Honestly, did you even read it yourself?

I came across some scary statistics the other day - Washington Post brought some recent research from Columbia University and INRIA, the French national institute for research in computer science. According to the article 59 percent of the links shared on social media are passed, without the person who shares them has ever clicked on them - in other words: we make things viral without ever having read what it is all about.
It is basically the old point made by Nicholas G. Carr proven once again: the internet does not do any good to the way in which we get informed.
There'll be those people who find that their time is too valuable to read something that happens to be of interest to other people - but on the other hand, if it is important enough to contaminate others social media feed with, the forwarder should probably also be able to find time for it.
I will not pretend to be holier-than-thou. Occasionally, I forward something after having only skimmed it - but then it is only to individuals, and only after having skimmed it thoroughly enough to be reasonably sure that the recipient will be able to use it for something. I am simply too old to fancy the thought of answering the question: "Honestly, did you even read it yourself?" with a "uh, no ..."

(Translated from Helt ærligt, har du overhovedet læst det selv?)

Internet makes stupid - unless you're careful

...what the Net seems to be doing is chipping away my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My mind now expects to take in information the way the Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.

This is the American author Nicholas G. Carr's interpretation of, what Google, Facebook and other of the marvels of the internet do to us - we become zappers, constantly chasing new bites of information, without being able to dive into anything. Our power of concentration disappears, and we barely register the title of one article before we are in search of the next, which we do not have time to dive into.
I have thought about it before: that I myself was about to be hit by it, news and general information junkie as I am, but I do think, however, that I will be able to escape.
Or rather, my eternal quest to know everything about everything, not just keywords about everything will save me. For instance, it was not enough for me just to read on the front page of a news paper that "Facebook and Google will change your mind."
First, I had read the article in the paper, then the original piece from The Atlantic, and finally I had to find out who Nicholas G. Carr was. Fortunately I think that is more reminiscent of scuba than jet skis, and that's how I intend to continue to operate. But then again, I know all too well that I am reactionary and old-fashioned.
(Translated from Internet gør dum - hvis man ikke passer på, originally posted December 15, 2008)