Via a comment on Jeff Jarvis’ blog I found this site with the rather Ronseal name of The internet is shit. It essentially appears to be one man’s 11 part rant against what he sees as the undeserved hype that surrounds all things internet.
It opens with this excellent statement which makes a pretty good manifesto (if you agree with him):
The internet is shit.
It is vitally important that we all realize this and move on.
Bizarrely for someone who works in digital marketing, there are parts that resonate with me, especially this one, which should be pinned to the monitor of every blogger/journalist in the word:
Checking your sources does not means finding another website that says the same. Fiction is self-perpetuating
To be honest, even if I didn’t agree with a single statement I’d still be glad for it as one thing that the web definitely does is encourage a kind of groupthink where everything is just taken as read.
So, what do you think? Is the internet shit?
Internet image by altemark on flickr
I clicked on the link but frankly TL;DR
I can think of at least one site that’s shit.
The page you posted does make me think, and I agree for the most part. I’ve kind of forgotten what a day is like without me checking the internet at least once… I keep meaning to try it but haven’t managed to see it through yet.
Personally I think the internet is an amazing thing, and has levelled the playing field for entrepreneurs – it used to be that you usually needed money to make money, these days you just need an idea and a focused approach.
On the other hand, I’m aware that the internet has singlehandedly destroyed my level of concentration… everything is so temporary and I can skim-read the most talented writing in seconds without ever becoming engaged in the content. That’s a shame in my opinion.