The word internet for many can be a topic of controversy. Half of the population believe that the internet has made a positive impact on the world while others believe that it has only brought negative impacts to the world. In the article “On the Internet, There’s No Place to Hide” Jonathan Koppel expresses the idea of how the use of technology more and more has now been treated as an act of an everyday thing. This might cause an act of isolation within each individual, and not only that but behavior as well. In the article, “Brave New Social World” William McCafferty conveys his idea that people nowadays are grateful towards technology and the internet because they can express, project, and make their voices be heard. Along those lines, many individuals rely on the anonymous aspect. Although it might boost someone's confidence because you're able to hide your identity behind a screen, you have to recognize that in the future it might be tough handling your life through a screen. Looking at the two articles together we get a clear response that both authors have their own opinions about how the internet can be handled but conjoin their ideas and realize that individual privacy is exposed to technology and the use of it.
In the article, “On The Internet, There’s No Place to Hide” Jonathan Koppel demonstrates the idea that the use of technology nowadays is used as an approach or avoidance. As an act of an everyday thing in their social life. We can look at the internet as an approach to communication with each other and a way to express and build within each other's feelings. One thing that we notice is that being behind a screen can lead to avoiding your identity and hiding who you are for many that is the reason they are so attached to any social media base, because they are scared of being judged by demonstrating their true self. He states “In its early years, one of the most cherished characteristics the Internet offered was anonymity.”(495) followed with “Your imagination was the only constraint on your identity. In the words of the famous New Yorker cartoon, no one knew you were a dog.”(495). In these two quotes almost immediately following each other Koppell explains, that any person who is on any technology-based device is free to express who they want to be. Yet again being afraid to show their true self. Throughout his article he explains how now that technology has progressed things are different from what they used to be, it's not simple to hide behind a screen anymore. Especially since when everyone believes that their information is private well let me tell you that it might not be that way anymore.
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Koppel mentioned that “Currently, it is relatively easy to avoid identification on the Web, but it has to be approached consciously”(497) as well “Privacy protection may keep our names and numbers from prying eyes, but we may never again be able to lose ourselves in cyberspace.”(498). Koppel’s biggest concern and emotion when he stated these two quotes is that the internet is not private, reliable, and safe. When looking at his argument we notice that his concern and his approach towards his argument is to get the audience alerted of what is going on. The internet isn't safe therefore what should the next steps be? Well from what we can tell be alert to our surroundings and be conscious of what we put out there to the cyber world.
In the article “Brave New Social World” William McCaffarty agrees that the internet and social media have become a great source to allow many individuals to be given opportunities to express, project, and have their voices heard. You can look at this as an individual's safe spot to be able to be who they are even if it's behind a screen. There are many ways a person can express their emotions towards something. McCafferty mentioned “My usage of social media tools is from a neutral side,'' says Hassanein, sounding very much like an objective news reporter. “Social media makes me feel like an observer. It gives me a sense of what's going on around me at all times” With that statement above we not only see expression but opportunities to know what is happening and be able to be a part of something, knowing that your opinion counts towards something.
Many are grateful for the creation of the internet, we might ourselves why. Well because social media platforms were created. These sources of media have helped many people project their voice and have made themselves be heard, Koppel demonstrates how many have taken things to their advantage to express themselves stating the following: “I wanted to tell people that we have more interesting things than sushi, sumo, tempura, geishas, and ninjas.”(178) he also mentions “Since the disaster, like many Japanese citizens posting blogs and Facebook status updates, Kanazawa has cough and published information about the nations recovery efforts”(178). We take a look at both statements and see how they projected their voice on their Japanese culture and were able to do it through the use of the internet. Overall McCafferty way of persuading his audience is by demonstrating the process of how an individual has boon from being afraid of their true identity to becoming confident within himself or herself because of the internet.
Although both authors have strong arguments of their perspective on the topic of whether the internet is good or bad. Both have demonstrated what is good and what is not. Koppel and McCafferty both have agreed that the individual's privacy has been exposed to the internet. They agree that the internet has been or not have been yet controlled by the government. In Jonathan Koppel’s article he mentioned “Big Brother is watching you” and now looking at what he said, “The Bush administration and Congress significantly broadened the government's powers to secretly track U.S citizens”. Looking at the information that Koppel provided it is clear enough that this isn't a hint, it is clear that what they refer to as “Big Brother” is the government watching everyone every single day. Koppel stands with the fact that there isn't privacy in the world of the internet, he agrees that the government is observing us frequently. He provides the following statement “Big brother certainly has the resources and, depending on whom you ask, the technology to track people as they move about the web”(496). We can agree that when Jonathan Koppel mentions this he tries persuading his audience to connect truly with the fact that he has proved that the government privately has taken over and has been keeping an eye on everyone.
Now talking about the government William McCaffarty mentions in his article that as long as the internet is improving the more the government wants to be involved in people's lives. He provided information from the government of Egypt. McCafferty states “Egyptian Government block access to Facebook and Twitter”(180). This proves not only it might be happening in the United States but it can also happen in other places, basically all over the world if they wanted to. This just gives another check mark that demonstrates that the government is trying to gain control of many social media platforms and hold down the privacy of others throughout the world.
Overall Jonathan Koppel and William McCafferty gave their good convincing reasons why the internet can have a positive impact or a negative impact on the world. Koppel used his article to convince us that the internet isn't a safe spot anymore, and it doesn't keep your identity private anymore. On the other hand, McCafferty used his article to convince the reader that the internet has given many opportunities to individuals. Such as allowing them to have their voices heard. In the end, they both used great sources to support their argument and to demonstrate they were trustworthy.
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