internet lockdown would never have happened, we would probably just have been asked to be careful.

No, absolutely not. DH wouldn’t have a job and it’s all very well to say ‘blah blah blah’ to that (how dismissive!) but he’s very good at it and there isn’t really an offline equivalent. I suspect he’d be in a dead end job and pretty miserable. DBro, who has ASD, would be completely isolated - with the internet, he can communicate with people who get him from all over the world. And I’d be struggling with a child with SEN and no support, as we’re too isolated an area for in-person support groups. The internet has given me advice, support, and virtual shoulders to cry on.

There are definitely negatives that come with the internet, but I think the positives for me outweigh the negatives. The internet, I feel, makes me more self sufficient, instead of relying on estate agents, I can find a house to rent or buy myself, instead of relying on recruiters, I can find a job myself, instead of relying on travel agents, I can book a holiday myself. I think the high street would probably be better if online shopping wasn't a thing, but equally, there are so many online boutiques to choose from that you don't have to shop at the big chains all the time. If I want to try a new restaurant I can find one online really quickly. Also, if I'm having a problem, I can find other people that are having the same problem and feel less alone.

Id do it.