BBC 6分钟英语学习 互联网是好是坏？

English from BBC, learning English. Hello.

Welcome to Six Minute English. I'm Rob, and I'm Neil.

Now, neil, can you remember the 1st time you've ever used the World Wide Webb, or as we often call it, the Internet,

and what you used it for?

Oh, that's a good question. I do remember.

And,

well, nothing really changes, does it?

Because I looked up pictures of cats.

Cats, very useful. Anyway, do you think the Internet has generally been positive or negative for the world?

Wow. Now, that is a big question, a huge question.

I don't know if I can answer that.

Hmm. Well, one person who perhaps can answer it is the man who invented it, british computer scientist Tim Berners Lee.

We'll find out what he thinks has become of his child shortly.

But before that, a question for you all.

When did Berners Lee 1st suggest the idea for what would become the World Wide Webb?

Was it A? 1985? B, 1989, or C, 1991?

Tricky, but I think it's earlier than people think.

So I'm going to go for 1985.

Well, that was a long time ago, but we'll reveal the answer a little later in the program.

I think it's true to say that the Internet has been one of, if not the most important technological developments, perhaps of all time.

Would you agree? Meal Well, it's hard to imagine living without it.

Not impossible, but not nearly as convenient.

These days, we take the Internet for granted.

We share our lives on social media, and not just with friends and family.

And that isn't always a positive thing, according to the father of the Internet, tim Berners Lee.

In a recent BBC tech tent program, he talked about his concerns with the Internet, and particularly the companies that control its information, companies, which he calls Internet giants.

What does he say he thought these companies had to do?

Initially, I felt the main thing that an Internet giant had to do was to just to be neutral, just be a platform.

And humanity, once connected by technology, will do wonderful things.

And and clearly it doesn't work like that.

If you connect humanity via Wikipedia, then they do produce, in general, wonderful things.

If you connect people by a social network, where they have anonymity, then it can bring out the very nastyst of people.

So what did he say he thought these Internet giants had to do?

He said that he thought initially that they just had to be neutral.

Initially means at 1st in the beginning, and it also suggests that later he changed his mind.

Anyway, he said that he thought they just had to be neutral.

Neutral here means that they didn't need to do anything.

They didn't need to control the Internet or information.

He thought it would be a tool to connect people and ideas and information, and it would be wonderful.

But it's not all good, is it?

No. He does say that giving people access to sources of information is generally a good thing, but that when it comes to social networks, social media, people have anonymity.

Anonymity, yes, it means that on the Internet, people can hide their true identity or personality.

Some people write things that they would never say to someone in person because they think there will be no consequences.

Burners. Lee says anonymity can bring out the nastiest side of people, people saying horrible and terrible things to each other.

Berners Lee does have some suggestions for how this could be changed, and it's based on the idea of likes and shares, which he calls qudos.

What's his suggestion the the different social networks, the different platforms, are in different situations?

In some cases, they've acknowledged that there's an issue.

I think they realize that the issue perhaps be hugely amelated by tweaking the way the thing works, by changing the way retweets are all propagated, or changing the way people get qudos, give them more cuedos for being constructive, E.G.

So how does he think companies could address the problem?

Well, he says that some of the social networks have agreed that there is a problem, and they know what could improve it.

He didn't use the word improve, though, did he?

No. He actually used the rather formal verb ameliorate, which means to improve or make something better.

So how does he suggest the problem could be amelated?

By tweaking the way in which people give or receive qdos?

Tweaking means making a small change to the way something works.

Much of what happens on the Internet is driven by our desire to get likes and shares.

This is the qudos that Berners Lee talks about.

He feels that tweaking this could lead to a better experience, e.g.

getting more QDOS for constructive or positive actions.

Interesting, but I wonder who we decide if something is constructive?

Well, that's another big question for another day, I guess.

For now, though, let's have the answer to our small question.

In what year did Burnersley present the idea for what would become the World Wide Webb?

The options were A, 1985, B, 1989, or C 1991.

It was, in fact, 1989. Now, before we go, let's have a quick recap of today's vocabulary.

Initially means at 1st in the beginning,

and then we had neutral. Hmm?

In this case, it meant not controlling or not taking any action to

control. Then there was the noun anonymity, which is the state of having a hidden identity or personality next To ameliorate a situation is to make it better.

To tweak something is to make a small change to the way something works.

And then we have, of course, qudos.

Qudos's praise and appreciation for something you've done well.

Qudos to you, rob for today's program.

Thank you very much. Well, thank you, neil.

And thank you everyone for listening.

That's all we have time for today.

But you can find us on Facebook, twitter, instagram and youtube, and of course, our website, BBC learning english dot com.

Bye for now. Thanks for joining us.

Say goodbye.

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