essay of internet usage

Essay on Uses of Internet for Students and Children

500 words essay on uses of internet.

The Internet has become a sensation nowadays. It is something that humans cannot function without anymore. It has occupied a great part of our lives. We use the internet for almost every little and a big task now. It ranges from searching for a job to listening to music.

The Internet has basically made our lives easier and convenient. The world is at our fingertips now, thanks to the internet. When we see how it has changed the scenario of the modern world, we can’t help but notice its importance. It is used in all spheres of life now.

Internet and Communication

The world has become smaller because of the internet. Now we can communicate with our loved ones oceans away. The days of letter writing are gone where we had to wait for weeks to get a reply. Everything is instant now. Even though telephones allowed us to do that, but the cost was too high. The common man could not afford to call people overseas because of the costs.

However, the internet changed that. Communicating with people both near and far is now easy and affordable. We can send them emails and chat with them through instant messaging apps. We may also video call them using the internet which allows us to see them clearly even though we are miles away.

Furthermore, we can now get instant news updates from all over the world. The moment anything takes place anywhere in the world, we get to know about it. In addition, we are informed about the natural calamities within the correct time. Moreover, we can easily contact our job recruiters using the internet. Job application has been made so much easier through the internet.

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Internet and Entertainment

Entertainment and the Internet go hand in hand now. Everything is at your fingertips to enjoy. You can book movie tickets easily on the internet. Gone are the days of waiting in long queues to get the ticket for the latest movie. It can all be done through the comfort of your home. Similarly, you can also book match tickets and concert tickets without going through the hassle of standing in long lines.

In addition, we can now do all our shopping online. You won’t have to go out in the harsh weather to shop for stuff. The Internet allows you to browse through a large assortment of products with all the details given. It ranges from something as small as a mug to a laptop, you can have it all. Furthermore, you may also filter the categories to find exactly what you are looking for within seconds.

Nowadays, web series are quite a hit amongst the youth. They do not watch TV anymore; rather they enjoy the web series. Various platforms have created shows which they release on the internet that has a major fan following. You can get your daily dose of entertainment from the internet now. Whether you want to hear the latest music, you don’t have to spend a hefty amount to buy the CD. You can simply listen to it on the internet.

Thus, we see how the internet has changed and made our lives easy in various ways. We can connect with our loved ones easily and get access to unlimited entertainment instantly.

FAQs on Uses of Internet

Q.1 How does the internet help in communicating?

A.1 We can now communicate with our loved ones using the internet. We can video call them and connect with our relatives living overseas.

Q.2 What does internet offer in terms of entertainment?

A.2 Internet offers us various modes of entertainment. We can watch movies and shows online. We can also book tickets and shop for products online.

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Essay on Internet Uses For Students

500 + words internet essay.

The internet is described as a global network of computer systems interconnected and following the internet security protocol. However, have you ever considered why the internet is important? This 500+ Words Essay on internet advantages and disadvantages will help students ace essay writing during exams.

A combination of high-end science and advanced technology, the internet is a viral invention. Here, in an essay on the internet, students can learn about the uses and impact of the internet.

Why the Internet Is Important

The internet has undergone significant development from the time of its birth to the present. Over a period of time, the internet has become more interactive and user-friendly. It has also helped man in day-to-day transactions and interactions. The Internet is widely used for numerous functions such as learning, teaching, research, writing, sharing content or data, e-mails, job hunting, playing games, listening to music, watching videos, exploring and finally surfing the internet. Meanwhile, though it makes life easy for people, the internet also comes with a lot of pros and cons. Find the advantages and disadvantages of the internet from this essay.

Essay on Advantages of Internet

Read this essay on internet advantages to know the effects of using the internet. Look for the points mentioned below.

The internet has helped reduce the usage of paper and paperwork to a large extent by computerising offices, schools, NGOs, industries and much more.
Internet helps to provide updated information and news from all over the world
Education, business and travel have been thriving with the growth of the Internet
The internet is of high educational and entertainment value
The internet makes access to public resources, libraries and textbooks much easier
The internet makes it easy by reducing the time and energy taken to do work
Work has become more efficient, quick and accurate
Meetings and conferences are made easier with video calls and other brilliant tools

Apart from all these, as mentioned in the above paragraph on Internet uses, it helps carry out banking activities, exchange information, shop for various goods and more.

Essay on Internet Disadvantages

Despite the use of the internet and its positives, there are also some internet disadvantages. Continuous use of the internet can affect our lifestyle and health. Let us check out the disadvantages of the internet from this paragraph.

Over-dependence on the internet can lead to many health problems
People tend to spend more of their productive time doing nothing but browsing
Even if the internet is now used extensively at work, overuse of the internet could lead to depression
Quality time with friends and relatives is primarily reduced due to the use of the internet
Cybercrime has also increased as internet security and privacy are compromised

Thus, we have seen the uses of the internet and its impact on students and working professionals. While we know that overuse of the internet should be avoided, we also have to acknowledge that the internet has still not been exploited to its full potential, despite its massive growth. In conclusion, we can state that to make internet use more comfortable and pleasurable, school students should be taught about the pros and cons of using the internet, thus ensuring that they can stand up against cybercrime and ensure safety.

Also Read: Social Media Essay | Essay on Women Empowerment | Essay On Constitution of India

Frequently asked Questions on Internet Essay

What is the internet.

The internet is a global system of interconnected computers and this system uses a standardised Internet Protocol suite for communication and sharing information.

What are the top 5 uses of the Internet?

The Internet is mostly used by people to send emails and to search on any topic. It can be used to download large files. People depend on the internet for electronic news and magazines these days. A lot of people, especially the young generation use it to play interactive games and for entertainment.

What is WiFi?

WiFi is the latest wireless technology used to connect computers, tablets, smartphones and other electronic devices to the internet.

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Uses of Internet Essay

The Internet is one of the modern scientific discoveries that has changed the mode of human life. It is used extensively for several purposes. It could be defined as connecting a network to another network everywhere within the globe through committed routers and servers. Here are a few sample essays on "uses of the internet".

100 Words Essay on Uses of the Internet

200 words essay on uses of the internet, 500 words essay on uses of the internet, uses of the internet, advantages and disadvantages of the internet, my personal experience.

The Internet is a global computer network. The process of connecting two or more computing systems to a cable or modem is called the Internet. The Internet is the only way of replacing data and statistics via computer networking. It could be very easily reachable. To get important information, one seeks it on google if they have an internet connection. Net performs a critical position within the discipline of change and commerce. Currently, e-commerce has emerged as a very popular tool all around the world because anyone can buy whatever they want through online sites without journeying to markets or shopping department stores. It also plays a critical role in training as students can get important information through the net.

