While the Internet has a history dating back to the 1960’s, in many ways it didn’t become a part of people’s lives until the spread of broadband brought it to homes in the early 2000’s. Once it took off, it sunk its claws deep into the global psyche. These days, people can’t function without the Internet, though there have been some growing pains. Take a look at the 15 biggest Internet controversies of the past decade. Above is Heather “dooce” Armstrong, one of the first people to be fired for her online activities.
One thing you’ll notice is that most of those controversies are relatively new. That’s because the Internet is always changing, and our relationship with the Internet is constantly in flux. For example, who would have thought even five years ago that there’d be blogs, and that you could be fired (or dooced) for blogging in them? Not me, that’s for sure. I mean, I knew of blogs, and kept an online journal that nobody read, but to think that this little hobby would take off and become something people everywhere did is just mind-boggling.
What’s next for Internet controversy? Well, if I had to guess, I’d say it’ll do with something we haven’t even thought up yet. Probably bandwidth thieves, or any number of things.
Tags: Internet controversies, controversies, biggest Internet controversies of the decade, the Internet decade, controversies, the Internet, blogging
