Has the internet increased of decreased our personal freedoms? Has it changed the way you behave?

There is no question in my mind that the internet has both increased and decreased the personal freedoms and changed the behaviors of almost everyone in the world. To me, the real issue is getting people to understand that with any technology there are benefits/conveniences, and there are costs/risks. It is really easy to see the benefits of technologies such as the Internet and its myriad of killer apps (email, web pages, search, SNS, etc etc etc), all the more so because that is what the marketers and champions of those technologies want us to see.

But just like driving a car, we have to realize that with the convenience comes a risk. As the classic saying goes, the only completely safe computer is one that is in a locked room, disconnected from the Internet, and turned off... That is not to say of course that we should let the fear of the risks prevent us from adopting the conveniences! The important thing is awareness - that connecting to the Internet does expose us to the possibility of being attacked, that using email means getting spam from time to time, that using e-commerce means sacrificing some privacy and increasing the possibility of identify theft.As for me personally, I would definitely say that the Internet has made me a bit more careful about what I do or say in 'real life'.

Sure, in the days before the Internet, people could spread the damaging rumors in any number of ways, but the Internet has made it possible to do on a much larger scale and much faster. But I think that the main dangers to our safety and our reputations are not so much changed from the days of pre-internet.In the end it is about awareness, and understanding the implications of giving away personal information or making a derogatory comment about someone by name, whether it be to a possible con-artist on the street or to a possibly malicious SNS on the internet.

I totally agree with you. The next step in protecting from any image damage someone should do is: use a different location or different names ( user name) to be false on google,yahoo etc. To hide I do stop here because we know better it's better to write or view what you wish . Until you don't do anything wrong according to laws or policies you're safe.

Cheers Hopefully I asked it to you.

Well, if possible internet exposure has made people stop and think twice about acting like idiots, then that's a good thing! It really hasn't affected the way I behave, because I don't usually pull dumb, embarrassing stunts anyway. I had great parents who taught me to behave with dignity (although I did have some moments in my younger days and thank goodness the internet wasn't around yet).

I think it's pretty darn rude to post embarassing videos or pictures of other people, but unfortunately there are a lot of rude, uncaring people in this world. I seldom post ANY pictures of anyone online, and never without their permission (or their parents, in the case of my grandkids). To protect your reputation online, you only need to do the same things you do to protect it in your real life: mainly, don't be a drunken dumb*ss and choose your friends carefully!

I guess you can be a dum*ss without drinking, but the two usually seem to go hand in hand.

I don´t think personal freedom can increase or decrease. It is there - your freedom - unless you allow something or someone to take your personal freedom away from you. And well, the best protection for online and offline reputation and history is to behave in an acceptable manner.

Never had any problem in over 12 years on the net or for that matter in 54 years of my life. And speaking of personal experience, it´s nice to be just nice! :).

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.