AP Reports Young People Use The Internet

prostoalex writes "You read a lot of stories about older generation either adopting or having troubles with Internet. But some people in this world cannot imagine their everyday life without Internet. The kids who went to school during the early days of the Web are now going to colleges and are demanding broadband, downloading music, sharing photos and posting to Web logs, Associated Press says. Most of the everyday tasks, like homework and job search, have migrated to the Web as well. According to the latest data, 188.5 million Americans and more than 1 billion people globally are online."

Comments

Ok...

[krymsin01]

Where's the news in this? A story on slashdot about the fact that there are people out there in the world who can't imagine not having net access? Look who you are talking to here...

Is this a good thing?

[cozziewozzie]

For the longest time, I thought that the free exchange of information that the Internet brings would ensure that good ideas get spread, and that the overall knowledge of its users would rise as a result of being exposed to better information. What seems to have happened, though, is that people who use internet got stupider. Nobody can spell anymore (it's considered 'cool' to screw up even the most orthographically simple words). Arguments on internet boards (with a few exceptions) are getting stupider, and people who would get a good spanking IRL are turning into the most obnoxious flamers. Instead of using the vast amounts of information available to them to reexamine their views, people seek out only the articles and sites which support their already cemented opinions, with little regard to critical thought.

Sadly, it seems that, while the Internet was ready to face the challenges of global information exchange 20 years ago, we are not nearly at that stage yet. Simply providing the tools hasn't helped the society as a whole to improve our level of communication, or to expand our knowledge through the availability of information (fringe groups like scientists excluded). Because of this reason, I'm wondering whether Internet in schools will serve the purpose I originally believed it would serve, or if it will simply produce a new army of AOL and MSN Messenger trolls.