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Information and communications technology has helped people work, study, communicate and access entertainment, while also creating risks that include cyberattacks, misinformation, cyberbullying and environmental costs. A History of Sorts essay argues that people should use ICT thoughtfully and that harmful practices need better regulation and enforcement.
Information and communications technology (ICT) has become a routine part of work, education and personal life, but its growing reach brings risks as well as convenience, according to a new essay from History of Sorts – WORLD WAR II, MUSIC, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST. The piece points to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ireland’s 2021 health-service ransomware attack and the spread of social media as examples of how ICT can sustain essential connections while exposing people and institutions to harm.
The essay says ICT helped keep economic activity and education going during the COVID-19 pandemic, and made remote work more accessible. It also describes how video calls and messaging apps can help families stay in contact across borders. The author recounts communicating daily with a son who moved to Tilburg in the Netherlands for an Erasmus study project through the University of Limerick, using WhatsApp.
The article cites the ransomware attack on Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) on May 14, 2021. Ransomware is malicious software that restricts access to computer systems or data, often until a payment is made. The essay says the HSE shut down its computers and restored them individually. The incident illustrates how an attack on digital infrastructure can disrupt services, though the essay does not provide figures on the attack’s financial cost, duration or full operational effects.
ICT’s downsides include the rapid circulation of misinformation and conspiracy theories, as well as online hate speech, historical distortion and cyberbullying. The essay also raises concerns about social-media image editing and the pressure to meet unrealistic appearance expectations, particularly for younger users. It highlights the material footprint of devices, including lithium-ion batteries and the mining of their component materials, and questions the electricity demand associated with charging them.
Everyday life · digital society
Living With Information And Communications Technology (ICT)
ICT helps people work, learn, connect and find entertainment. Its reach also brings security, social and environmental risks that call for thoughtful use and stronger accountability.
01 / The everyday shift
From Pandemic Work to Streaming
Smartphones, tablets and broadband have brought communication, work tools and entertainment into daily routines. During COVID-19, digital infrastructure helped keep education and economic activity going and made remote work more accessible.
Connection
Across distance
Messaging and video calls help families stay in touch. The essay recalls daily WhatsApp conversations with a son studying in Tilburg through the University of Limerick’s Erasmus project.
Creative access
Make and share
Recording software can reduce the need for expensive studio time, while streaming services distribute music and video on demand across devices.
Applied technology
New possibilities
3D printing may support prosthetic limbs and other medical items. The essay offers this as an example, without production figures or clinical evidence.
Connect
Networks link people and services.
Work & learn
Digital tools support remote activity.
Create & share
Content moves across platforms.
Depend
Outages can disrupt essential routines.
02 / Exposure and harm
The Scale of ICT’s Harms
The essay identifies serious concerns, but does not quantify their prevalence or severity. Its examples make the risks visible while leaving their overall scale open.
Case study · Ireland, May 14, 2021
A ransomware attack targeted the Health Service Executive (HSE). The essay says computers were shut down and restored individually. It does not report the attackers, ransom demand, total disruption time, full operational effects or final cost.
- Information integrity: misinformation, conspiracy theories and historical distortion can spread rapidly.
- Online safety: hate speech and cyberbullying can affect people across digital spaces.
- Wellbeing: edited images may reinforce unrealistic appearance expectations, particularly for younger users.
- Environmental and labor costs: lithium-ion battery materials involve mining, while device charging uses electricity; the essay supplies no impact data.
Evidence coverage in the essay
03 / A balanced reading
Benefits Carry Real Costs
Digital services are central to work, education, healthcare and family relationships. Their convenience does not make every effect beneficial, and the essay argues that individual caution alone cannot address system-wide harms.
Benefit
Reach and access
Remote work, online learning, communication and on-demand media can make everyday activities easier to access.
Cost
Reliance and exposure
Cyberattacks can disrupt institutions; online platforms can amplify abuse and pressure. The essay does not compare the scale of these effects.
Response
Use care; enforce rules
Pause before reacting to messages and use services sensibly. The essay also calls for better regulation and enforcement, without naming specific rules or agencies.
04 / Open questions
Responsibility and Regulation Ahead
The essay makes a broad case for responsibility, but leaves practical policy questions unanswered: how rules should address platform design and online abuse, what could reduce misinformation, and how device-related environmental and labor costs should be weighed.
What the evidence can support
The piece names the HSE attack and describes a recovery process, but gives no financial or duration figures. It also cites no studies or specific policy proposals. Further evidence is needed to compare benefits and harms or assess remedies.
