Bazan 1

Melanie Bazan

Professor Beadle

English 115

25 September 2017

A Monstrous Reality Online (Graded Essay)

Modern day life has become easier as a result of the immense contribution of the Internet

and there is no doubt that Internet has made our life more convenient. Due to an increasing

dependence on technology, the internet has been seen as a necessary space that has risen like no

other. The Internet, not only, allows for communication, but it also ensures the ability to quickly

find information, images, and products. Every day the internet continues to provide new ideas

that are convenient and make life easier for web users. Although there are advantages, it is also

considered to be a monstrous space with the numerous amount of negative effects that it carries.

The Internet contains some disadvantages which are seen as monstrous when they are distracting,

and addicting. In addition, the fear of not being accepted into society is another reason which

demonstrates being brainwashed by platforms used daily. The Internet contains anything and

everything, which at times leads to danger. While the Internet presents a convenience to society,

the monstrous space uncovers the obsession of the online world, cyberbullying, and the loss of

traditional values.

The use of the Internet has led to an increase of distractions causing technology to

become addicting and time consuming. Relating to My Zombie Myself: Why Modern Life

Feels Rather Undead, written by Chuck Klosterman, Klosterman describes zombies as creatures

that simply seek to eat the brains of humans, which similarly relates to modern day and how
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devices that use the space of the internet are consuming humans as well (Klosterman 40). Users

of the internet are being consumed just as the figurative language used to convey the idea of how

dangerous it truly is. It brainwashes society into thinking that the usage, which is considered to

be an addiction, is normal. The obsession of social media, easy access, and how instant the

internet is in general has been the major reasoning to the the addictiveness. The constant use of

the Internet has led to anxiety, just one of the many effects given off from the usage of the

internet whether it is waiting for an email, looking up information, or deciding a caption for a

post. This is a fear that society has created due to their addiction to over use the power that is

given. Users often become anxious due to separation anxiety from the Internet whether the wifi

connection is lost or just when the device being used is dying. The modern day world has left a

fear of how the society is evolving more on a basis of technology instead of real world problems

that are faced everyday.

The effects of the Internet through addiction has led to the fear of acceptance in society

where we as humans always tend to worry how many likes we got, or how creative a caption

was. The fear has led to an increase of stress that most tend to face and call real world problems

when in reality there is so much more out in the world. This ties into one of the major fears that

the Internet has constantly seen throughout time, which is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a very

common form of bullying and as the use of technology has increased, it happens on a day to day

basis between the ages of 10-18. Personally, I have been a victim of cyberbullying back in high

school, my sophomore year. In high school, I was very involved whether it was being vice

president of my class, staying involved through leadership or being on the water polo and swim
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team. Everyone had respect for me because I was able to keep a 4.3 GPA and stay involved. I

was a very positive girl, unsure of what bullying really was until I was the one being treated

poorly. One girl, who I trusted and believed was a strong supporter of mine, turned out to be the

complete opposite. She turned her back on me and would start messaging me about the way I

looked and always made me feel bad about myself. Suddenly, I was not this positive girl

anymore, I was confused as to why this all started. It had me thinking, was she jealous or did I do

something wrong? I knew it was becoming an issue when teachers and my counselor started

noticing a change in my attitude and personality, I became shy and feared the Internet because I

knew I would come back to more negativity that I did not want. I was finally able to tell my

counselor and got through it, which helped me get back to my positive self, but I will never

forget this part of my life because it has truly impacted the way I view society due to how much

the Internet is valued when in reality, it is a dangerous spot.

Not only does the Internet alter a persons mind, but the spread of it has overpopulated to

the extreme causing a change in the way humans communicate and think, making it a convenient

process. Although convenience is needed in how fast our society works, the high usage has led to

a lack of traditional values which are feared to be lost. The lack of face to face communication is

one of the many ways that traditional values are lost and zombies can relate through being like

the Internet and the media and every conversation we dont want to have (Klosterman 42). The

author attempts to provide a valid claim that demonstrated the way modern day is changing in a

negative manner. Also, as mentioned in Understanding Rhetoric, in different social spaces

affect how we communicate, which is evidently seen through the differences of online
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conversations versus in person (Losh 2). Throughout time, the Internet has evolved and it affects

users in such a manner that abuse and take advantage of them. The loss of traditional values in

the way we communicate or learn has led to the monstrous fear of the easiness of using a search

engine while browsing on the Internet. Usually when people are stuck on a question or they are

just trying to figure out something they tend to look it up online. People in modern day do not

think, as laziness has been seen to be progressing due to the Internet since it has become a

reachable component. Instead of educating themselves, the search engine is there to answer a

question, which is an untraditional way of learning.

Throughout the years, the Internet has evolved and become more of a rapid growing

process that is a necessary source most people use because it assists efficiently, creating benefits

for them. However, there are many fears and disadvantages after accessing the Internet.

Although the internet is a daily necessity to almost all humans, the negative effects truly portray

the reality of how monstrous they can be through forms of addiction, laziness, and cyberbullying.

In addition, it reveals that although humans value the internet like no other, sometimes face to

face conversations or just educating yourself in a traditional manner are better methods to

communicate and learn. The use of the Internet has made humans change dramatically by being

brainwashed to become vulnerable in the world we live in due to the negative effects that it

carries. In addition, it has become accessible, in which everyone is able to apart of this

consumption while in reality there needs to be a fix to society and the use of technology,

specifically the Internet.

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Works Cited

Klosterman, Chuck. My Zombie Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead. Monsters.

edited by Hoffman, Andrew J. Bedford/St. Martins. 2016, pp. 40-42.

Losh, Elizabeth M., et al. Understanding Rhetoric: a Graphic Guide to Writing. 2nd ed.,

Bedford/St. Martins, 2017.