The Internet is one thing that we can't imagine our lives without. It is used everywhere. These days, speaking with buddies and relatives residing in overseas lands is no longer a steeply-priced affair, but you can connect to them at just the click of a button. The Internet offers numerous means of verbal exchange with email, social media platforms, net calls, and messengers. You can communicate with your close ones at any time of the day with the assistance of the net.

The Internet is likewise a top-notch source of enjoyment. In today's times, while everybody is busy with their very own lives, the Internet can show to be your pleasant pal. From e-books to films to songs – the whole lot you need for enjoyment is available on the net.

The Internet has also proved to be a boon for business. It has ended up as a platform to sell products in its own country as well as outside the country. Each and everything nowadays is being sold online. The use of the Internet has largely changed the way we travel. You no longer require traveling to the bus stand or railway station and standing in queue for long hours to get your tickets booked, it can be done with a click of a button at the comfort of your home.

The Internet is an essential invention of the modern era. The Internet has various uses, and it has touched the lives of each person. When two computers are connected over the Internet, they can send and receive all kinds of information. Military research projects in the 1960s invented the Internet, it came into existence on 1st January 1983, and since then, the Internet has evolved and become an essential part of our lives.

Information: The Internet is the platform where we can get information about anything through search engines such as Google and Bing.

Communication: The Internet is used to communicate through emails which is the earliest application of the Internet.

Social Networking: People can connect with people from far away in seconds through these social networking sites. Some popular social networking sites are Facebook, Whatsapp, Snapchat, etc.

E-commerce: Amazon and eBay are some e-commerce sites on the Internet that help sell and buy products.

Learning: Many courses are available, and some provide certification, which can help students in their careers.

Entertainment: The Internet provides a wide range of entertainment sources, such as Amazon Prime Video, Youtube, etc., which are used to watch movies and TV serials.

Jobs: provide portals for Job seekers and Job providers.

The Internet has provided us with multiple advantages. For instance, it is a huge source of information because we can easily find information about anything we want to know on the Internet. There are numerous websites. Among such websites, Google is widely used by most internet users. Because the Internet can be used as a store of knowledge, it can be used in teaching-learning programs as well.

Moreover, the Internet can be used for business and the banking sector too. We can find many online shopping websites. Furthermore, we can also find vast usages of the Internet for various purposes. For instance, it has connected people through various social networking sites such as Facebook, Messenger, Gmail, Viber, Snapchat, WhatsApp, etc. These facilities have made the task of communication tremendously easier, faster and cheaper than traditional ones. During the pandemic, the Internet has allowed updating the conventional training device and gives additional assets for analysis; students can take their training in the comforts of their homes.

Through the Internet, one may get answers to all their curiosity. In the education sector, too, it plays a significant role, especially considering the pandemic. They can also browse for classes – lectures at no extra cost through the Internet.

I personally use the internet each day for a wide variety of devices. I use the internet for online banking, bill pay, and to get access to my college work. I am used to watching my favourite series online in my free time with the help of the internet. I use unlimited internet through my phone. The use of the Internet is slowly replacing the use of traditional newspapers. It offers various recreational advantages as well. It can be said that the Internet plays a great role in enhancing the quality of life.

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Home — Essay Samples — Information Science and Technology — Internet — The Advantages of the Internet

The Advantages of The Internet

Categories: Internet

About this sample

Words: 804 |

Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 804 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Introduction, personal benefits, educational benefits, societal benefits, counterargument and refutation.

Access to information: The internet offers a wide range of resources that provide individuals with access to a wealth of information. Research materials, academic papers, journals, and educational videos are readily available and can be accessed without leaving the comfort of one's home.
Communication opportunities: Instant messaging and video calls have allowed individuals to connect with friends, family, and loved ones worldwide. Social media platforms have also provided new and exciting ways for people to communicate and share with one another.
Entertainment and leisure options: Streaming services offer a plethora of movies and TV shows at one's convenience. Online gaming has allowed individuals to play and connect with gamers from all around the world, providing an avenue for socialization and entertainment.
E-Learning and online education: The internet has made education available to anyone with a computer and access to the internet. E-learning has provided an avenue for individuals to gain knowledge and skills, irrespective of geographical barriers.
Promotes collaborative learning: With online forums and discussion boards, learners can collaborate with others to discuss and share ideas. Virtual classrooms have facilitated group activities and project discussions, providing an avenue for interaction and knowledge sharing.
Provides equal educational opportunities: The internet has created opportunities for those living in underprivileged areas to access quality education. It has also provided accessibility for disabled individuals who would otherwise be limited in their access to education.
Economic growth and job opportunities: The internet has created numerous business and job opportunities for individuals, especially in the online space and freelancing. The global market reach has been particularly helpful in expanding businesses beyond geographical barriers.
Enhanced communication and networking: The internet has facilitated international collaborations and provided an avenue for individuals and organizations to connect. Social media platforms have allowed individuals to create and maintain relationships with others, irrespective of geographical locations.
Democratization of information: The internet has provided an avenue for citizen journalism and online activism, promoting awareness and participation in societal issues.
Privacy concerns and cybercrime: The internet has made individuals' personal information vulnerable to hacking, which could lead to identity theft and other cybercrimes.
Misinformation and fake news: The internet has made it easy for individuals to create and spread misinformation, which could have dire consequences on individuals and society.

References:

Anderson, C. (2018). Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet. Toopics. Retrieved from https://toopics.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-internet/.
Greenhow, C., Robelia, B., & Hughes, J. E. (2009). Learning, teaching, and scholarship in a digital age : Web 2.0 and classroom research: What path should we take now?. Educational researcher, 38(4), 246-259.
Walter, S. G., & Su, F. (2011). E-learning 2.0: Social networking and collaboration in learning and teaching. Journal of educational technology development and exchange, 4(1), 1-14.
Yang, D., & Chen, C. C. (2018). Play, knowledge, and learning: Gaming cultures and the learning society. Peter Lang.
Taiwo, A. A., & Downe, A. G. (2013). E-learning in Nigeria: bridging the knowledge divide. Journal of education and practice, 4(8), 94-101.
Hong, Y. Y., & Chan, K. F. (2019). The role of Internet technology in shaping and facilitating international business growth. Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, 4(4), 60-70.
Moorthy, K., Kong, H. J., & Thatcher, M. (2017). Globalization, networked society , and cultural software: The emergence of a new social order. Routledge.
Smith, M. A. (2014). Politics, Democracy and the New Media. Routledge.
Boyd, D. (2019). Media literacy in the digital age. Routledge.

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The Internet and the Pandemic

90% of Americans say the internet has been essential or important to them, many made video calls and 40% used technology in new ways. But while tech was a lifeline for some, others faced struggles

Table of contents.

