The Internet is Sh*t

[Lithos]

A rant that I found which I agree with to a surprising extent.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The internet is shit.

It is vitally important that we all realize this and move on. People (eg Bloggers) go on and on about how wonderful it is. About how much information is out there in cyberspace. About the way that everything is within reach in just a few clicks of their mice.

For instance:

"If I can operate Google, I can find anything... Google, combined with Wi-Fi, is a little bit like God. God is wireless, God is everywhere and God sees and knows everything. Throughout history, people connected to God without wires. Now, for many questions in the world, you ask Google, and increasingly, you can do it without wires, too."

Alan Cohen, V.P. of Airespace, a new Wi-Fi provider, New York Times, 6/29/03

I can name 20 people from my old school class who aren't in Google. I can walk into any public library, no matter how tiny and underfunded, and find facts, stories, amazing information I would never touch in a month of webcrawling. I can go into a bar and hear stories Usenet hasn't come close to in its 22 years of waffle. "Oh but what about the stuff you CAN get on the web?" the netheads say. But they're missing the point.

The internet is not the sole basis upon which you can determine existence. It sounds simple but people are starting to forget. If it doesn't have a website, that doesn't make something low quality. If you can't Google your blind date, that doesn't make them a freak. If one website says something about anything, it's more than likely pure invention and shouldn't be taken seriously. Checking your sources does not mean finding another website that says the same. Fiction is self-perpetuating.

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http://www.internetisshit.org/

[Bethtany]

1. Library?

What library do you have where you can find information on people you graduated with that isn't on Google?
I have had amazing luck finding information with Google.
I can find quotes using two or three words, Bible verses, information on dates in history, even receipes. If I had to trudge over to my library anytime I needed an important piece of information I wouldn't bother.
I wouldn't compare Google to G-d, but I will say it's an amazing time saver.

[SmileyBoy]

2. I disagree. Google is shit.

I never use it, I think it's fucking WORTHLESS. The reason is because when I'm trying to find something using specific keywords, I get a list of usually 11,000 or more unrelated webpages with one, or even a PART of one of those words in the page description, that have nothing to do with the topic I'm looking for. out of those 10,000 hits, I may get a total of 10 or so web pages that remotely have something to do with it, and a LOT of those page hits repeat themselves. Hell, I get lots of page hits that have NONE of the keywords, and couldn't have anything LESS to do with the topic I'm searching for. While I'm zipping up my flame-retardant suit, I will say once more that Google, and most other web search engines are all a bunch of PUTRID HORSE DIARRHEA. There, I said it.

[Maple]

3. I agree

Sounds like a Luddite rant to me.

Always the complainers....

[Lithos]

6. Nah

Just like a little substance to my information. The Internet is often light on that.

L-

[Maple]

7. Depends on

where you look, and for what.

Stuff at the library is often years out of date too.

No one said the net was Nirvana...but it's hardly shit either.

I do a lot of research...and I don't know how I managed without the net. A great up-to-date timesaver.

[Lithos]

4. :)

There are plenty of sources which Google can't use. These include private Intranets, books, microfilm, newspapers, etc. The amount of print and information not freely available is staggering. The amount of information available on the Internet, while large is probably less than 1% of the written or archived material.

Also people are too willing to accept that the Internet is all you need as an information source. Yet while it carriest he power of the printed word, it is one of the least credible sources available. As a casual example witness the large number of hoaxes generated, believed, and enacted by the population at large.

L-

[roughsatori]

5. the internet is just another tool

And a fool using any tool (no mater how sophisticated the tool) is still a fool. To attack the internet or Google because some people do not know how to research, or say silly things in their blogs is akin to attacking the pencil because of some things someone wrote with it.

I do however agree with many of the points.

[SOteric]

8. I would never let

my students think that text surfed off the 'net was an acceptable substitute for good, thorough research.

The internet can enhance one's life, but it isn't a substitute for life.

That said, I see an awful lot of folks hereabouts I'd really prefer to have taking at least the minimal time to Google a topic before they launch an under-informed screed. But maybe that's just me.

[umcwb]

9. See, I don't understand that....

If you can find the correct answer or information in 10 minutes on the web, why is it better to spend 5 hours in a library to come up with the same material? I mean, with the internet, you still have to read, you still have to filter through bullshit to find the correct answer, it just takes less time. Any web equipped computer has access to more information than the nicest library in the world, why would we want to discourage its use?

I don't know what level you teach, so I don't know if you are just trying to give your students a firm understanding of research, I just don't understand the fixation on process, as opposed to end result.

[gyopsy]

10. I agree

Using the internet for research papers and things of that nature is okay I think as long as it isn't abused.

It's absurd to spend so much time in a library when you can find that exact same quote or piece of data on the net.

A problem though is the possibility of false information or poor research on the part of some of these websites. You never know how trustworthy your source is when you take information from the internet. But I still find myself using it anyway.

[umcwb]

11. Yeah, false information is a problem,

But internet research doesn't mean using the first page that pops up on Google. As I said, if you can find the correct information on the web in a fraction of the time, what reason is there to spend your time (time which I could spend on other subjects) in a library. Besides, who says that just because something is written in a book, it becomes Holy Writ? Anyone can write a book, just as anyone can make a webpage.

[SOteric]

16. Well then, you'd be very disappointed in our rules for research.

I teach at the university level. Not only does our department not allow text surfed from the internet to stand in for thorough research, (with the possible exception of some specific academic sites in limited application) we insist that they not support their work with research that accepts advertising.

So, reference materials from our library are acceptable, Time magazine and The Washington Post are not.

[umcwb]

17. Don't get me wrong, I understand the rules and accept them....

All of my upper level Poli Sci and Phil. teachers have similar rules, hence my frustration with libraries (I spend so much time in them). I can deal with research, because I have to. The first 5 years of my career are going to be spend neck deep in research.

Out of curiousity, what department do you teach in?

[SOteric]

18. English Lit.

at a Jesuit school.

[leftist_rebel1569]

12. if the internet is shit,

why did they post it on the internet? Why do they even bother?

[umcwb]

14. Zing. n/t

[Lithos]

20. Because that is where the target market is?

Seems obvious to me.

[ZenLefty]

13. Did you find this article on the internet?

Hmmm?

Ironic, isn't it? ;-)

[Lithos]

19. Nope

Mailed to me

[ZenLefty]

21. Mailed??

Don't you mean Emailed? Nobody uses paper envelopes and stamps to communicate anymore. US Mail is just for spam and bills. It's out like the rotary phone, the manual typewriter, the 8-track player, canned beer. :o

[Lithos]

22. Yes, emailed

However, I will tell my father what you just said, he's connected but he still mails me letters as opposed to email. Says they are more personal.

L-

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. I loved this!

I often cringe at the number of sites reporting information that all end up being self-referential and linking back to one another as though mulitplying bad information or innacurate information makes it true.