Seven Digital Deadly Sins

The invention of the Internet is the most significant event in the history of mankind since the Industrial Revolution. Steam engines and factories freed us from manual labor in the fields and gave us leisure time; now Facebook and Twitter allow us to lead virtual lives on a global scale. Social media have freed us from the limitations of our physical being, but not from ourselves. So what influence has the digital revolution had on our morals and our values? probes this question on the basis of the classic seven deadly sins, making use of the communications possibilities offered by the Internet: videos, posts and polls. The tone of the video interviews with well-known Britons is tongue-in-cheek. Folk singer Billy Bragg admits spending whole days watching “fail videos,” while novelist Gary Shteyngart claims to have outsourced his entire literary production to Bangalore. And comedian Josie Long reveals that she kicked her boyfriend out to spend more time on Twitter. But above all, it’s the stories of 20 anonymous Internet users – a cyberbully, a hacker who takes control of cars using a computer, a couple whose wedding went viral – that demonstrate that the Internet has in fact changed some aspects of our actions, thought and judgment.