To think people would be much happier if the internet didn't exist

[Cat8303]

I know...it's ironic I'm using the internet to post this.

But I can't help but think life would be much simpler if the internet wasn't invented. Nowadays, kids prefer to use iPads and play computer games than go outside and play. People post their lives on social media, and drive themselves crazy seeing and saying things they wouldn't if the internet wasn't invented.

I think the time before the internet was a much simpler time. The internet had obviously bought good things (like Mumsnet ;) ) but there are bad things, like the death of the high street, the decline of newspapers and the fact we are tracked and 'spied on' through cookies and things we can't even understand.

It wasn ‘t so bad when you actually had to be sat in front of a PC to get on the Internet. Now you can take it with you everywhere.

I certainly do not get through the same amount of books since I have had a tablet, can’t read more than a couple of pages without wanting to look at Mumsnet or whatever.

YABU. It was boring!

I am old enough to remember life before internet. I think it is probably the best invention in my lifetime.
This, definitely.

@ChristmasTablecloth

"I would have to go to the shops to buy things, thus keeping my local High Street or favourite retailers going"

So go. And who is stopping you buying a paper?!

I still use maps.

Are you some of you actually bots who wandered in here by mistake?

I've got some sharp knives in my kitchen... I could use them to stab people or I could use them to cut some vegetables for dinner. Likewise the internet is just a tool that can be used for good or ill.

The internet began creeping into life during my late teens so I remember life before it, but haven't really experienced adulthood free of its influence.

Generally I find it positive. My main concern is guiding my children through using it safely so they can use it in a healthy, positive way through their lives.

I love the Internet. I found out my DIL thinks I'm a fucking cunt so now I don't have to pretend to like her any more. My life is so simple now!! (I gave her son, my Grandin, £10 spending money for his holiday, with his dad's permission, but didn't ask her, and it wasn't £30)

I love how much I can learn, how I can easily connect with children and grandchildren, how quickly I can contact people or companies.

But for me, the bet thing is that I can do all this without any vision. My phone talks to me, I talk to my phone and hey presto, I'm posting on mumsnet!!

Grandin should be grandson I think my voice recorder doesn't likey accent

I remember the pre-internet days too. I love the access to information that we have now. I enjoy connecting with random strangers and hearing diverse views and reading about other people’s experiences.

I don’t like the intrusion it has brought, or the way you can no longer leave work st work and you are always accessible.

I worry for my children as they learn to navigate this culture.

I think my generation are the ones who gained most from the internet, and will suffer least from it.

I think the internet is what you make it. I think it's here to stay so we need to teach our kids to be kind on it and to learn as much as possible.

I love the internet. I think it's fantastic, social media? Not so much.

The internet wasn't really accessible for most until I was in my early 20's and for that, I'm thankful.

I'm so glad social media wasn't around when I was at school. It would have made an already tough time, far far worse.

Ywbvvvvu.

I'd have missed so many great things without the Internet. Blaming the Internet for how some kids behave is wrong too... Teach them how to be decent self reliant human beings who don't need constant validation rather than blaming the Internet.

I'm of two minds on this. I accept all the things people are saying about the good things the internet has brought. For one thing I wouldn't be talking to women in the UK about life etc without it (although there is that Fascinating book "Can Any Mother Tell Me?" which described something similar to MN well before the internet.

I look back at my mum/dad/aunts/uncles (all dead now - would be pushing 90-100 if alive) and I think they had a much more present and immediate life. They were engaged in the world around them, played cards for pleasure for many years together, read books or went to classes etc. I think the internet generation wastes hours/days/years randomly sufing the net.

I drove dh to work today. Every bus stop I passed had 5-10 people in exactly the same position - slightly bent over their phones. No one was interacting. No one passing the time of day. no one reading a book - on kindle or otherwise, no one looking at a newspaper. If someone is looking at a newspaper and reading about the world cup, the guy next to him can say "mexico must be feeling awful right?". If you are on your phone, it is intrusive to comment on what you are looking at.

It is what it is - here to stay. I don't think it is all that much better for us though.

My son spent 13 weeks in hospital, a few at home, a few in hospital, a few art home etc then another for months solid over hos first birthday and two more week long admissions in the three months competing discharge.

The internet and specifically Facebook and messenger were my life line. From chatting to other parents whose children has a similar condition to updating friends and arranging visits from them to just general being in touch with the universe.

I can't imagine how isolating that must have felt 30 years ago, living on a children's ward with your child for months on end with no way to communicate with most people.

Even with just a basic mobile phone, it wouldn't have been the same - grotto chats ascend photo sharing, Facebook groups and online news etc

I think the internet was ok before all the smartphone apps. I would hate to be a teen now. So much pressure on looks because of selfies. So much porn. Bullying on the phone.

I remember getting up to all sorts. If there were camera phones I'd be in all sorts of trouble! We used to be outside on the summer all day talking face to face. No need for selfies. Just had loads of adventures.

A lot of ppl do things for their social media rather than the thing itself.

@pallisers I have the kindle app on my phone so I could be reading war and peace but you'd never know it if you drove past me. Bit of a fallacy to say that no one was reading just because they were on their phones.

Also my linguistics lecturer (who is a very well respected researcher in his own right) reckons literacy is at its highest level because so many people used 'fingered speech' so frequently. (Fingered speech is stuff like messager and texts.)

I very much agree with your post @pallisers.

Well, if the internet hadn't existed my mum wouldn't really know what my mum looks like and they wouldn't have been able to forge a relationship as they have right now.

Calling abroad used to be incredibly expensive so no chance of just chatting.

Bet people that have mobility issues also find online shopping and all that a god send.

