The two sides of the internet
The history of the internet generally began with ARPANET in the 1960s. The creation of the internet must be one of the greatest inventions throughout humanity’s developmental history. “Without a doubt, the net has had a profound effect on almost every aspect of our lives. The formation of the Internet has changed the way we do business, our communication, our entertainment and education”( History & Development of the Internet Introduction 2007). When you talk about the internet with people, they may mostly talk about how wonderful it is to be able to download movies or music and be preoccupied with other sources of entertainment on the internet, including the convenience of using MSN to talk and see friends and how search engines have made finding answers to questions so simple. However, we also need to know the disadvantages of the internet. In this essay, I will compare the advantages and disadvantages of the internet and current developments.
Amongst the many opportunities or facilities that the internet offers are: email and chat communication (MSN), e-business (online mail order services, venue bookings and online banking services) and information resources (search engines). I shall compare the advantages and disadvantages of some of those facilities to present both positive and negative influences that the internet has brought to human lives.
First and foremost, the internet makes human’s daily life faster and more convenient by providing online services like e-mail. E-mail replaced the role of tradition letters. It is faster than original letter writing and it can be received immediately after sending. As a result of immediacy and no distance limitation, e-mail became a powerful business communications tool that can save time, energy and money (E-Mail 2007). It can be an effective way to communicate with individuals or groups of people and even the global business community. Further more, e-mail can send not only the words but also video and electronic greeting cards that people can share instantly with friends without having to make physical contact. However a negative side to email communication is worms and viruses that are contained in junk mail and cause damage to computers systems (Using Email Effectively). A virus infected email can often be very difficult to detect. Additionally, almost every email that you send has to go through a number of computers before it reaches its destination, thus some people could hack into your email and read it (Advantages and Disadvantages of Email 2007)
Another convenient function of the internet is the large number of resources that people either need or desire. To use search engine facilities is the quickest and most useful way to do internet research. According to Riley and Veale 1999, there are many famous search engines, for instance, LYCOS (www.lycos.com.uk), which currently holds information - about 5 million pages; and Excite (www.excite.com) and Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) are among the famous ones. “Just simply type the words or string words that you wish to find information about and click the search button and the search engine returns with relevant hypertext links in a matter of seconds” (Riley and Veale 1999, pp.37-46). However, according to the research of Crespo (2004, p.360), information returned by search engines is generally accepted without critical appraisal. Thus information without academic appraisal may cause serious problems, especially for those who search information for health or even medicine science treatment. Moreover, because everything is available on the internet, everyone can get online and go though different websites. For instance, children who can not accurately evaluate information may be negatively influenced by accessing unhealthy or inappropriate websites. Reuters recently reported in 19 April 2007, the reasons for Chinese young people guilty of cheating, rape or robbery are given to using the Internet or have been corrupted by online filth. Almost 80 percent of them have been seduced by the Internet (China official blames Internet for youth crime 2006).
Due to the internet, people from different cultural backgrounds around the world can communicate better than ever before. This has been the cause of the development of a new global culture in a new global village. “The internet has potential to tear down geographic boundaries and blur the distinctions between what has been thought of as tradition cultures” (Biggs 2000, p.28). There are many interesting tools that help you to see and know the world better, for example “Google Earth” (www.googleearth.com). Research in this area of world communication has shown that the internet has had a profound affect however one has to ask whether it has impacted negatively on traditional cultures where aspects of traditional language and culture have been lost to technology. Information in this area is minimal and difficult to access and not widely written about.
To conclude, the internet has brought with it many desirable facilities, however if the internet if not used with the right intention, or with the intention to harm the effects can be serious and costly. New technology is constantly being mass developed, bringing with it new opportunities and also some challenges. As with most inventions and discoveries, when put to constructive use for the betterment of humanity, these inventions are indispensable. Similarly, when used for pure personal gain unethically and at the cost of the interest of others or humanity as a whole, these valuable sources or ‘tools’ can cause devastating harm.
Reference list:
Biggs, Stephen (2000), Global Village or Urban Jungle: Culture, Self-Construal, and the Internet Proceeding of the Media Ecology Association 1: 28-33
Crespo, Javier (2004), Training the health information seeker: quality issues in health information Web sites Library Trend 15: 360
China official blames Internet for youth crime http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSPEK919620070419 (accessed 8 May 2007)
http://www.kcitraining.com/styleguide/book/emover.html (accessed 8 May 2007)
History & Development of the Internet Introduction http://www.sat.lib.tx.us/Displays/itintro.htm (accessed 8 May 2007)
Peter M. and Marks, Shayna (2005), Problematic Internet use or Internet addiction Computer in Human Behavior 23(3): 1447-1453
Passion computer, Using Email Effectively http://www.passioncomputing.com.au/Web_Copywriting/Using_email.aspx (accessed 8 May 2007)
Riley Susan & Veale David (1999), The internet and its relevance to cognitive behavioral psychotherapists Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapists 27: 37-46
Shoman, Jordi, Advantages and Disadvantages of Email http://ezinearticles.com/?Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-Email&id=242832 (accessed 8 May 2007)
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