It is both. It is a great way to communicate legitimately and touch base with potential, hm. how do I say this without revealing too much about myself...

In my retirement, I have something that I do and I want to market my product. The internet gives me a great opportunity to "spread the word" (not via spam, but through facebook, Linked-in, and other social networking sites), set up my own webpage, and make contact with people involved in the production. Plus it gives me the ability to quickly send messages to friends and family. Facebook is particularly useful in this regard.

It is also a great way to research and on-line encyclopedias like Wikipedia (even though it is not overly authoritative, it is a great place to start) can really help with the initial information. Amazon provides access to thousands of books on any topic and makes purchasing them very easy, all from the same chair that I use to produce my product.

At the same time, the internet is a great waste of time when one is just surfing or addicted to porn or some other non-productive thing. It provides dangerous avenues to one's personal information and with the exception of businesses that I know and trust, I don't reveal any financial information and then, it is limited in scope.

The internet also provides an easy distraction, but because I've been involved in the computer industry, I can just as easily walk away. I frequent this forum (about the only one that I'm active on) more for something to do once in a while than something that I'm addicted to (I know, my top contributor suggests otherwise), plus I can help answer questions and defend my personal path from detractors.

The internet is particularly dangerous for kids and teens, especially from a criminal element that has nothing beneficial in mind for them. And, it is the new "junk mail" of the electronic era (and has been for a long time). The only advantage is that the amount of snail-mail junk mail has decreased considerably over the past few years.

Fortunately, e-mail filters are getting better and the blocklists are very effective against some of the more constant sources of spam.

But, like all businesses (and the internet is a business), there are a lot of con artists out there. It is very easy to acquire a domain name (and will be even easier in the future) and set up web pages from which you can spread both truth and lies (both subjective terms) about people, places, and things, like religions.

The internet is quickly becoming the new "cable" for television (I own both a Roku box and a player with internet capabilities and have severed the cable, which often delivered nothing of interest. Now I watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it and don't have to wait for Netflix to deliver it. Many television series are available within a day of its initial broadcast.

So, for me, I consider the internet both a boon and a problem (it is a curse when criminals are involved).

Mostly I hold with the opinion that the internet is full of crap and most of that crap is not true. It also encourages speculation and gossip with little fact checking. However as a tool to encourage discussion and debate it's excellent people talking is always better than people shooting at each other.