...while ignoring the negative aspects and pretending they don't matter.
But it's not really the Internet as an abstract mechanism, it's the fact that the Internet is a very effective tool for algorithmically propagating and enforcing political, social, and economic conformity - camouflaged as this freewheeling anarchic thing that will save us all from exactly the things it's promoting.
People want conformity, and they rewarded the vendors who gave it to them, no one forced it upon them. People choose to gravitate towards like minded people, and choose to consume things most other people like. The only reason it didn’t happen before on such a scale was that it wasn’t as economical.
The positive of being able to communicate with anyone at any time and/or lookup information almost instantaneously are worth the downsides (which we need to collectively fight against) in my opinion. It’s like any other tool, it’s made life a hell of a lot easier, but you can also cause damage with it, but that’s up to the person.
You're right. And this is where human psychology can and is being manipulated for financial or political gain, hence the internet has become the largest and most effective tool for such in the history of humanity. I don't underestimate the net benefits internet has brought to the table but same goes for the negatives.
All the algorithmic propaganda is entirely optional. If your view of the internet is only what you see on FB, twitter, and instagram, then sure it's pretty terrible. But you aren't under any obligation to sit there and scroll through advertising, Zuckerberg isn't holding a gun to your head. Social media is an echo chamber that seems much larger than it is, with far less voices contributing than it might appear (1).
