The internet is brilliant, we have just about everything we need at our fingertips: information, news, how to lose weight, Christmas shopping, communication tools, work, grocery shopping, etc. it is endless and virtually there is no reason to have to leave our homes. How lazy is that!? All we need is a spoon and someone else to put it in our mouth. What ever happened to being resourceful… I mean in the sense of going to the library to find a book or a journal. My entire lit. review could be done without leaving my computer. So instead of searching the library I am searching for a new coffee shop that offers free WiFi. Sad. The unfortunate part of the internet is not only that people are being lazy and the obesity epidemic is on the rise, but that people aren’t seeking out alternative forms of communication for information. We get so used to clicking the mouse, often I think we forget other things exist.
Just to vent for a minute, Sunday night I was trying to reserve a plane ticket to Oregon for Christmas time with a $100 voucher that I had. (FYI I got the voucher because last time I flew United they canceled my plane and said I couldn’t fly out until 24 hours later!) Apparently you cannot use the gift certificate online. So I had to call customer service. Well, now that everything is automated these days it took me 30 min. to talk to a real person. The connection was terrible so the man could not hear me very well, so that was another disaster trying to give him all of my information. So an hour later I finally get the ticket, or so I thought, and THEN he tells me that in order for me to actually get the ticket I have to go to the airport within 24 hours to retrieve the ticket!!! Are you kidding? So Monday morning I go to the airport, pay to park and stand in line forever. I finally get helped and something is wrong, my confirmation # isn’t right, nothing is coming up. Another hour later I finally get a PAPER ticket (who uses paper tickets anymore anyway?) of which I will probably lose in the next 2 months. IF ONLY I COULD HAVE GOTTEN THE TICKET ONLINE!
As far as Public Health is concerned I think that since the Web 2.0 (or higher) is where the world is going, we might as well and use it to our advantage as health promoters and get out there and make the most of it, like it or not. I agree that the internet can cause confusion, especially because there are all different levels of education, literacy, etc. With that much info. how do you know what is true and what isn't. Some know what to believe and what may need to be looked into a little deeper instantly. Others are more gullible, like me, if it seem like it makes sense and it sounds like a credible source I buy into it. I think the other thing we run into with the web is that we might be heard, but are we heard by the people we want to hear us?
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