How is the internet shaping our lives?

http://www.nielsen-online.com/pr/pr_031229_uk.pdf

http://www.tigweb.org/youth-media/panorama/article.html?ContentID=6336

Modes of Communication

The internet has drastically changed the way in which people communicate with one another, it is an indirect method that most prefer and have become accustom to, Email is probably the most significant invention to have come out of the internet, giving people with internet connection the ability to send messages to and from each other instantaneously. After the creation of Email, even more ways to communicate have come into existence such as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol – popularized primarily with the emergence of Skype and Google Voice) and instant messaging. These new pieces of technology have made it incredibly easy to communicate with one another from great distances with the additional options of sending extra information such as images, screen sharing and conference calling (Using a webcam and voice to be able to see and talk to the other person). These advances in communication have given people much more flexibility in when how and where they can communicate with peers, friends and family. But has this new technology taken away our ability to communicate face to face with people, with more and more people becoming accustom and used to typing to a faceless screen and waiting for a response of letters constantly, people may become less accustom to talking face to face in the real world, this could cause difficulties in various aspects of their lives whether it be in their social or professional lives. Also with more instantaneous communication people want responses just as fast, this is especially evident in peoples working lives where if they can be constantly send and asked to send work they have much less downtime, while this is much more efficient work wise it may be more stressful for the individual worker as they are almost constantly required to work.

Businesses also have taken advantage of the internet through e-commerce and e-banking, one example of e-commerce is online shopping, this makes life easier for the individual as they have a massive variety to choose from when it comes to products (especially if they live in a area with not much commercial activity) they also save on time (if the person is in no rush to get their product of course, and even then some delivery services can deliver on the same day as ordered) and transportation costs (fuel, train etc).

Researching

The internet has revolutionalised the way in which we search and find information that we are looking for, at the click of a button we can now access many pieces of information on almost any subject we want to know about that in the past may have been very had or impossible to access. search engines such as yahoo and google have given us the ability to do this with their large array of search answers.

Shopping

Commerce has also come along way with the arrival of the internet, with it comes new opportunities and business potentials, shops and businesses can now setup websites online to show off a much more accessible and larger variety of their wares, also we are given the opportunity to order these from online and get them delivered to us, giving us much more choice and luxury in when we are shopping and searching.Businesses such as Amazon and Ebay have really taken advantage of the internets accessibility and through them people can easily purchase almost anything they want from the comfort of their computer chair.