The net is so vast and is growing so rapidly that each person's experience with it can only be a tiny sample of the whole. This is one reason it is so enchanting: you just never know what you will find when you click the mouse and explore a new location. It may also contribute to the diversity of opinions about the net's value in our lives and to society in general. Each of us partakes of different Internet niches, and our experiences can leave us with markedly different views.

Some early net pioneers, like the astronomer turned hacker-tracker Clifford Stoll, finds little worthwhile in the Internet's virtual life. In Silicon Snake Oil, Stoll writes:

Stoll's sample of Internet activity is probably larger than most, and I have some sympathy with his point – especially because certain features of the Internet have some alarming psychological effects. As I mentioned, some research suggests greater Internet use is associated with increased loneliness, and the net does take away time from other kinds of social activity.