Week 4 Topic 1: C

C) p. 181 To what extent are ‘dangerous materials’ prominent on the Internet (or ‘junk and jerks’ as Kollock put it)? What do their existence mean in terms of the ‘freedoms’ the Net allows? Is freedom always positive?

Freedom is not always positive and i believe that the internet can be a dangerous place for young children especially. Children are not fully aware of the ins and outs of internet so for instance when using a search engine like google they may type in what they are looking for but the results may come up with something completely different and not at all suitable for young children.

Pornography,peodaphilia, public displays of unsuitable content and hacking into accounts are a few of the headings for 'dangerous materials' and ones which are easily acceptable to the naive younger generations.

Evidence of this 'dangerous material' is a news story which came from the teenage social networking website of the name Bebo, here on this social networking website memorial pages were uploaded of young adults involved in a suicide pact:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1576338/Police-fear-internet-cult-inspires-teen-suicides.html following this link and reading more into the story it too proves that cults/ fads areeasily made never mind the dangerous outcomes and also the worrying proof that parents are unaware of the internets dangers.

It is clear that the internet has brought with it various negative aspects and some which are unavoidable however there is plenty we can all do to ensure the positive nature of the internet is not lost, by reporting anything slightly suspicious or harmful in content.