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Gina Warrick
Professor Stutsman
ENG 101
Essay 2/Prompt 2
June 15, 2021

Views of Google

In our world today, Google has become a huge part of our everyday lives. We Google

just about everything we need or want to know. Whether for school, work, or just for fun.

Everyone has their personal opinion of how they believe Google is a good or bad thing. In the

article "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr, he acknowledges even though Google

can give us quick access to all the information needed, it has affected our way of thinking. It is

altering the way we read and process that information. In "Google, Democracy, and the Truth

about Internet Search," by Carole Caldwalladr she acknowledges how Google and Facebook

impact our social injustices and discrimination. While both authors have different reasons why

they believe Google is affecting us, both have valid arguments and reasoning. Although we use

the internet for a lot of different reasons, when using it for educational or work related purposes

we should make sure we are using valuable resources.

Starting with Carr's views, he believes that using the internet alters how we read and

write while processing all the information. He supports his argument with personal experiences.

It's changed the way he used to think and read. Carr says, "Now my concentration often starts to

drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to

do. I feel as if I'm always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that

used to come naturally has become a struggle." (425) Researching used to take him days and a

lot of time in a library, now he can do all his research in minutes. Carr uses the internet for work
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and pleasure, spending free time reading articles, watching videos, blogs, sending emails, and

listening to a podcast. The advantage of the internet is the ability to receive the exact information

needed quickly. Carr argues that browsing online for that information can easily distract us;

while having other things opened on our screen, we lose focus. We are less capable of containing

information online instead of from a book.

After reading Carr's article, I'm afraid I have to disagree that Google is making us stupid,

but I believe it hinders the way we think, read, and write. The internet is a daily tool; it can be

used for work, school, and social life. In my own view, Google is not making us stupid if

anything; it makes our lives easier, but on the contrary, it does make picking up a book, reading a

magazine, or going to the library a lot harder to do. We start to get comfortable with everything

being a click away is taking away from things people enjoyed years before the internet became

such a big part of everyone's lives. Since Carr's article is over a decade old, Google has only

gotten better and taking the attention of so many more people. My grandparents are now fluent

Google users at ninety years old; it's the way of life now; ten years ago, I could not even get

them to get a computer. Books, magazines, newspapers will slowly keep going away, making

technology the only way.

In the second article, Cadwalladr starts by giving an experience she had while googling

the start of a question and having Google predict what question they thought she was about to

ask. Are Jews and having all downbeat endings to that question come up "are jews a race?", "are

jews white?", "are jews christians?" and finally, "are jews evil?" (480). Although that is not

something, Caldwalladr was searching for; she found herself consumed by these

articles. Caldwalladr believes that Google is a bad influence, and fake news spreads rapidly; it

can also influence the presidential election by spreading lies about its opponent. It happened with
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Trump, and it will only keep on happening. She argues the sole purpose of Google and

Facebook is to allow users to access information worldwide. These social platform companies

provide fake news to benefit financially and to grow. They are giving these companies complete

control of the data being put out without being through the law. They are more concerned with

their website traffic than what is being put out.

My whole life, I have heard never believe what you read on the internet. My parents

have been telling me this as soon as I was able to use a computer. After reading Caldwalladr's

article, it only makes more sense to me. Social media platforms need us to use them to keep

growing; it only makes sense for them to give us clickbait articles, fake headlines, and lies to

keep us reading, sharing articles, and wanting more information. I believe that there is truth to a

lot of things we see on Google or search. It's not all fake news, while the majority most likely is.

I agree with her that democracy is affected by Google and Facebook. I have often found myself

starting a search and seeing all the suggestions pop up, and at that point, I am clicking away

because I feel the need to know more. Manipulating the information that is given is happening

every day. The suggestions being showed to get the attention they want from you can be racist,

homophobic, evil, and purely mean, creating social injustice and prejudices.

While reading both articles, the connection I made between both is that Google affects

our daily lives differently. People are using the internet for everything they need, research,

questions, reviews, etc. We believe Google is making this easier for us when hurting us without

even really knowing it. The difference between both articles is each author is arguing their own

individual belief. One way is the amount of fake news being spread, it's only hurting us, and

while most of us find ourselves reading and believing it, we are only part of that problem. It's

causing hate all around us. The other way is we are saving time when doing research, no
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libraries, no books, no hours and hours of research, and it's all a click away. Everything we need

we can find in minutes. However, it has weakened our attention to be able to concentrate while

reading books or longer articles, and our attention is elsewhere. Newspapers and magazines are

becoming obsolete. Right now, the world of technology is substantial in our lives. Do I believe

Google is making us stupid? No. Do I think the amount of fake news that is out there is hurting

people? Yes. This will always be happening. There is nothing one person can do to fix any of

these issues. We need to learn to understand it's the way of living right now and will only

continue to be this way.

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Work Cited

Carr, Nicholas. “Is Google Making Us Stupid” They say, I say: The Moves That Matter in

Academic Writing with Readings Eds. Gerald Graff, Birkenstein, Cathy and Durst,

Russell. New York: Norton 4th ed. 2018. 424-440 Print

Caldwalladr, Carole. “Google, Democracy, and the Truth about Internet Search” They say, I say:

The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing with Readings Eds. Gerald Graff,

Birkenstein, Cathy and Durst, Russell. New York: Norton 4th ed. 2018. 480-499 Print