1. How the internet and technology shaped Americans’ personal experiences amid COVID-19
2. Parents, their children and school during the pandemic
3. Navigating technological challenges
4. The role of technology in COVID-19 vaccine registration
Acknowledgments
Methodology

Pew Research Center has a long history of studying technology adoption trends and the impact of digital technology on society. This report focuses on American adults’ experiences with and attitudes about their internet and technology use during the COVID-19 outbreak. For this analysis, we surveyed 4,623 U.S. adults from April 12-18, 2021. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the ATP’s methodology .

Chapter 1 of this report includes responses to an open-ended question and the overall report includes a number of quotations to help illustrate themes and add nuance to the survey findings. Quotations may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity. The first three themes mentioned in each open-ended response, according to a researcher-developed codebook, were coded into categories for analysis.

Here are the questions used for this report , along with responses, and its methodology .

Technology has been a lifeline for some during the coronavirus outbreak but some have struggled, too

The coronavirus has transformed many aspects of Americans’ lives. It shut down schools, businesses and workplaces and forced millions to stay at home for extended lengths of time. Public health authorities recommended limits on social contact to try to contain the spread of the virus, and these profoundly altered the way many worked, learned, connected with loved ones, carried out basic daily tasks, celebrated and mourned. For some, technology played a role in this transformation.

Results from a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted April 12-18, 2021, reveal the extent to which people’s use of the internet has changed, their views about how helpful technology has been for them and the struggles some have faced.

The vast majority of adults (90%) say the internet has been at least important to them personally during the pandemic, the survey finds. The share who say it has been essential – 58% – is up slightly from 53% in April 2020. There have also been upticks in the shares who say the internet has been essential in the past year among those with a bachelor’s degree or more formal education, adults under 30, and those 65 and older.

A large majority of Americans (81%) also say they talked with others via video calls at some point since the pandemic’s onset. And for 40% of Americans, digital tools have taken on new relevance: They report they used technology or the internet in ways that were new or different to them. Some also sought upgrades to their service as the pandemic unfolded: 29% of broadband users did something to improve the speed, reliability or quality of their high-speed internet connection at home since the beginning of the outbreak.

Still, tech use has not been an unmitigated boon for everyone. “ Zoom fatigue ” was widely speculated to be a problem in the pandemic, and some Americans report related experiences in the new survey: 40% of those who have ever talked with others via video calls since the beginning of the pandemic say they have felt worn out or fatigued often or sometimes by the time they spend on them. Moreover, changes in screen time occurred for Americans generally and for parents of young children . The survey finds that a third of all adults say they tried to cut back on time spent on their smartphone or the internet at some point during the pandemic. In addition, 72% of parents of children in grades K-12 say their kids are spending more time on screens compared with before the outbreak. 1

For many, digital interactions could only do so much as a stand-in for in-person communication. About two-thirds of Americans (68%) say the interactions they would have had in person, but instead had online or over the phone, have generally been useful – but not a replacement for in-person contact. Another 15% say these tools haven’t been of much use in their interactions. Still, 17% report that these digital interactions have been just as good as in-person contact.

About two-thirds say digital interactions have been useful, but not a replacement for in-person contact

Some types of technology have been more helpful than others for Americans. For example, 44% say text messages or group messaging apps have helped them a lot to stay connected with family and friends, 38% say the same about voice calls and 30% say this about video calls. Smaller shares say social media sites (20%) and email (19%) have helped them in this way.

The survey offers a snapshot of Americans’ lives just over one year into the pandemic as they reflected back on what had happened. It is important to note the findings were gathered in April 2021, just before all U.S. adults became eligible for coronavirus vaccine s. At the time, some states were beginning to loosen restrictions on businesses and social encounters. This survey also was fielded before the delta variant became prominent in the United States, raising concerns about new and evolving variants .

Here are some of the key takeaways from the survey.

Americans’ tech experiences in the pandemic are linked to digital divides, tech readiness

Some Americans’ experiences with technology haven’t been smooth or easy during the pandemic. The digital divides related to internet use and affordability were highlighted by the pandemic and also emerged in new ways as life moved online.

For all Americans relying on screens during the pandemic, connection quality has been important for school assignments, meetings and virtual social encounters alike. The new survey highlights difficulties for some: Roughly half of those who have a high-speed internet connection at home (48%) say they have problems with the speed, reliability or quality of their home connection often or sometimes. 2

Beyond that, affordability remained a persistent concern for a portion of digital tech users as the pandemic continued – about a quarter of home broadband users (26%) and smartphone owners (24%) said in the April 2021 survey that they worried a lot or some about paying their internet and cellphone bills over the next few months.

From parents of children facing the “ homework gap ” to Americans struggling to afford home internet , those with lower incomes have been particularly likely to struggle. At the same time, some of those with higher incomes have been affected as well.

60% of broadband users with lower incomes often or sometimes have connection problems, and 46% are worried at least some about paying for broadband

Affordability and connection problems have hit broadband users with lower incomes especially hard. Nearly half of broadband users with lower incomes, and about a quarter of those with midrange incomes, say that as of April they were at least somewhat worried about paying their internet bill over the next few months. 3 And home broadband users with lower incomes are roughly 20 points more likely to say they often or sometimes experience problems with their connection than those with relatively high incomes. Still, 55% of those with lower incomes say the internet has been essential to them personally in the pandemic.

At the same time, Americans’ levels of formal education are associated with their experiences turning to tech during the pandemic.

Adults with a bachelor’s, advanced degree more likely than others to make daily video calls, use tech in new ways, consider internet essential amid COVID-19

Those with a bachelor’s or advanced degree are about twice as likely as those with a high school diploma or less formal education to have used tech in new or different ways during the pandemic. There is also roughly a 20 percentage point gap between these two groups in the shares who have made video calls about once a day or more often and who say these calls have helped at least a little to stay connected with family and friends. And 71% of those with a bachelor’s degree or more education say the internet has been essential, compared with 45% of those with a high school diploma or less.

More broadly, not all Americans believe they have key tech skills. In this survey, about a quarter of adults (26%) say they usually need someone else’s help to set up or show them how to use a new computer, smartphone or other electronic device. And one-in-ten report they have little to no confidence in their ability to use these types of devices to do the things they need to do online. This report refers to those who say they experience either or both of these issues as having “lower tech readiness.” Some 30% of adults fall in this category. (A full description of how this group was identified can be found in Chapter 3. )

‘Tech readiness,’ which is tied to people’s confident and independent use of devices, varies by age

These struggles are particularly acute for older adults, some of whom have had to learn new tech skills over the course of the pandemic. Roughly two-thirds of adults 75 and older fall into the group having lower tech readiness – that is, they either have little or no confidence in their ability to use their devices, or generally need help setting up and learning how to use new devices. Some 54% of Americans ages 65 to 74 are also in this group.

