This Week in CQ Researcher

Impact of the Internet On Behavior
By Alan Greenblatt


In addition to its mammoth impact on commerce and media, the Internet also has had a profound effect on thinking and social behavior. Has the Internet made people more impatient? Shortened attention spans? It certainly has blurred the line between work time and leisure and family time. Many academic researchers and books are now arguing that the Internet is making us distracted and anxious. But plenty of countering voices say the amount of knowledge and communication facilitated by the Internet makes for a good tradeoff.

Author Nicholas Carr is in the middle of the debates. His new book, The Shallows, explores whether the Internet affects the way we think and process information. He thinks the effect has been negative, but others say the Internet is helping to create a collective intelligence that is adapting rapidly to the massive amounts of information that now come at plugged-in people every day.

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