Extra Credit blog for Post 10

The article entitled, “The internet in the Aftermath of The World Trade Center Attack” describes the way in which the Internet had an effect on the news the world was getting. It also brings up the controversy issue, that the terrorists who were involved in the attacks may have used encrypted porn or even steganography to communicate and synchronize the attacks. The article goes onto explain the ways in which the internet was used as a resource on the attacks for thousands of people, in that present time and after. One of the key sites in where to go after attacks was the Red Cross website. The Red Cross received so many hits on their website that Aol, yahoo and Amazon began to accept donations for the Red Cross to help them during there capacity overload. The article explains how the web really gives people the opportunity to be helpfully in a new way, in the Red Cross example, over one billion dollars was made from donators all over the world.

As much as there is good on the Internet there is also the bad. Events like the WTC attacks stired up controversy all over the web. The article talks about how hackers made fake websites to collect money, pictures were circulating of a man supposable on top of the WTC and hate sites were built. Most of these ended up being harmless but people still found away to capitalize on the disaster by registering URLs like, 09112001.com and so forth. It’s crazy the lengths people will go to make a buck and the Internet essential become the store. People took pieces of the WTC and sold it on ebay, this was obviously banned but after awhile became legal again with all the money being given as donations.

The fact that the Internet holds so much wait over us makes it an almost escapable tool. We are subjected to see things like the WTC Hoaxes sites and sellers who are using disasters as viable profitable markets on e-stores. The article is describing the way in which we are so attached to the internet and the level we get are information. I would agree with the statement made in the article, that the internet “Brings us closer, faster to distant people, but its also a tool of terrorist and others who would sabotage human solidarity” (648). By creating such a powerful media platform, like the Internet, we have to realize that the power it posses can be used for good or bad weather we like it or not.