Americans with lower tech readiness have had different experiences with technology during the pandemic. While 82% of the Americans with lower tech readiness say the internet has been at least important to them personally during the pandemic, they are less likely than those with higher tech readiness to say the internet has been essential (39% vs. 66%). Some 21% of those with lower tech readiness say digital interactions haven’t been of much use in standing in for in-person contact, compared with 12% of those with higher tech readiness.

46% of parents with lower incomes whose children faced school closures say their children had at least one problem related to the ‘homework gap’

As school moved online for many families, parents and their children experienced profound changes. Fully 93% of parents with K-12 children at home say these children had some online instruction during the pandemic. Among these parents, 62% report that online learning has gone very or somewhat well, and 70% say it has been very or somewhat easy for them to help their children use technology for online instruction.

Still, 30% of the parents whose children have had online instruction during the pandemic say it has been very or somewhat difficult for them to help their children use technology or the internet for this.

Remote learning has been widespread during the pandemic, but children from lower-income households have been particularly likely to face ‘homework gap’

The survey also shows that children from households with lower incomes who faced school closures in the pandemic have been especially likely to encounter tech-related obstacles in completing their schoolwork – a phenomenon contributing to the “ homework gap .”

Overall, about a third (34%) of all parents whose children’s schools closed at some point say their children have encountered at least one of the tech-related issues we asked about amid COVID-19: having to do schoolwork on a cellphone, being unable to complete schoolwork because of lack of computer access at home, or having to use public Wi-Fi to finish schoolwork because there was no reliable connection at home.

This share is higher among parents with lower incomes whose children’s schools closed. Nearly half (46%) say their children have faced at least one of these issues. Some with higher incomes were affected as well – about three-in-ten (31%) of these parents with midrange incomes say their children faced one or more of these issues, as do about one-in-five of these parents with higher household incomes.

More parents say their screen time rules have become less strict under pandemic than say they’ve become more strict

Prior Center work has documented this “ homework gap ” in other contexts – both before the coronavirus outbreak and near the beginning of the pandemic . In April 2020, for example, parents with lower incomes were particularly likely to think their children would face these struggles amid the outbreak.

Besides issues related to remote schooling, other changes were afoot in families as the pandemic forced many families to shelter in place. For instance, parents’ estimates of their children’s screen time – and family rules around this – changed in some homes. About seven-in-ten parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade (72%) say their children were spending more time on screens as of the April survey compared with before the outbreak. Some 39% of parents with school-age children say they have become less strict about screen time rules during the outbreak. About one-in-five (18%) say they have become more strict, while 43% have kept screen time rules about the same.

More adults now favor the idea that schools should provide digital technology to all students during the pandemic than did in April 2020

Americans’ tech struggles related to digital divides gained attention from policymakers and news organizations as the pandemic progressed.

On some policy issues, public attitudes changed over the course of the outbreak – for example, views on what K-12 schools should provide to students shifted. Some 49% now say K-12 schools have a responsibility to provide all students with laptop or tablet computers in order to help them complete their schoolwork during the pandemic, up 12 percentage points from a year ago.

Growing shares across political parties say K-12 schools should give all students computers amid COVID-19

The shares of those who say so have increased for both major political parties over the past year: This view shifted 15 points for Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP, and there was a 9-point increase for Democrats and Democratic leaners.

However, when it comes to views of policy solutions for internet access more generally, not much has changed. Some 37% of Americans say that the government has a responsibility to ensure all Americans have high-speed internet access during the outbreak, and the overall share is unchanged from April 2020 – the first time Americans were asked this specific question about the government’s pandemic responsibility to provide internet access. 4

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the government has this responsibility, and within the Republican Party, those with lower incomes are more likely to say this than their counterparts earning more money.

Video calls and conferencing have been part of everyday life

Americans’ own words provide insight into exactly how their lives changed amid COVID-19. When asked to describe the new or different ways they had used technology, some Americans mention video calls and conferencing facilitating a variety of virtual interactions – including attending events like weddings, family holidays and funerals or transforming where and how they worked. 5 From family calls, shopping for groceries and placing takeout orders online to having telehealth visits with medical professionals or participating in online learning activities, some aspects of life have been virtually transformed:

“I’ve gone from not even knowing remote programs like Zoom even existed, to using them nearly every day.” – Man, 54

“[I’ve been] h andling … deaths of family and friends remotely, attending and sharing classical music concerts and recitals with other professionals, viewing [my] own church services and Bible classes, shopping. … Basically, [the internet has been] a lifeline.” – Woman, 69

“I … use Zoom for church youth activities. [I] use Zoom for meetings. I order groceries and takeout food online. We arranged for a ‘digital reception’ for my daughter’s wedding as well as live streaming the event.” – Woman, 44

Among those who have used video calls during the outbreak, 40% feel fatigued or worn out at least sometimes from time spent on these calls

When asked about video calls specifically, half of Americans report they have talked with others in this way at least once a week since the beginning of the outbreak; one-in-five have used these platforms daily. But how often people have experienced this type of digital connectedness varies by age. For example, about a quarter of adults ages 18 to 49 (27%) say they have connected with others on video calls about once a day or more often, compared with 16% of those 50 to 64 and just 7% of those 65 and older.

Even as video technology became a part of life for users, many accounts of burnout surfaced and some speculated that “Zoom fatigue” was setting in as Americans grew weary of this type of screen time. The survey finds that some 40% of those who participated in video calls since the beginning of the pandemic – a third of all Americans – say they feel worn out or fatigued often or sometimes from the time they spend on video calls. About three-quarters of those who have been on these calls several times a day in the pandemic say this.

Fatigue is not limited to frequent users, however: For example, about a third (34%) of those who have made video calls about once a week say they feel worn out at least sometimes.

These are among the main findings from the survey. Other key results include:

Some Americans’ personal lives and social relationships have changed during the pandemic: Some 36% of Americans say their own personal lives changed in a major way as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Another 47% say their personal lives changed, but only a little bit. About half (52%) of those who say major change has occurred in their personal lives due to the pandemic also say they have used tech in new ways, compared with about four-in-ten (38%) of those whose personal lives changed a little bit and roughly one-in-five (19%) of those who say their personal lives stayed about the same.

Even as tech helped some to stay connected, a quarter of Americans say they feel less close to close family members now compared with before the pandemic, and about four-in-ten (38%) say the same about friends they know well. Roughly half (53%) say this about casual acquaintances.

The majority of those who tried to sign up for vaccine appointments in the first part of the year went online to do so: Despite early problems with vaccine rollout and online registration systems , in the April survey tech problems did not appear to be major struggles for most adults who had tried to sign up online for COVID-19 vaccines. The survey explored Americans’ experiences getting these vaccine appointments and reveals that in April 57% of adults had tried to sign themselves up and 25% had tried to sign someone else up. Fully 78% of those who tried to sign themselves up and 87% of those who tried to sign others up were online registrants.

