The Whirlwind of Google (Blog Post #5)

You sit at the computer about to start writing a paper for class. The prompt asks for four or five sources and you go onto a web browser and start typing into the search engine. Then, you see an article completely unrelated to your paper topic and you click on the link. After quickly reading the article, you go back to looking for sources but then you remember that you have to check your e-mail. Finally, you are starting to focus on your paper but then you get a Facebook notification. Eventually, you wasted two hours surfing the web with only your name at the top of the paper.

The story I described above is common among many college students and one of the main arguments in the Nicholas Carr article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” I will admit I am one of those students. Even when I am writing this blog post, I am checking my e-mail or looking my various social media websites. I write a paragraph and then I stop for five to ten minutes to read a random article online. I am an example of Carr’s worry that humanity is slowly losing its attention. I agree that as the Internet offers a variety of access to websites, society is only getting the gist of the information provided.

For instance, Twitter is a popular social media website where users can “tweet” updates of their lives in 140 characters or less. Your followers can instantly send short stories about what is happening in their life. However, Carr quotes, “a style that puts “efficiency” and “immediacy” above all else maybe weakening our capacity for the kind of deep reading that emerged when an earlier technology, the printing press, made long and complex works or prose commonplace.” This statement rings true for me. Attempting to read classical works of literature such as William Shakespeare, the writing takes longer to decipher when in reality it is written in the same language that I speak.

Twitter is just a snippet of how society communicates with each other in fast, straight to the point dialogue. We are losing our ability to think in deep terms especially in our youth. As this article found on CNN points out, “Too much hypertext and multimedia content has been linked in some kids to limited attention span, lower comprehension, poor focus, greater risk for depression and diminished long-term memory.” (Clinton and Steyer, CNN) Our reliance on social media is slowly inhibiting us to think in broader terms. A research journal discovered in their conclusions that social media is, “their top priority and continues to need more usage in order to feel satisfied.”(Cabal, 11) Nicholas Carr was right. Google is changing our thinking patterns drastically.

Works Citied:

Cabral, Jaclyn. “Is Generation Y Addicted to Social Media?” The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications. 2.1 (2011): 5-14. Web. 23 Sept. 2012

Clinton, Chelsea & Steyer, James. “Is the Internet hurting children?”  CNN. Date Pub. 21 May 2012. Date Acc. 23 Sept. 2012 http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/21/opinion/clinton-steyer-internet-kids/index.html