Caught in the Net

The essay “Caught in the net” written by Eva Tihanyi is an essay describing internet users. The thesis in Eva’s essay is “For some, the Net is a reliable companion, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week—one that never sleeps. For others, it simply provides easy access to a vast array of data”. There are certain people that use the internet as a education tool and a way to stay connect to the world; but there is also people who abuse it and take advantage of the internet which in turn takes over their lives.
In Caught in the net Eva’s strategy is appealing to all internet users from one extreme to the other. She explains how there is three different levels of internet usage; dabblers, regulars, and addicts. Eva gives a brief example of each level of usage by giving hour times that you spend on the internet and what you use the internet for. She also talks about the benefits of the internet by getting access to world news, sports, lifestyle, fat-free diets and keeping in contact with people around the world.
In the first section of her essay she gives a description of what dabblers are in the internet world. Eva explains that dabblers are occasional users and go on the internet for a couple hours a week. They might send an email or two to friends across the country, explore different places in the world that they might want to travel and even buy tickets for a concert. They use the internet for specific reasons and would much rather watch a movie or go out for dinner with family.
In her second section Eva gives a description of what regulars are in the internet world. Eva explains that regulars visit the internet more frequently then dabblers. They visit the internet 8-10 hours a week mainly for work related purposes but also for other entertainment purposes such as buying cds and books.
In the last section Eva gives a description of what addicts in the internet world are. She identifies them as spending as much time as they can (an average of 38 hours per week) logged on. They browse web sites for hours, join chat rooms pretending they’re someone else; they feel irritable if for any reason they can’t get on the internet. Eva goes on in explaining that some of the symptoms of an addict are losing friends and jobs.
In conclusion, the world of internet has a vast variety of uses and users. There is many positive that come with using the internet, but at the same time there are many negatives. The positives are how it interacts you with the rest of the world whether it is with family, friends, news, and even shopping or new designs. The negative is when it is taken too far and takes control of your life.
In summary, Eva Tihanyi essay on the web gives a great description of the different types of internet users. She categories them as dabblers being “the occasional users who go to the Net for several hours a week, usually to look up something specific, such as a Web site for a video game company or references to the Olympics for their son’s school project. They might send an e-mail or two to friends across the country, explore tourist attractions in Florida, order concert tickets, or print out next week’s train schedule (Caught in the net, Eva Tihanyi). As regulars being “ they visit the Internet more frequently and more routinely, eight to ten hours a week. They use it for work-related business; to keep up-to-date on world events, trends, and political developments; check out daily horoscopes or lottery numbers; purchase books, CDs, or unique clothing. There is no end to the variety of items from basic to bizarre for sale on the Net, and the regulars make a regular habit of buying them” (Caught in the net, Eva Tihanyi). And finally addicts being “ They don’t need a reason for spending hours at their computers; in fact, they often need one to shut them off”(caught in the net, Eva Tihanyi).

Work cited
Tihanyi, Eva. “Caught in the Net.” Canadian Content. 5th ed. Ed. Nell Waldman and Sarah Norton. Scarborough, Ontario: Nelson, 2003. 111—114.