When it comes to difficulties with the online vaccine signup process, 29% of those who had tried to sign up online – 13% of all Americans – say it was very or somewhat difficult to sign themselves up for vaccines at that time. Among five reasons for this that the survey asked about, the most common major reason was lack of available appointments, rather than tech-related problems. Adults 65 and older who tried to sign themselves up for the vaccine online were the most likely age group to experience at least some difficulty when they tried to get a vaccine appointment.

Tech struggles and usefulness alike vary by race and ethnicity. Americans’ experiences also have varied across racial and ethnic groups. For example, Black Americans are more likely than White or Hispanic adults to meet the criteria for having “lower tech readiness.” 6 Among broadband users, Black and Hispanic adults were also more likely than White adults to be worried about paying their bills for their high-speed internet access at home as of April, though the share of Hispanic Americans who say this declined sharply since April 2020. And a majority of Black and Hispanic broadband users say they at least sometimes have experienced problems with their internet connection.

Still, Black adults and Hispanic adults are more likely than White adults to say various technologies – text messages, voice calls, video calls, social media sites and email – have helped them a lot to stay connected with family and friends amid the pandemic.

Tech has helped some adults under 30 to connect with friends, but tech fatigue also set in for some. Only about one-in-five adults ages 18 to 29 say they feel closer to friends they know well compared with before the pandemic. This share is twice as high as that among adults 50 and older. Adults under 30 are also more likely than any other age group to say social media sites have helped a lot in staying connected with family and friends (30% say so), and about four-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 say this about video calls.

Screen time affected some negatively, however. About six-in-ten adults under 30 (57%) who have ever made video calls in the pandemic say they at least sometimes feel worn out or fatigued from spending time on video calls, and about half (49%) of young adults say they have tried to cut back on time spent on the internet or their smartphone.

Throughout this report, “parents” refers to those who said they were the parent or guardian of any children who were enrolled in elementary, middle or high school and who lived in their household at the time of the survey. ↩
People with a high-speed internet connection at home also are referred to as “home broadband users” or “broadband users” throughout this report. ↩
Family incomes are based on 2019 earnings and adjusted for differences in purchasing power by geographic region and for household sizes. Middle income is defined here as two-thirds to double the median annual family income for all panelists on the American Trends Panel. Lower income falls below that range; upper income falls above it. ↩
A separate Center study also fielded in April 2021 asked Americans what the government is responsible for on a number of topics, but did not mention the coronavirus outbreak. Some 43% of Americans said in that survey that the federal government has a responsibility to provide high-speed internet for all Americans. This was a significant increase from 2019, the last time the Center had asked that more general question, when 28% said the same. ↩
Quotations in this report may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity. ↩
There were not enough Asian American respondents in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout this report. ↩

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The internet has transformed the world in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. It has revolutionized how we communicate, access information, conduct business, and even how we entertain ourselves. The internet has become an integral part of our daily lives, and it’s hard to imagine a world without it.

At its core, the Internet is a vast network of interconnected computers and servers that allows for the exchange of information and data across the globe. It was originally conceived as a way for researchers and scientists to share information and collaborate on projects, but it has since evolved into a ubiquitous platform that has permeated every aspect of modern life.

One of the most significant impacts of the internet has been on communication. Before the internet, communication was limited by geography and time zones. People had to rely on physical mail, telephone calls, or face-to-face meetings to communicate with one another. The internet has made communication instantaneous and borderless. With the rise of email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and social media platforms, people can communicate with each other from anywhere in the world, at any time.

The internet has also revolutionized the way we access information. In the past, people had to rely on physical libraries, books, and other printed materials to access information. Today, with the internet, a wealth of information is available at our fingertips. From online encyclopedias to news websites, academic journals, and online databases, the internet has made it possible to access information on virtually any topic imaginable.

Another significant impact of the internet has been on the economy and the way we conduct business. The rise of e-commerce has made it possible for businesses to reach a global market and sell their products and services online. Online shopping has become increasingly popular, and many traditional brick-and-mortar stores have had to adapt to this new reality by establishing an online presence.

Furthermore, the internet has enabled the rise of the gig economy, where people can work as freelancers or contractors for multiple clients and projects simultaneously. This has created new opportunities for individuals to earn a living and has allowed businesses to access a global talent pool.

The internet has also had a profound impact on education. Online learning platforms and distance education programs have made it possible for students to access educational resources and attend classes from anywhere in the world. This has opened up new opportunities for people who may not have had access to traditional educational institutions due to geographical or financial constraints.

However, the internet has also brought with it a number of challenges and concerns. One of the biggest concerns is privacy and security. With so much personal information being shared online, there is a risk of data breaches and cyber attacks. Companies and individuals need to be vigilant about protecting their personal information and implementing strong cybersecurity measures.

Another concern is the spread of misinformation and fake news. The internet has made it easier for anyone to publish and share information, regardless of its accuracy or credibility. This has led to the proliferation of fake news and conspiracy theories, which can have serious consequences for individuals and society as a whole.

There is also concern about the impact of the internet on mental health and well-being. The constant exposure to social media and the pressure to curate a perfect online persona can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Additionally, the addictive nature of the internet and the constant stream of information can contribute to decreased attention spans and difficulty focusing on tasks.

Despite these challenges, the internet has proven to be an invaluable tool that has transformed the way we live, work, and interact with the world around us. It has opened up new opportunities for communication, education, and economic growth, and has made it possible for people to connect and collaborate in ways that were previously unimaginable.

As we move forward, it is important to address the challenges and concerns surrounding the internet while also embracing its potential for innovation and progress. This may involve implementing stronger cybersecurity measures, promoting digital literacy and critical thinking skills, and encouraging responsible and ethical use of the internet.

In conclusion, the internet has had a profound impact on virtually every aspect of modern life. It has revolutionized communication, education, business, and access to information. While it has brought with it a number of challenges and concerns, the internet has proven to be an invaluable tool that has transformed the way we live and interact with the world around us. As we continue to navigate the digital age, it is important to embrace the opportunities that the internet provides while also addressing its challenges and promoting responsible and ethical use.

Uses of Internet

In the 21st century, the internet has become an indispensable part of our daily lives, revolutionizing the way we connect, learn, work, and entertain ourselves. Its multifaceted uses have permeated every aspect of society, bringing about unprecedented convenience and opportunities.

Communication stands out as one of the internet’s most significant uses. Instant messaging, video calls, and social media platforms have transcended geographical barriers, allowing people to stay connected with friends and family across the globe. The internet has turned the world into a global village, fostering a sense of unity and understanding among diverse cultures.

Education has undergone a remarkable transformation due to the internet. Online courses, tutorials, and educational resources have made learning accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Students can pursue degrees, acquire new skills, and access a wealth of information at their fingertips, democratizing education and breaking down traditional barriers to learning.

