The internet is whatever people want it to be. It was a device created for the use of mankind through unlimited means. If we want to use it for good, then we can: websites like Wikipedia[footnote]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page[/footnote] can be used to gather information and spread our knowledge around the world, the official websites of various bands help us expand our horisons (if we know where to look, that is. The first band to ever become famous off the internet was Sheffield-based group Arctic Monkeys[footnote]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Monkeys http://www.arcticmonkeys.com/[/footnote] in 2006); social websites and forums like The Escapist[footnote]Do I really need to link to this?[/footnote], MySpace[footnote]http://www.myspace.com/[/footnote] and Facebook[footnote]http://www.facebook.com/home.php[/footnote] allow us to meet new people and socialise with members of the world whom we would have no chance of even meeting beforehand. The internet was originally going to be used so that scientists could communicate to one another from across the world, it can be a wonderful place
But with that, it can be manipulated for whatever we want as well. Approximately 80% of the internet is solely spam, only used for stealing identities, infecting computers and robbing people of their money. Porn sites and casino sites regularly give viruses to people's hardrive (whilst doing Work Experience at a computer firm, an infected computer had over 400 viruses from gambling and casino sites). Political sites and religious sites can often give half-assed arguments and bullshit that use persuasive language to get people to believe them, regardless of the possibilities of the ideas behind them being wrong.
So, I have no idea whether the internet has helped or hindered us, whether the good outweighs the bad or any other way of saying it. The internet is only what we want it to be; it is not the internet's fault that it has scarred the english language, that is the work of us in front of the monitors; it is not the internet's fault that /b/ is the scum of the internet, that is merely the fault of the users who feel like gods due to their anonymity. If we became less anonymous on the internet, maybe that would help, but the final step towards improving the internet is improving the people on it.
EDIT: Fuck sake, how many times do we need to read another Avenue Q reference? We get it already, now shut up and post something intelligent that we can discuss.
