Date: Thursday, August 2, 2007
Online innovations: a positive or negative development?
With the recent development of cyber marathons, experts are questioning whether all the facilities that now allow us to live our lives exclusively online are actually a good thing.
This year the online marathon arranged by Second Life's Relay for Life has raised over $90 000 for the American Cancer Society, definitely a worthy achievement by anyone’s standards, but what has been called in to question is the manner in which they have raised this money. Concerns have been raised that those who increasingly spend more and more time online with the large amount of resources now available, are actually cutting themselves off from reality. You can now shop, date, download music, chat to friends, and bank online, meaning that there is practically no reason to leave the house.
Health experts are worried this increasing reliance on online activity will lead to people living in a fantasy world that has no basis in reality, but participants in the online marathon have fought back arguing that raising money for real life charities are not the actions of people ensconced in a virtual world. Others seemingly agree with them as there are over twenty teams taking part in this marathon, which lasts an amazing 24 hours. Real-world marathons would never be able to last this long, and many would welcome a marathon which allows them to take part without expending any effort! The amount of money raised online also points to the support this type of fundraising has received; it seems that online marathons are definitely here to stay! But the question still remains can they substitute for the real thing? Marathon aficionados would answer a resounding ‘no’, saying that nothing could compare to the feeling of actually running a marathon, and that cyber marathons are a cheap imitation. However others may say that with our lives becoming ever more based in the cyber world, perhaps virtual marathons are more effectively demonstrative of the world we live in today.
Whatever you think about the rapidly growing amount of online innovations, one thing’s for sure, they are only set to increase. And whilst you do not have to participate in them, you definitely won’t be able to stop them.
Sources:
Guardian
This article is the intellectual property of Pan European Consulting Limited and any unauthorised reprinting or publishing on other websites is an infringement of copyright.