Quick reference / key questions
What to Take Away
What is the main argument?
ICT supports work, learning, communication and entertainment, while bringing security, social and environmental risks. The essay favors sensible use and stronger oversight of harmful practices.
What happened to the HSE?
Ireland’s Health Service Executive was hit by ransomware on May 14, 2021. The essay says computers were shut down and restored individually; it gives no cost or duration.
Which social risks are named?
Misinformation, conspiracy theories, hate speech, historical distortion, cyberbullying and pressure linked to edited images and unrealistic expectations.
Which environmental concerns?
Battery materials, possible mining risks and labor concerns, and electricity demand from charging devices. The essay does not quantify these effects.
ICT’s Everyday Benefits Carry Real Costs
The essay’s central point is that digital services are no longer optional extras for many people. They can support education, work, healthcare and family relationships, making outages and cyberattacks a practical concern for individuals and public institutions alike. The HSE example shows that ransomware can affect services beyond the computer systems directly targeted.
At the same time, the convenience of social platforms and on-demand media does not make their effects automatically beneficial. The article links online environments with misinformation, bullying and mental-health pressures, while noting that device production and use also have environmental and labor implications. These are distinct concerns: the essay does not quantify their scale, but argues they belong in discussions about ICT’s benefits.
The piece concludes that individual caution is useful but insufficient on its own. It calls for stronger regulation and enforcement of harmful aspects of ICT, without specifying which rules should change or how enforcement should work. That leaves the argument as a broad call for responsibility rather than a detailed policy proposal.
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From Pandemic Work to Streaming
ICT covers technologies used to create, store and exchange information, including computers, mobile devices, networks and communications services. The essay describes how smartphones, tablets and broadband have brought work tools, messaging, social media and entertainment onto devices people carry every day. During the pandemic, that infrastructure also enabled more remote work and learning.
Digital distribution has changed music and television as well. The article notes that recording software can let musicians produce and edit audio without relying on expensive studio time, then distribute work through streaming services. Video platforms provide on-demand viewing across phones, computers and televisions. The essay presents these changes as gains in access and convenience, while warning that an increasingly screen-based routine may reduce the need to leave home.
It also points to 3D printing as a useful technology, particularly for designing and producing prosthetic limbs and other medical items. The article does not provide examples, production figures or clinical evidence, so this is offered as an illustration of potential applications rather than a measured assessment of the technology’s impact.
““There are advantages and disadvantages to the use of ICT systems.””
— History of Sorts – WORLD WAR II, MUSIC, HISTORY, HOLOCAUST
The Scale of ICT’s Harms
The essay raises concerns but does not quantify the prevalence or severity of misinformation, cyberbullying, mental-health effects, battery-related emissions or labor risks in mineral extraction. It also does not cite studies or identify specific regulatory proposals, so readers cannot use the piece alone to compare the scale of these harms with ICT’s benefits.
Details of the HSE attack are also limited in the essay. It names the date and describes a shutdown and recovery process, but gives no account of the attackers, ransom demand, total duration of disruption or final cost. The broader claim that charging demand can strain electricity systems is not accompanied by energy-use data or a comparison with other sources of demand.
Responsibility and Regulation Ahead
The essay proposes that users pause before reacting to messages and use digital services sensibly, while arguing for better regulation and enforcement where ICT causes harm. It does not set a timetable, identify regulators or describe a specific next policy step.
For now, the article leaves the practical questions open: how rules should address platform design and online abuse, what measures would reduce misinformation, and how the environmental and labor costs of devices should be weighed. Those issues will require evidence and policy detail beyond the broad case made in the essay.
Source: Key Questions The essay says ICT supports work, learning, communication and entertainment, but also brings security, social and environmental risks. It favors sensible use alongside stronger regulation of harmful practices. The essay says Ireland’s Health Service Executive was hit by ransomware on May 14, 2021, and shut down its computers while restoring them individually. It does not give further details on the incident’s cost or duration. It cites the spread of misinformation, conspiracy theories, hate speech and historical distortion, along with cyberbullying and pressure linked to edited images and unrealistic expectations. It points to the materials used in lithium-ion batteries, the risks and low pay that may affect some mining workers, and electricity demand from charging devices. The essay does not quantify these effects. Source: History of Sorts – WORLD WAR II, MUSIC, HISTORY, HOLOCAUSTWhat is the main argument about living with ICT?
What happened in the 2021 HSE ransomware attack?
What social-media risks does the essay identify?
What environmental concerns does the article raise?
