By KATHERINE BAKAITIS
Staff Writer
The World Wide Web (WWW), a source we all tend to revolve around, just turned 25 years this past week. It’s difficult to believe that something so young has made such a large impact on all of our lives, both for the better and worse.
Not to be confused with the Internet, which is a global system of interconnected computer networks, the Web is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet. The Web is just one of the ways that information can be spread over the Internet, email being one of the other mediums, though it’s no doubt the most used. The Web and Internet are amazing tools that have progressed mankind in ways never thought possible, but it’s also the main reason why I can never get any work done in a reasonable amount of time, and I think I speak for everybody on that one.
Some people believe that the Web and Internet have turned people into thoughtless zombies, and that may be true for some (okay, the majority), but when used properly, access to the Web can be a phenomenal tool. Online banking, degrees, training and seminars, and purchases are just some of our capabilities while using the Web beyond searching information. It also helps us connect, spread opportunity, and it gives us all a voice. The main reason why North Korea does not allow its citizens access to the Internet, along with the Web, is because they will have gained admission into the largest information source in the world, and for a country like North Korea, having informed citizens is a deadly prospect and having those informed citizens communicate through those means is even deadlier.
While Twitter may not be technically part of the Web, its impact on certain countries should be taken note of. The Twitter Revolution refers to different revolutions and protests, which were coordinated using Twitter, such as the 2009 Moldova civil unrest, claiming that the elections, which saw the governing Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova win a majority of seats, were fraudulent. The 2009 and 2010 Iranian election protests, also known as Green Revolution and Facebook Revolution (which is part of the Web), was primarily started over Twitter, along with the Tunisian revolution of 2010 and 2011 (aka the Jasmine Revolution and Wikileaks Revolution) in which the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali was ended after 23 years, the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, where the rule of Hosni Mubarak was terminated after 30 years, and even the Euromaidan Revolution in Ukraine, beginning in November of 2013, which consist of ongoing demonstrations, civil unrest and revolution due to the want of closer European Union relations.
With such a wonderful tool at our disposal, there are bound to be some rather severe drawbacks. These disadvantages of the Web mainly center on the public accessibility of private information. Whenever a person gets on to the Web, they always become susceptible to their private information getting into the wrong hands. Naturally, this often results in identity theft which can be a burden on the victim’s finances, credit history, and reputation. While access to current events and information is a wonderful benefit, it can also be a huge shortcoming because we run the risk of reading and citing information that has not been edited or proven, resulting in misrepresentation. Also, users become distracted or even addicted, and as a result are not doing more important things other than surfing, such as regular physical activity, being productive in the workplace, and spending time with family and friends.
Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the Web, said that “the Web as I envisaged it, we have not seen it yet. The future is still so much bigger than the past.” I wish I could imagine what he envisioned because looking at the Web right now, I haven’t the slightest clue how much farther it could expand. And branching off of that, could its expansion be for the benefit of mankind, or be its pitfall?
