I don't think its good or bad (aside from its obvious carbon footprint). It all comes down to who is using it, and I'd suggest we humans just aren't ready to use it in the most optimal ways and avoid the wasteful, divisive ways. We probably never will be. But with its waste, we perceive limiting it as being a worse evil.

.. it's just a tool.

of the internet.

People "friend" and "unfriend" each other easily, "join" and "unjoin" groups on a whim. There is no real contribution to the relationship and thus they are cheapened.

Imagine being trapped on a desert island with someone, and you have to depend on each other to survive. Now imagine he's an asshole. You'd have to actually work at that relationship, and in the end it would mean something.

didn't learn, case in point how other countries have universal health care for their citizens which works very well and we don't. We've been told forever that it doesn't work cause no one can get in to see a doctor without a long wait...months even.
We also learn how other countries live because we can and do communicate with each other now with ease.
We can easily share what we've learned, or want to help others with, like genealogy or whatever we think we can teach others.
We can see things we never dreamed of seeing. We don't have to wait until maybe..just maybe.. it will be on the television machine, we can see them because someone posted a video. We can not only see things, but re-see them as many times as we want.
Some things beautiful beyond descriptions that only pictures can describe, and also some things horrid and we can see they need fixed.
On the whole, I think the internet is the best thing since sliced bread.

The first world has been in reactionary mode since 1975-1985. Hardly an advertisement for the liberalizing effects of mass communication in the first world. In the third world that story may not be the same. One size not fitting all, etc..

I get that people WANT to think i-tech is helpful because they like i-tech... but as an engine of social progress (in the first world)?

Where? How?

Learning how other people live, up front and personal...and the internet is as close as most of us will get to that experience. Communication between people of different cultures, backgrounds, economic status, etc. always serves to teach what does and what does not work for the improvement of people's lives.
Today we have communication beyond what anyone ever dreamed possible even 30 years ago. A lot of it will be wasted on trivial pursuits, but a good share of it will make a difference in personal lives and social progress in general. Not everything comes by leaps and bounds, but by putting one step in front of the other.