The internet has also redefined the way we work. Remote collaboration tools, cloud computing, and virtual offices have become essential components of the modern workplace. This shift has not only increased efficiency but has also opened up new opportunities for freelancers and remote workers, contributing to the rise of the gig economy.

In the realm of information, the internet has become an unparalleled resource. Search engines allow us to access vast amounts of information on any topic imaginable. This democratization of information has empowered individuals, encouraging critical thinking and facilitating informed decision-making.

Entertainment has undergone a digital revolution, with streaming services, online gaming, and social media platforms providing endless avenues for amusement. The internet has not only transformed how we consume content but has also given rise to new forms of artistic expression and creativity.

In conclusion, the internet’s uses are multifaceted and far-reaching, impacting every facet of our lives. From connecting people across the globe to revolutionizing education, work, and entertainment, the internet continues to be a transformative force, shaping the present and influencing the future. As we navigate the digital landscape, it is essential to harness the potential of the internet responsibly, ensuring that it remains a force for positive change in the years to come.

Convenience Due to Internet

The advent of the internet has ushered in an era of unprecedented convenience, transforming the way we live, work, and interact with the world. In our fast-paced lives, the internet has become a cornerstone of efficiency and ease, offering a multitude of conveniences that have reshaped our daily routines.

Communication is perhaps the most obvious and impactful convenience brought about by the internet. Instant messaging, email, and social media platforms have revolutionized the way we connect with others. Whether it’s staying in touch with loved ones, collaborating with colleagues, or reaching out to friends across the globe, the internet has made communication instantaneous and seamless.

The convenience of online shopping has fundamentally altered the retail landscape. With just a few clicks, consumers can browse, compare prices, and purchase a vast array of products from the comfort of their homes. The rise of e-commerce platforms has not only made shopping more convenient but has also introduced the concept of doorstep delivery, saving time and eliminating the need for physical store visits.

Information retrieval has been transformed by the internet’s vast repository of knowledge. Search engines provide instant access to information on any conceivable topic, enabling users to quickly find answers, conduct research, and stay informed. This ease of information retrieval has empowered individuals, making knowledge more accessible than ever before.

The workplace has undergone a paradigm shift with the internet, enabling remote work and flexible schedules. Online collaboration tools, cloud computing, and virtual communication platforms have made it possible for individuals to work from virtually anywhere, reducing the constraints of traditional office settings and commuting.

Entertainment has also become infinitely more convenient through streaming services, online gaming, and digital media platforms. The ability to access a diverse range of content on-demand has given consumers unprecedented control over their entertainment choices, eliminating the need to adhere to fixed schedules or physical media.

In conclusion, the internet has woven a tapestry of convenience into the fabric of our lives. From streamlined communication and effortless online shopping to boundless information access and flexible work arrangements, the conveniences offered by the internet have become integral to our modern existence. As we navigate this digital landscape, the ongoing evolution of internet technologies continues to enhance and redefine the meaning of convenience in our interconnected world.

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Essay On Internet- FAQs

What is internet short essay.

In the modern time, internet has become is one of the most powerful and interesting tools all across the world. The Internet is a network of networks and collection of many services and resources which benefits us in various ways. Using internet we can access World Wide Web from any place.

What is Internet in 150 words?

The internet is the most recent man-made creation that connects the world. The world has narrowed down after the invention of the internet. It has demolished all boundaries, which were the barriers between people and has made everything accessible. The internet is helpful to us in different ways.

What is internet 100 words?

A. The internet, a recent man-made marvel, has brought the world closer. It has shattered all barriers and made everything accessible. The internet serves us in countless ways, from sharing information with people across the world to staying connected with our loved ones.

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Essay on Internet

Updated on
Oct 1, 2021

With throat-cutting competition, the difficulty level of various competitive exams has increased. Apart from domain-specific knowledge, questions framed in various exams evaluate critical thinking and decision-making ability, reading and writing skills, and Logical and Analytical Reasoning . It thus has become important to focus on all the components equally. Just like the aforementioned topics, Essay writing is another crucial element of a wide range of entrance tests like IELTS , TOEFL , UPSC exams , etc. The topics for essays can range from Digital India and Economic issues to the role of Education and Women Empowerment . In this blog, we will share some samples of essays on the internet with you!

Uses of Internet Essay

Essay on advantages and disadvantages of internet, tips to write an essay on the internet .

Here are some of the tips which you can follow in order to write an impressive essay on the internet.

Your essay on the internet should be clear and concise with appropriate information.
Research meticulously before you start writing an essay on the internet.
Add both, advantages and disadvantages of using it.
Write the content in paragraphs.
Avoid the use of jargons and slangs.
Keep the tone formal.
You can also add statistical data.

The internet is a worldwide network of computer networks that connects millions of people in over 150 countries. Using the internet, you can send emails, chat with people, and obtain information on different variety of subjects.

Internet can be used for multiple purposes including finding information, communicate with people, shop online, manage your finances, etc.

The first workable prototype of internet came in the late 1960s with creation of ARPANET or the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. ARPANET used packet switching to allow multiple computers to communicate on a single network.

In order to complete your application process for studying abroad, apart from the basic documents, you also need to submit a personal essay / statement of purpose as it elucidates your motive to take admission in a particular course and university and also shed light on your career goals. It thus needs to be impressive! Take the assistance from the experts at Leverage Edu who will help you write an SOP that will highlight your achievements, purpose and future goals in a very lucid yet impeccable way!

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From Science to Arts, an Inevitable Decision?

The wonderful world of fungi, openmind books, scientific anniversaries, simultaneous translation technology – ever closer to reality, featured author, latest book, the impact of the internet on society: a global perspective, introduction.

The Internet is the decisive technology of the Information Age, as the electrical engine was the vector of technological transformation of the Industrial Age. This global network of computer networks, largely based nowadays on platforms of wireless communication, provides ubiquitous capacity of multimodal, interactive communication in chosen time, transcending space. The Internet is not really a new technology: its ancestor, the Arpanet, was first deployed in 1969 (Abbate 1999). But it was in the 1990s when it was privatized and released from the control of the U.S. Department of Commerce that it diffused around the world at extraordinary speed: in 1996 the first survey of Internet users counted about 40 million; in 2013 they are over 2.5 billion, with China accounting for the largest number of Internet users. Furthermore, for some time the spread of the Internet was limited by the difficulty to lay out land-based telecommunications infrastructure in the emerging countries. This has changed with the explosion of wireless communication in the early twenty-first century. Indeed, in 1991, there were about 16 million subscribers of wireless devices in the world, in 2013 they are close to 7 billion (in a planet of 7.7 billion human beings). Counting on the family and village uses of mobile phones, and taking into consideration the limited use of these devices among children under five years of age, we can say that humankind is now almost entirely connected, albeit with great levels of inequality in the bandwidth as well as in the efficiency and price of the service.

