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Role of the Internet
Only a short number of years ago, the most popular form of communication was through
airmail or by the telephone. As the world began adopting more of this thing called “the
internet”, they became more and more enamored with its features -- the ability to reach
others across time zones and borders, the access to free information at any hour of the day,
and even attempting to buy physical items from an intangible platform. It is without a
doubt that the internet has changed our lives in numerous ways. However, as with all
things, the positives also comes with some negatives. Unfortunately, the popularity of the
internet also gave rise to viruses, hackers, a new form of censorship and much more. In
this paper, we discuss the common uses of the internet, the negatives that come along with
them, some ethical concerns and what users can do to try and protect themselves while
using the internet.
The Good
The rise and adoption of the internet brought along many conveniences for our
communities and businesses. One of the most obvious ways is in the wealth of information
that can be attained by a matter of a couple clicks and typed characters. We can look up all
sorts of information with topics ranging from gossip, fashion, education, philosophy,
sports, politics, news, world history and more. One of the important aspects here is that
education can now be obtained through the internet. Students are able to enroll, attend, and
engage in classes with their peers while being across the world. While writing papers or
researching, they can consult resources like Google, Wikipedia, or online journals. They
can watch class lectures on YouTube, complete assignments completely online, use
language translation services for content they may not be fluent in and even attend lectures
for schools they may have never dreamed of attending. For example, MIT, one of the most
distinguished schools in the world, has published all their course content online for anyone
to virtually “take the class”. A young adult in South Africa can take that class over the
internet, for free, at their own pace, and have gained the same knowledge and learnings as
a traditional student who is privileged enough to pay the tuition costs and live in America.
Additionally, numerous studies, such as the ones outlined in Internet Use and Academic
Success in University Students state that “online information searching improved exam
results. Other studies in Pakistan found that the Internet use had a positive effect on marks,
