Websites: good and Bad

In doing that little exercise during class, I realize that are many ways that the internet has infiltrated our lives, both good and bad. There are many people who say that it's negatively affecting our lives through loss of privacy, too much dependency, too much information to filter through. I believe that's true for those who let it be more than what it is, a tool to make our lives easier.

In brainstorming for different sites that have positive uses, we came up with a few for each category. For personal relationships, facebook is the clear winner. But for other segments of the population, eHarmony and match.com facilitate people meeting because of common interests and may develop real relationships that become life partnerships. I know some divorced people who have tried to find a new partner through these sites, and some have been successful. They tell me it's more safe than playing at the bar or club scene and more satisfying than waiting for someone to introduce you to a third party via blind dating. These sites provide a "preview" and hopefully the person, when met in person, has not been lying and it can lead to at least a pleasant evening.

For commerce, Amazon, ebay and craigslist are sites that are useful. Although every store has a website for purchasing goods, these offer the competitive power of having multiple vendors to choose from and if you trust reviews from previous customers, you can gauge whether that vendor is a trustworthy merchant. There are many textbook sites that I have used, valore.com, half.com and others, but I always go to amazon first to see if the price is better and because I've never had a problem with shipping or delivery.

For info sharing, what is better than getting all the news you could want or need from CNN or Google News. All newspapers have a online version so local news is just a click away as well. Local municipalities and towns have websites that updated fairly regularly, so you can find out if your town has a Halloween event or other special things without much search. I know my neighborhood group has a website which publicizes events that are for us only, as well as crime reports of petty vandalism or theft so we can all be aware.

For health, I think that webMD is a pretty good source. I have used it occasionally to try to self diagnose an illness and to research more of illnesses that friends have had. I used it recently to begin to learn about something I was just diagnosed with and it was helpful.

And for public good, there are a glut of websites. We can be as simple as Sparknotes for students who don't want to read or as complex as familywatchdog.us where sex offenders are listed based on proximity to the address you put in. I know that I have used that one before, especially before Halloween and we're about to trudge from house to house in search for free candy. It's good to know who your neighbors are, because they aren't advertising their proclivities.