At the heart of these communication networks the Internet ensures the production, distribution, and use of digitized information in all formats. According to the study published by Martin Hilbert in Science (Hilbert and López 2011), 95 percent of all information existing in the planet is digitized and most of it is accessible on the Internet and other computer networks.

The speed and scope of the transformation of our communication environment by Internet and wireless communication has triggered all kind of utopian and dystopian perceptions around the world.

As in all moments of major technological change, people, companies, and institutions feel the depth of the change, but they are often overwhelmed by it, out of sheer ignorance of its effects.

The media aggravate the distorted perception by dwelling into scary reports on the basis of anecdotal observation and biased commentary. If there is a topic in which social sciences, in their diversity, should contribute to the full understanding of the world in which we live, it is precisely the area that has come to be named in academia as Internet Studies. Because, in fact, academic research knows a great deal on the interaction between Internet and society, on the basis of methodologically rigorous empirical research conducted in a plurality of cultural and institutional contexts. Any process of major technological change generates its own mythology. In part because it comes into practice before scientists can assess its effects and implications, so there is always a gap between social change and its understanding. For instance, media often report that intense use of the Internet increases the risk of alienation, isolation, depression, and withdrawal from society. In fact, available evidence shows that there is either no relationship or a positive cumulative relationship between the Internet use and the intensity of sociability. We observe that, overall, the more sociable people are, the more they use the Internet. And the more they use the Internet, the more they increase their sociability online and offline, their civic engagement, and the intensity of family and friendship relationships, in all cultures—with the exception of a couple of early studies of the Internet in the 1990s, corrected by their authors later (Castells 2001; Castells et al. 2007; Rainie and Wellman 2012; Center for the Digital Future 2012 et al.).

Thus, the purpose of this chapter will be to summarize some of the key research findings on the social effects of the Internet relying on the evidence provided by some of the major institutions specialized in the social study of the Internet. More specifically, I will be using the data from the world at large: the World Internet Survey conducted by the Center for the Digital Future, University of Southern California; the reports of the British Computer Society (BCS), using data from the World Values Survey of the University of Michigan; the Nielsen reports for a variety of countries; and the annual reports from the International Telecommunications Union. For data on the United States, I have used the Pew American Life and Internet Project of the Pew Institute. For the United Kingdom, the Oxford Internet Survey from the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, as well as the Virtual Society Project from the Economic and Social Science Research Council. For Spain, the Project Internet Catalonia of the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3) of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC); the various reports on the information society from Telefónica; and from the Orange Foundation. For Portugal, the Observatório de Sociedade da Informação e do Conhecimento (OSIC) in Lisbon. I would like to emphasize that most of the data in these reports converge toward similar trends. Thus I have selected for my analysis the findings that complement and reinforce each other, offering a consistent picture of the human experience on the Internet in spite of the human diversity.

Given the aim of this publication to reach a broad audience, I will not present in this text the data supporting the analysis presented here. Instead, I am referring the interested reader to the web sources of the research organizations mentioned above, as well as to selected bibliographic references discussing the empirical foundation of the social trends reported here.

Technologies of Freedom, the Network Society, and the Culture of Autonomy

In order to fully understand the effects of the Internet on society, we should remember that technology is material culture. It is produced in a social process in a given institutional environment on the basis of the ideas, values, interests, and knowledge of their producers, both their early producers and their subsequent producers. In this process we must include the users of the technology, who appropriate and adapt the technology rather than adopting it, and by so doing they modify it and produce it in an endless process of interaction between technological production and social use. So, to assess the relevance of Internet in society we must recall the specific characteristics of Internet as a technology. Then we must place it in the context of the transformation of the overall social structure, as well as in relationship to the culture characteristic of this social structure. Indeed, we live in a new social structure, the global network society, characterized by the rise of a new culture, the culture of autonomy.

Internet is a technology of freedom, in the terms coined by Ithiel de Sola Pool in 1973, coming from a libertarian culture, paradoxically financed by the Pentagon for the benefit of scientists, engineers, and their students, with no direct military application in mind (Castells 2001). The expansion of the Internet from the mid-1990s onward resulted from the combination of three main factors:

The technological discovery of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee and his willingness to distribute the source code to improve it by the open-source contribution of a global community of users, in continuity with the openness of the TCP/IP Internet protocols. The web keeps running under the same principle of open source. And two-thirds of web servers are operated by Apache, an open-source server program.
Institutional change in the management of the Internet, keeping it under the loose management of the global Internet community, privatizing it, and allowing both commercial uses and cooperative uses.
Major changes in social structure, culture, and social behavior: networking as a prevalent organizational form; individuation as the main orientation of social behavior; and the culture of autonomy as the culture of the network society.

I will elaborate on these major trends.

Our society is a network society; that is, a society constructed around personal and organizational networks powered by digital networks and communicated by the Internet. And because networks are global and know no boundaries, the network society is a global network society. This historically specific social structure resulted from the interaction between the emerging technological paradigm based on the digital revolution and some major sociocultural changes. A primary dimension of these changes is what has been labeled the rise of the Me-centered society, or, in sociological terms, the process of individuation, the decline of community understood in terms of space, work, family, and ascription in general. This is not the end of community, and not the end of place-based interaction, but there is a shift toward the reconstruction of social relationships, including strong cultural and personal ties that could be considered a form of community, on the basis of individual interests, values, and projects.

The process of individuation is not just a matter of cultural evolution, it is materially produced by the new forms of organizing economic activities, and social and political life, as I analyzed in my trilogy on the Information Age (Castells 1996–2003). It is based on the transformation of space (metropolitan life), work and economic activity (rise of the networked enterprise and networked work processes), culture and communication (shift from mass communication based on mass media to mass self-communication based on the Internet); on the crisis of the patriarchal family, with increasing autonomy of its individual members; the substitution of media politics for mass party politics; and globalization as the selective networking of places and processes throughout the planet.

But individuation does not mean isolation, or even less the end of community. Sociability is reconstructed as networked individualism and community through a quest for like-minded individuals in a process that combines online interaction with offline interaction, cyberspace and the local space. Individuation is the key process in constituting subjects (individual or collective), networking is the organizational form constructed by these subjects; this is the network society, and the form of sociability is what Rainie and Wellman (2012) conceptualized as networked individualism. Network technologies are of course the medium for this new social structure and this new culture (Papacharissi 2010).

