The Internet as a Blessing to Human Kind, Essay Example

Current studies show that the internet has become a greater part of day-to-day life, as it has brought about greater conveniences and positive implications on how people interact, relates, research and live (Risen 1). Still, the internet has taken away the human element of living, as well as made relationships increasingly shallow, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. This essay takes the perspective that the internet is good.

The internet has strengthened human interaction and relationships. Indeed, a survey of the literature shows that considerable debate exists in regards to whether the internet has strengthened or weakened human relationships. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center established that the Internet had indeed strengthened human relationships. Sixty-seven percent of those surveyed agreed that interaction through the social media had enabled them to initiate and even sustain relationships over a distance (Risen 1). The internet presents instant and timely information to users and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The internet has increased faster access to information. For instance, the social media enables users to share information and knowledge online (Baruah 1). This has facilitated faster access to information at an extremely fast rate and over large distances. The internet has a capacity to store large amounts of information that internet users can search or disseminate information cost-effectively. The information, especially those published in open-source websites, become readily available to practically anyone who can access the internet.

The internet has facilitated more reliable and convenient trade and commerce. It has presented an opportunity for small businesses to advertise themselves. It has also created a global virtual community where the small businesses compete with the more established enterprises (Kiang and Chi 157-8). As a commercial media, the internet has brought about new forms of businesses, such as electronic commerce, which allows consumers to buy products more conveniently from a seller overseas. Examples of online commerce enterprises that have eased online purchases include Amazon and Alibaba. At the same time, payments for large transactions can be done online through online payment systems, such as PayPal.

The internet has also strengthened the relationship between businesses and consumers, as it enables them to have a direct contact. Businesses maintain social media accounts, such as Facebook that enable them manage their relationships with the consumers (Kiang and Chi 157). Through a platform like Facebook, consumers can express their concerns regarding faulty services or products. The business also communicates directly with its consumers and can use the social media to study the consumer trends and preferences. Businesses that maintain social media accounts have a greater competitive advantage. The internet’s capacity for interactivity and the capability to provide information on demand has provided business with more insightful and convenient means of communicating with customers more than the traditional catalogues.

The internet has also increased access to quality learning. It has enabled teachers to use wider information and visual data, such as animation, graphics, video and slides to improve student’s learning experience (Brändström 11). For instance, during a study on birds, students can access the pictures of the birds on the internet without having to travel distances to sight them. The internet has also brought about online learning, which enables people to access cost-effective distance learning programs at reputable universities (Tuong 61). These online courses offer individuals of all age groups to pursue the education of their choice, based on their preference. They provide better convenience, as the online courses can be pursued at one’s own convenient time, whether one is a professional or a housewife. This also means that the internet has made education more accessible. The internet also provides a rich source of information for student’s researches. Indeed, the internet is a useful resource for students who need to complete research projects, given that it contains unlimited information covering almost all subjects. Searching information online is much faster and more convenient than scheming through books (Brändström 11).

The internet also provides affordable entertainment to users. In all, the internet has brought about new forms of entertainment due to its capability to integrate all the other forms of media, such as videos, audios, and visuals. Today, the Internet is mostly used for entertainment. In fact, the internet has gained much popularity due to its unlimited forms of entertainment, whether music, movies, books and television series. The internet also provides entertainment news to users (Pakhare 1). For instance, it offers users access to the latest information or gossip on celebrities or a line-up of entertainment options. The celebrities also use the entertainment to promote their causes or advertise their line-up of events. In the tourism industry, the internet provides unprecedented forms of information on the travel options, including luxuriant resorts and lodges of a target tourism destination (Baruah 2-4). Additionally, users can play online games or even download games at no charge or affordable prices. In fact, online games have witnessed phenomenal successes due to their increased demand across the globe. The internet also offers biographies of political personalities, speeches, archive photographs, and videos.

The internet also enables faster, affordable and more convenient research through online surveys. The traditional research methods are typically slow and costly relative to the online surveys. For instance, while looking to establish the customer needs or how a company’s products need to be designed in future, businesses can compile questionnaires and send to a list of addresses of the customers (Pakhare 1). Traditionally, the success of such an exercise would be costly since questionnaires would have to be mailed to each customer through their postal addresses. Additionally, it would take more time. Conversely, the internet automates the entire process as businesses can just create a CGI script for use in conducting online surveys. At the same time, the results of the online surveys automatically updates to a database (Kiang and Chi 157-9).

Conclusion

The internet is indeed good. It has strengthened human interaction and relationships. It has increased faster access to information. Additionally, it has facilitated reliable and convenient trade and commerce. The internet has also strengthened the relationship between businesses and consumers. The internet has also increased access to quality learning as it has enabled teachers and learners to access and use wider information and visual data. It also provides affordable entertainment to users as it has paved the way for new forms of entertainment due to its capability to integrate all the other forms of media, such as videos, audios, and visuals. The internet also enables faster, affordable and more convenient research through online surveys. Overall, these advantages mainly result from the capacity of the internet to reach a global audience, to operate at all times during the day and night, to integrate various forms of multimedia, and lastly their nature of being relatively inexpensive to access and public information.

Works Cited

Baruah, Trisha. “Effectiveness of Social Media as a tool of communication and its potential for technology enabled connections: A micro-level study.” International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications 2.5 (2012): 1-10

Brändström, Camilla, “Using the Internet in Education – Strengths and Weaknesses,” 2011. 30 April 2015, <http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:438827/FULLTEXT01.pdf>

Kiang, Melody and Chi, Robert. “A Framework for Analyzing The Potential Benefits Of Internet Marketing.” Journal of Electronic Commerce Research 2.4 (2001): 157-163

Pakhare, Jayashree. “Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet,” 2014. 30 April 2015, <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-disadvantages-internet.html>

Risen, Tom. “Is the Internet Bad for Society and Relationships?” US News, 2014.  30 April 2015, <http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/02/27/is-the-internet-bad-for-society-and-relationships>

Tuong, Vu. “Advantages and disadvantages of using computer network technology in language teaching.” Tp chÝ Khoa Häc Hqghn 8.2 (2005): 61-66