The Internet has had an overall positive effect on our society.

First of all, I think you can trust my word that it is that many people, I didn't bother to put in a source that you could as you say, research yourself, nor a source that was only a small part of my argument. While the majority do not have the internet, I did manage to secure myself with a definition that states that by overall, I meant those who are affected by the internet: both users and hosts. And just because someone does not have the internet, it does not mean they cannot be affected positively by it. You have no reason to say they aren't. If, for example, a charity organisation for the homeless reaches out to a huge community that it can do most easily by email, meaning larger amounts of donations, the people who receive the donations in the end, who do not have the Internet, are still positively affected by the Internet in receiving donations. The burden of proof is on you on that point. Furthermore, while the economy still exists my point was not economic existence but economic blossom. My point was the Internet is a huge asset for the economy. And people still find love. However, the positive thing about the Internet in this department is that it allows users not only to broaden their horizons but to find people who are most compatible. By broaden their horizons I mean that love is difficult to find and out of the few thousand people you meet, very few of these people are people you may want to have a relationship with. However, using the Internet, you can find someone, out of millions, who you otherwise never would have met. That person may well be the one for you. And even for those who do not have the Internet, consider the potential the Internet has to track people down; or come into contact with a person who has contact with another person who perhaps does not have the internet. The Internet, even if not directly, can facilitate very broad communications. And here you turn a blind eye to the importance of this information. Perhaps the best use of this information is instructions. Websites like "eHow" and "howtodothings.com" can come up with help for people with all kinds of difficulties. Then we have sites that help to answer questions, like Yahoo Answers, and sometimes people go to forums and other sites to ask for medical help. Information can be used to find the smallest or most diverse of businesses, perhaps which are necessary to find a rare product that you need, research for school work, access news sites, the list goes on. You can check and perform your finances online, learn language phrases, with pronunciations, for your next holiday, and even plan that entire holiday online! As for people being entertained, my simple answer is, no-one can be against that. The Internet can relieve hours of boredom, though I admit it seems hardly a crucial use, and face it, our society likes to be entertained. YouTube, perhaps the place for entertainment, has become one of the Internet's most popular sites. The Internet provides easier access to all media of entertainment, radio stations, music, videos, TV, movies, there are even some good things to read out there. Youtube, by the way, is not only a hub of entertainment, but has been used, and I say this from my personal experience and the experience of people I know, to do research. You can find rare video clips on the website that are relevant to a wide range of topics. Or clips that explain things visually. And on the topic of commercial purposes, online shopping is a huge phenomenon, that like small businesses, gives us access to rare products that may or may not be found in your country, and they get delivered to your door. Advertising on the Internet is also very widespread, keeping other websites alive. eBay, of course, and similar sites, have given regular people the chance to buy and sell useful goods for low prices. I agree that we should meet people with different views, but lucky us, the Internet facilitates this too. Here we are, on a debating site, filled with members of the most diverse opinions. And there's nothing wrong with meeting like-minded people too. In any case, it's a person's choice to find who they wish - this debate isn't about that. My point was simply if we are stuck, as I sometimes am, with people you have trouble being around, it is always good to have people who you are similar to to talk to. I find I make the best of friends with such people. And the big one, social skills. Of course, the Internet has had some negative effects on people's social lives, however, I like to look at this a different way. I see this, once again, from a personal perspective. Using the Internet, I met a girl who was not only like-minded to me, but who became a very good friend of mine. I (a naturally shy person) have managed to even improve my social skills using another debating site, and on instant messengers which helped me talk to people I couldn't talk to in actual life. I managed to make progress on friendships with these people, even outside of the virtual world. Another study, I might add, (http://www.news.com.au...) shows that young people do still tend to friendships outside of cyberspace. I've even seen this from personal experience again. Many of my peers have active social lives, even though they regularly use the Internet. As for my education, I think the Internet has been hugely beneficial. Not only do our teachers regularly set homework that requires the Internet, and justifiably so, but I have a habit of doing a lot of research and learning from the Internet. I have gained a fairly vast amount of general knowledge that has helped me to understand a lot of things at school and in other places, be it religious, political, pop culture, statistics, studies, etc. I still am not on my school debating team, but ever since I've been practising again and again online, my skills have progressed a long way, even if I don't show it in this debate (or yet), but that's for the voters to decide.