The Internet has changed our planet in ways we have never known before. It has brought unseen levels of globalization to every sphere of human life: from economy and trade to entertainment and politics, a significant part of people’s lives happens online. According to the estimates of Facebook, 2/3 of the global population stays connected to the Internet. Whether we buy stock shares or play free online casino games here, we are bound to use the Internet at least 2 hours a day.
How Internet Technologies Change Us
Online technologies have brought several positive changes to the society. The first change is global access to the information and its consequences. Some individuals in the society are now more informed and connected to the world around them, which makes them more active agents of the global change. A lot of examples of ordinary people posting photos of wars and natural disasters have changed the public view of those events. People can trigger and support positive change through the Internet.
The Internet has also brought many new opportunities in education and entertainment. A lot of university programs and free-of-charge educational opportunities are available for those who could not afford it 10 years ago. This means that people are becoming more educated globally. And it also means that people can receive a full-time education from their homes, so the universities slowly start losing their roles as communities and turn into online communities instead.
Entertainment has also moved to the Internet: people play top online casino games, video games, and chat with friends, and they spend a lot of their free time online. You can buy, sell, and travel online. Thus, Internet technologies contribute to the much faster economic growth and technological development of humanity in order to cater for the ever-growing demand.
However, some changes in the way we live are described as negative. It is constantly underlined that we have become majorly dependent on technology:
- We depend on Google for knowledge, instead of educating ourselves and using our memory.
- Businesses depend on the Internet in terms of sales, profit, and operational management, and a lot of them would not be able to survive should the Internet disappear.
- We depend on the Internet in regard to social life and communication. A huge part of our daily communication happens online.
This last point proves the fact that people are becoming loners, sometimes detached from their communities and families. They prefer to stay at home and be online, and even when they get together, they spend more time on their phones than talking to the actual people surrounding them. The society is becoming more individualistic in that regard. As a result, more people feel lonely, with levels of depression and anxiety disorders soaring in developed countries.
Overall, the Internet has changed our lives in many positive ways and more changes are on the way. However, excessive use of the Internet technologies by some people leads to dependence and loneliness, which can be eliminated by reintroducing some of the offline activities into their daily lives.
