Nicholas Carr is the author of the article, Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains, and has written multiple other books about technology, business, and culture. His book, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, has been a piece for debate as it questions the effects on our thinking and ways we perceive things. Much of his writing is his criticism on our relationship and reliance on machines and technology in our lives. He also used to sit on the editorial board of advisers for Encyclopedia Britannica, steering board for the World Economic Forum’s cloud computing project, and worked at UC Berkeley as a writer-in-residence for the journalism school there. And has also received an award from the Media Ecology Association, the Neil Postman Award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity. Clearly a well versed writer on the topic of technology and the role it plays in our society along with the effects it has on us. (A writer of books, essays and ephemera)
The article is aimed towards 24-35 year old’s that use the internet for getting their information, recreational or for work. Since people within this age range are those that typically have been using technology like google for some time and know it well. They would also be the ones that would have the more prominent symptoms as younger kids are less likely to be constantly reading articles online. Also being the ones who would have professions more seriously, longer emails and documents that are surrounded by ads and other hyperlinks. And many people within this age range would be those that live a busy life and check the news via websites either on a computer or phone. As a result of this, they would be the most affected group from constantly being on either a computer or phone for work or leisurely purposes. With that said, it also makes them the target audience since it revolves around their lifestyle the most accurately. Opposed to the younger generation who don’t read articles online often or the older generation that doesn’t know how to navigate the internet as well, making it more difficult for those two groups to relate to the content of this piece.
The extensive use of the internet and the negative effects it has on our brain is the main message that Carr is trying to get across to the reader. He discusses how the accessibility of the information on the internet makes people lazier as they no longer have to go searching for it as hard. The way in which technology has impacted the brain is by making it more difficult for us to recall and retain information. This is caused by our cultures urge to make things more efficient and faster, which is the main purpose for technology. But as a result of connecting efficiency with reading, it is shown that those who use technology more tend to skim and not fully absorb the information in the article (Is Google Making Us Stupid? What the Internet is doing to our brains). He is bringing this issue to the forefront as technology continuously evolves and worsens the already evident problems with our memory.
Written on a website where it is common for other articles containing intellectual arguments similar to this one. The timing of the article was during a period where technology was rapidly evolving. With not many studies or much interest put into the long term effects of computer use, positive or negative, this was one of the first of its kind. Now bringing attention to the possible repercussions that extensive use of technology may cause to our society.
The genre in which this article falls under could be classified as primarily informative with the fact of how he revolves the piece around the negative effects. But could also be classified as being a little persuasive at the same time. This is shown through his bias of promoting a less dependent mind set on technology and reading online.
Being that the article is written on a website, there were many distractions pulling your attention away from the article. The writing by itself was not distracting as it was in black text and formatted like any other form of writing. But there were many ads on the side of the article as you scrolled down to read more. Also, ads were placed in between every four to five paragraphs. And they weren’t your typical small ads that the text could wrap around, they would take up majority if not all of your screen when you scrolled past. I found this to be distracting as they were clearly meant to grab your attention but not only did they do that, but it would also make it hard to focus on the topic of the prior paragraph after looking at a big moving ad. Typically these ads were videos, only one of the breaker ads was a small banner that didn’t take up majority of the screen when I read it.
Screenshot of one of the many massive ads, can barely see any text from article on whole screen