YABU. I can do online shopping so that I don't have to struggle with going out. I can interact with other autistic people & feel 'normal'. I can communicate with clients by email instead of struggling with face to face or phone. I can research things from the safety of my home comfort zone so that I can then venture out feeling that bit more secure about where I'm going.
It may have its downsides but for people like me it's fantastic.

If it weren't for the internet I'd be imprisoned in a care home, mostly likely feeling suicidal or even already have done the deed.

From originally having pooh-poohed it so many years ago, I know now I couldn't do without it. Despite having severe mobility difficulties and care needs (hence a max award of DLA, and Severe Disability Premium) I live the life I'd planned and worked for, for my retirement years, with adjustments of course. I shop for myself, online because I can't get to the shops for more than a quick corner shop trip); I keep in touch with my longstanding friends despite most of them living in foreign countries; I read in my alma mater's university library, and much other stuff online, and buy the books I want; most important of all, I indulge a passion for classical music, which is one thing that's brought me the friends already mentioned. I go to concerts all over Europe because the Web enables me to find out what's on when and where, book tickets and the travel to get there. There's also live concerts by the Berlin Philharmonic from the Philharmonie via subscription to the Digital Concert Hall, many broadcasts by Medici TV, some opera houses have online subscriptions, etc. Internet radio broadcasts are often high-def now – BBC Proms, Lucerne Festivals, more.

This travel is possible because I'm railway retired staff; I kept on working through the misery, bullying and all the other crap of privatisation and the breakup so I could keep my travel benefits in retirement.

The internet makes me much less disabled than I'd be otherwise; I really, really appreciate it, I never take it for granted.

You aren’t unreasonable. But I think the level of benefit outweighs the harm....just.

What would be nice is if it outweighed the harm a lot. How? By reducing the harm. How do we do that? Increase accountability.

You need a licence to drive a car because of the harm it could cause to others. Why not licence use of the internet, issue something like an NI number to all people over l, I dunno, 12?, that makes most people’s internet activity traceable if necessary.

I get that people won’t be happy about the privacy issue, but there’s got to be a way around that. We wouldn’t need to track activity like people going on and reading the news, ordering something from a Amazon, but anything whereby you can create “content” no matter how small be that a blog post, Facebook post, reply on twitter / instagram could be traced to an individual if, say, the police applied to court to court to trace them. Same as it is now with a search warrant, the police can’t just rock up and look around my house without a reason to.

I’m sure there would be ways around it. Driving licences don’t stop people doing dumb things in cars or criminals without licences, but it does at least create some kind of barrier.
I’m sure that 95% of the people that cause harm out there do it because of anonymity. Take that away or at least create a barrier to that and things would improve. Some of these idiots really would stop and think “maybe it’s not worth getting a fake net licence just to tell Amanda Holden I hate her”

Maybe I’m naive and these things can always be beaten. I just think it would be a start. If the internet just arrived one day, rather than gradually evolve like it has, a lot of this licencing etc would have been considered in advance. Sadly the nature of politics means that 90% of the lawmakers are from a past generation and don’t even understand the ins and out of the internet, how can the legislate it.

Sorry about typos!

I have the best of both worlds: an incredibly lousy rural broadband speed, despite living less than 300 yards from superfast fibre on a newly built estate. Sometimes we can go days without any internet.

I think it a shame nothing is done to support improved broadband in rural communities, yet so many services eg banking, VAT returns, even report broadband failure (BT hide the phone number) etc are all having to be done online these days - our village lost its last bank a couple of years ago. Admittedly we are not far away and can drive to a wifi hot spot as even 4g doesn't enter our house, but the point is we shouldn't have to in order to access things.

I have made some incredible friends through the internet, and met some people for shorter, fun times.

I can share my creative work with a wide audience and chat to people all around the world who enjoy the same things as me.

I can buy anything, listen to anything and see and learn anything I want. Brilliant. What is to dislike?

YABU in my opinion. DS is autistic spectrum and the internet gives him access to people who like the same kind of stuff as him and some kind of feeling of belonging, which he doesn't get with NT people. I look back at how miserable and isolated the "weird kids" were at the schools I went to and I thank the universe on a daily basis for the internet for that reason alone.

I also love how easy it is to keep up with all my family and friends who are abroad. We don't lose touch and can share aspects of day to day life that you just wouldn't if you were still writing letters and posting them, or making expensive telephone calls.

My DD had WhatsApp groups running for all her GCSE subjects and used online resources endlessly. She is a visual learner, so would much rather watch videos on subject topics, than read it in a book. And with the internet, she has that choice.

From a working perspective, it has made my life a million times easier, as I can research, review, book and change so many things - which I could never do before.

From a personal perspective, as a single mum, I do not know how I could have held down a full time job and raise two DC, if it hadn't been for internet shopping to get my food delivered, to get my bills paid, to do all my banking and get clothes of ebay!

I love the internet!!!!!!

It's like saying people would be happier if printing had never been invented, or if living in towns had never been invented. Some people probably would be happier, others wouldn't.

For me, the internet is almost wholly positive. I am old enough to have lived as an adult before access to the internet.

What its invention means to me is:

I can keep in touch with supportive colleagues via twitter.

I can do my work to a much higher standard because it is easier to check information and find out what is going on elsewhere in the field.

I can support ill or struggling students to a level that simply wouldn't have been thought of when I was at uni.

Disabled students or students with MH issues are able to take my courses because they know material will be available to them online or through email if they can't make it into my classes and they can get a quick reply to any worry or concern they may have.

My disabled daughter did not have to cope alone without a peer group when she was unable to get out of bed: she always had her online friends.

I was able to access help for her thanks to knowledgeable online advice (note least from MN).

I was able to locate and read recent research about her condition and understand what was happening.