Nowadays, the internet has huge impact on everyone’s lives as our lives are hugely dependent on it. We need this facility for our day-to-day activities. In recent years it has shaped the lives of millions of people in such a way that it’s nearly impossible to imagine a life without the internet. People from all age groups; ranging from children to teenagers, from adults to the elderly, everyone makes use of the internet in one way or the other. It has bought an elementary change in society. It has greatly revolutionized and evolved our lives in many ways. Another aspect of the internet is social media which can be a blessing but also dangerous. Internet does make our lives easier and better but also has some disadvantages.
Advantages
The internet has an infinite number of advantages as it is used in almost every aspect of our lives. The most important advantage is that it helps us connect to anyone around the globe. In the earlier days, it used to be very difficult to talk to our loved ones living far away from us but the internet has made it very easy and now we can talk to anyone with a single touch on our laptop or mobile phone. Through social media and its diverse apps, we can connect to the people we know living in another country or state and can see what they are doing in their day to day lives. Not only the people we know, but we can also make new friends through social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat and can connect to new people. It has made the world a global village. With the help of the internet, a person can never feel lonely as it makes it so easy to talk to anyone anywhere at any time.
The internet and the web has an immense amount of information through which we can gain knowledge about anything while sitting in one place. It’s so easy to just google what we want to know and what we want to gain information on. In the same way, there are so many online opportunities available on the internet. A business can be started online which would help gain a huge amount of money, we can learn a new skill while sitting at our homes only with a single click.
It has also led to the development of an online shopping business where we can just select and order the things that we want through our phones or laptop and it would be delivered at our doorstep without us having to step out of our houses. We can order clothes, shoes, accessories, books, furniture, and even groceries through online websites. It has made our lives so much easier and hassle-free. Nowadays people who have lost their jobs can sell their things online and can start a business online as it provides millions of opportunities. Any information can be gathered on famous personalities through Google or Wikipedia. Any event in history can be studied too. One can know bout the wars that happened thousands of years back, which countries separated in the course of time, the ruling period of various kings and queens and royal families.
Students can learn new skills like coding, anchoring, improving their speaking and writing skills, content writing, graphic designing, fashion designing through the internet and can improve grades in one’s weak subject in school by taking up online courses. One can also learn several languages through various apps and websites sometimes free of cost. Youtube is a platform that provides thousands of videos on any topic we want ranging from ted talks to cooking recipes.
The internet played a vital role in the lives of everyone around the globe during the outbreak of the covid 19 pandemic. All of our lives were dependent entirely on the internet. Every person had to work from home due to the lockdown which was only possible through the source of the internet. All the offices were shut down and all the employees had to work from home, had to attend the business meetings at home through google meet, zoom calls etc.
Unhampered education was provided to all the children only through the internet. Even the examination was held online. If it weren’t for the internet millions of people would have been rendered jobless and students would not have been able to get the education they deserved.
The Internet has a huge impact on the entertainment industry as well. All the latest tv shows, dramas, movies are available on various websites and apps on the internet. Through Netflix, amazon prime, Hotstar and various other apps we can watch our favourite shows or movies anytime and anywhere through access to the internet. Nowadays new movies are launched on the OTT platforms and earn profits through the internet only. The shows and movies are available in every language depending on the person’s interest for eg. k-dramas, Chinese dramas which help to further connect the world. Thus internet also has sources that help to relax the mind after a day of hard work. Recent online dramas and OTT shows have provided work to a lot of new actors, actresses and artists.
It leads to the development of various and new technologies as man is always looking for innovation and looking for new developments to make his life easier, safer and more convenient. It also pays heed to man’s ever-growing needs.
Even the books can be read through the internet through pdf’s, audiobooks, Kindle etc. We can find and apply to various universities and colleges abroad by giving our applications online.
Various political issues or social issues can be given more importance through social media and can reach vast masses which can finally lead to the solving of these issues. More awareness can be generated on crimes occurring in various parts of the world so that every person could be aware of what is happening in his or her surroundings. It can spark debate on which human values are wrong and which is right.
It is thus seen that the internet has overall made our lives pretty easy but that does not mean that it does not have its cons.
Disadvantages
As we have seen social media and the internet is very useful in our day-to-day life but if not used properly they can have a really bad effect on our lives. The internet is accessible to every person nowadays even to underage children which can prove to be harmful at times as they may not be mature enough to handle such a powerful tool called social media as crimes related to social media have become common in recent years. Parents need to keep an eye on their children while they are using the internet as it is for their safety and should not give young kids access to personal smartphones until they are mature enough to use them for their benefit.
Young teenagers spend a lot of time on social media and thus end up wasting their precious time where they would have been studying or doing some productive activities. It also leads to various sorts of distractions as it can be addicting resulting in affecting a person’s focus and attention to get a job done.
People who know social media and the internet too well can misuse their ability to hack into a person’s personal space, access personal information and computer materials and gather all the information and use it against them which is known as cybercrime and is a punishable offence. Some other crimes include stalking, bullying and social media trolling which can completely ruin a person’s confidence and self-esteem as a person might get judged and criticized over any decision they make. Privacy exposure can make a person feel less safe. Money frauds, Cheating and theft by online money transfers are also very common. Social media can lead to dissatisfaction among individuals over their own lives as many influencers and rich celebrities are posting about their luxurious lifestyles every day. It can even lead to depression and feelings of not being good or successful enough in this society.
Through social media, many rumours can surface online which can prove to be dangerous to society. The Internet has caused many people to get addicted to it such that there is no time for family and friends. Many people waste their time scrolling through Instagram rather than spending time with their loved ones and doing more important work. It can also make us lazy.
Thus, the internet has both advantages and disadvantages. So as mature human beings it’s our responsibility to use it positively and convert it into a blessing. We can work towards eliminating the evils and if used in a good and healthy way it can cause a lot of development in a society and can help to evolve us as human beings.
