Reliance on the Internet

Haylee Dussault

            In the novel The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, he discusses a lot about how the usage of computers has changed much over the years. Through his words, he is trying to prove the point that the usage of the Internet is now far outweighing the usage of books, newspapers, etc. From my personal experience I would have to mostly agree with his views on the increasing amount of Internet usage, especially in reference to the younger generation in the past ten years. 

           Personally, I have not picked up a book to read for leisure in at least a few years, and I imagine that I am not the only person around my age that feels this same way. Instead, I choose to use my free time texting, connecting with friends on various social networks, and watching the television and movies. I also find that I feel uneasy when I am not connected to the internet which is why I believe most people have their phones attached to their hands at all times, including myself. It was not surprising to me when Carr stated, “By 2009, adults in North America were spending an average of 12n hours online a week, double the average in 2005” (Carr, 86). I am also positive that the amount of Internet usage has since increased again and again since in the three years since 2009. 

           Although people of older generations may not tend to use the internet as much as younger people because they did not really grow up around it so they really find no reason in spending time to get to know how to use it. This must become increasingly more difficult because nowadays if something can be done online it usually is in order to conserve paper and to get things done more quickly than they would be by just using paper. Therefore, I guess you could conclude that I believe that today’s society has proven to be very dependent on the Internet for many reasons. If the Internet were to randomly stop working tomorrow, there would be mass hysteria. No one would really know how to function in everyday life without it because everything today is run by the Internet. Businesses would fail, bills would not be paid, people could not get the necessities they need to survive, and altogether there would be panic and chaos. The major line of communication that connects nations would be completely cut, and nobody would really know what was going on in the world aside of outside of their doorstep. This is why the world would not continue to run as efficiently as it does today if there was no more Internet.