The Internet Might Be Good for Us
If we heeded most of the advice we hear about the internet, we might never go online again. We’re told digital spaces make us depressed and anxious—maybe even a little dumb. They keep us siloed off in self-reinforcing tribes that heighten our biases and make us angry at one another. The constant glow of our phone screens interrupts our sleep patterns and hypnotizes us during daylight with a constant barrage of push notifications and endless possibilities for distraction—most of it making us feel much worse about ourselves. Our children, in particular, risk mental illness and a new form of addiction. An entire genre of literature has emerged around these warnings, urging us to save ourselves and unplug.
But is this just a giant moral panic, whose effects have been largely overblown?
