Impacts of the Internet on modern day society

Impacts of the Internet on modern day society

Social impact

Individual:

The impact the internet has had on us socially is pretty terrible if we do a pros and cons list.
Every day there is millions of people doing what a big majority call “time wasting” computer gaming or browsing certain web pages, I believe everyone has their own right to decide what they do with their free time but in some ways I do really agree that our lives have been completely consumed by the internet.

It does seem that these days the government, employers, friends, everyone seems to need you to go on the internet for some reason. Whether it is to check the news, weather or even what time the cinema viewings are on, everything eventually links back to requiring the internet. Obviously you can still do things in real life, such as applying for a job but it almost seems as if they prefer internet applications these days to show that you have some moderate understanding of computer technology.

Sometimes I recognize awkward behavior in real life conversations and it makes me think about how online messaging sites such as Facebook are making it harder and harder for people to connect and communicate in the real world efficiently.

Society:

In recent years society has certainly slipped with your everyday in person appliances. Traditional shops in villages, even high streets have been affected with the cutbacks.

The internet provides reliable fast information and messaging services, it is no surprise that the online shopping is taking over with everything getting easier as it is right now. We no longer even need to travel to the bank in person since the release of online banking.

Many people have lost their jobs in a result of the internet being so applicable and easy to use. Businesses have started to use programs and online web servers to do many of the jobs that we as humans used to partake in are no longer a necessity to keep your business running.

Since the internet’s release there has been a vast decrease in how the community comes together to help one another. Social media and messaging websites are dominating the way we communicate with each other, I won’t necessarily say it’s a bad thing; new communities have sprung up online but this also brings a risk of abuse from individuals with more ulterior motives.

Economic Impact
Employment:

There has been a substantial decrease in jobs since computer technology has started to increase into the modern era; jobs that have been done by hand for many years have been relinquished from the employees in favor of new more accurate machines run by computer networks.

On the other hand there has been a new market for jobs that require top of the line IT technicians such as a network administrator or a graphic designer.

Environment & sustainability:

Since the internet went live there has been a vast increase in how many people use computers, in the millions to be precise.

Things such as going to the shops to buy your produce instead of ordering it online or going out to a park for the day instead of playing computer games could not only save yourself some time and electric but it would also help your carbon footprint not to mention help you be more healthy in your everyday life.

I don’t believe at the rate we’re going that we will be able to sustain everything we have achieved as humans for much longer. Some alternate energy source must be found to continue on with how we’re doing right now.

Legal impact

The internet has had massive drawbacks on society as the majority of people now just plagiarize work and illegally download songs for free. As a society we have grown lazy and turn to the internet for our answers.

This is especially hard on the people who take time to create music, films and so forth as people committing copyright acts by downloading them via the internet for free; such as led to music artists not releasing new albums and film directors cancelling sequels to films that had the potential to be great. A good example of this is the film series called ‘Ninja’ by Scott Adkins where he stated that due to online pirating there will be no sequel because there won’t be enough funds to invest into making one.

This affects the true fans that have support the official releases. We are robbed from sequels due to copyright offenses.

Ethic impact

Since the release of the internet there has been a strain on the Data protection act or DPA for short. Various crimes get committed which puts other people’s privacy at risk.

Social messaging sites such as Facebook put people at risk, by listing various types of information that has no real relevance predators are able to find common interests and approach people who are unexpectedly walking straight into a trap.

Obviously there is ways to change your privacy settings to make it so strangers cannot see your details but for the younger more inexperienced internet users they may overlook this fact and be putting themselves at risk.

Access

In England we have access to roam the internet free as a bird to some degree, obviously abusive and other selected sites may be banned; on the other hand in countries such as China or North Korea the internet is limited and the media is controlled.

As far as North Korea is concerned there are reportedly only a handful of people with authorised access to the internet.

Such acts of inequality are well within the rights of each government but I think that everyone should be allowed the right to surf the internet with freedom at their own digression.

Conclusion

To conclude, including threats, I would say that the internet has opened up our world to many wondrous things. We have fast high quality video streaming and sales websites but was it worth all the added baggage that comes along with it? In my opinion yes, all we have to do is manage how we use the internet to make it safe and efficient but that’s for you to decide on your own.