As stated above, academic research has established that the Internet does not isolate people, nor does it reduce their sociability; it actually increases sociability, as shown by myself in my studies in Catalonia (Castells 2007), Rainie and Wellman in the United States (2012), Cardoso in Portugal (2010), and the World Internet Survey for the world at large (Center for the Digital Future 2012 et al.). Furthermore, a major study by Michael Willmott for the British Computer Society (Trajectory Partnership 2010) has shown a positive correlation, for individuals and for countries, between the frequency and intensity of the use of the Internet and the psychological indicators of personal happiness. He used global data for 35,000 people obtained from the World Wide Survey of the University of Michigan from 2005 to 2007. Controlling for other factors, the study showed that Internet use empowers people by increasing their feelings of security, personal freedom, and influence, all feelings that have a positive effect on happiness and personal well-being. The effect is particularly positive for people with lower income and who are less qualified, for people in the developing world, and for women. Age does not affect the positive relationship; it is significant for all ages. Why women? Because they are at the center of the network of their families, Internet helps them to organize their lives. Also, it helps them to overcome their isolation, particularly in patriarchal societies. The Internet also contributes to the rise of the culture of autonomy.

The key for the process of individuation is the construction of autonomy by social actors, who become subjects in the process. They do so by defining their specific projects in interaction with, but not submission to, the institutions of society. This is the case for a minority of individuals, but because of their capacity to lead and mobilize they introduce a new culture in every domain of social life: in work (entrepreneurship), in the media (the active audience), in the Internet (the creative user), in the market (the informed and proactive consumer), in education (students as informed critical thinkers, making possible the new frontier of e-learning and m-learning pedagogy), in health (the patient-centered health management system) in e-government (the informed, participatory citizen), in social movements (cultural change from the grassroots, as in feminism or environmentalism), and in politics (the independent-minded citizen able to participate in self-generated political networks).

There is increasing evidence of the direct relationship between the Internet and the rise of social autonomy. From 2002 to 2007 I directed in Catalonia one of the largest studies ever conducted in Europe on the Internet and society, based on 55,000 interviews, one-third of them face to face (IN3 2002–07). As part of this study, my collaborators and I compared the behavior of Internet users to non-Internet users in a sample of 3,000 people, representative of the population of Catalonia. Because in 2003 only about 40 percent of people were Internet users we could really compare the differences in social behavior for users and non-users, something that nowadays would be more difficult given the 79 percent penetration rate of the Internet in Catalonia. Although the data are relatively old, the findings are not, as more recent studies in other countries (particularly in Portugal) appear to confirm the observed trends. We constructed scales of autonomy in different dimensions. Only between 10 and 20 percent of the population, depending on dimensions, were in the high level of autonomy. But we focused on this active segment of the population to explore the role of the Internet in the construction of autonomy. Using factor analysis we identified six major types of autonomy based on projects of individuals according to their practices:

a) professional development b) communicative autonomy c) entrepreneurship d) autonomy of the body e) sociopolitical participation f) personal, individual autonomy

These six types of autonomous practices were statistically independent among themselves. But each one of them correlated positively with Internet use in statistically significant terms, in a self-reinforcing loop (time sequence): the more one person was autonomous, the more she/he used the web, and the more she/he used the web, the more autonomous she/he became (Castells et al. 2007). This is a major empirical finding. Because if the dominant cultural trend in our society is the search for autonomy, and if the Internet powers this search, then we are moving toward a society of assertive individuals and cultural freedom, regardless of the barriers of rigid social organizations inherited from the Industrial Age. From this Internet-based culture of autonomy have emerged a new kind of sociability, networked sociability, and a new kind of sociopolitical practice, networked social movements and networked democracy. I will now turn to the analysis of these two fundamental trends at the source of current processes of social change worldwide.

The Rise of Social Network Sites on the Internet

Since 2002 (creation of Friendster, prior to Facebook) a new socio-technical revolution has taken place on the Internet: the rise of social network sites where now all human activities are present, from personal interaction to business, to work, to culture, to communication, to social movements, and to politics.

Social Network Sites are web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.

(Boyd and Ellison 2007, 2)

Social networking uses, in time globally spent, surpassed e-mail in November 2007. It surpassed e-mail in number of users in July 2009. In terms of users it reached 1 billion by September 2010, with Facebook accounting for about half of it. In 2013 it has almost doubled, particularly because of increasing use in China, India, and Latin America. There is indeed a great diversity of social networking sites (SNS) by countries and cultures. Facebook, started for Harvard-only members in 2004, is present in most of the world, but QQ, Cyworld, and Baidu dominate in China; Orkut in Brazil; Mixi in Japan; etc. In terms of demographics, age is the main differential factor in the use of SNS, with a drop of frequency of use after 50 years of age, and particularly 65. But this is not just a teenager’s activity. The main Facebook U.S. category is in the age group 35–44, whose frequency of use of the site is higher than for younger people. Nearly 60 percent of adults in the U.S. have at least one SNS profile, 30 percent two, and 15 percent three or more. Females are as present as males, except when in a society there is a general gender gap. We observe no differences in education and class, but there is some class specialization of SNS, such as Myspace being lower than FB; LinkedIn is for professionals.

Thus, the most important activity on the Internet at this point in time goes through social networking, and SNS have become the chosen platforms for all kind of activities, not just personal friendships or chatting, but for marketing, e-commerce, education, cultural creativity, media and entertainment distribution, health applications, and sociopolitical activism. This is a significant trend for society at large. Let me explore the meaning of this trend on the basis of the still scant evidence.

Social networking sites are constructed by users themselves building on specific criteria of grouping. There is entrepreneurship in the process of creating sites, then people choose according to their interests and projects. Networks are tailored by people themselves with different levels of profiling and privacy. The key to success is not anonymity, but on the contrary, self-presentation of a real person connecting to real people (in some cases people are excluded from the SNS when they fake their identity). So, it is a self-constructed society by networking connecting to other networks. But this is not a virtual society. There is a close connection between virtual networks and networks in life at large. This is a hybrid world, a real world, not a virtual world or a segregated world.

People build networks to be with others, and to be with others they want to be with on the basis of criteria that include those people who they already know (a selected sub-segment). Most users go on the site every day. It is permanent connectivity. If we needed an answer to what happened to sociability in the Internet world, here it is:

There is a dramatic increase in sociability, but a different kind of sociability, facilitated and dynamized by permanent connectivity and social networking on the web.

Based on the time when Facebook was still releasing data (this time is now gone) we know that in 2009 users spent 500 billion minutes per month. This is not just about friendship or interpersonal communication. People do things together, share, act, exactly as in society, although the personal dimension is always there. Thus, in the U.S. 38 percent of adults share content, 21 percent remix, 14 percent blog, and this is growing exponentially, with development of technology, software, and SNS entrepreneurial initiatives. On Facebook, in 2009 the average user was connected to 60 pages, groups, and events, people interacted per month to 160 million objects (pages, groups, events), the average user created 70 pieces of content per month, and there were 25 billion pieces of content shared per month (web links, news stories, blogs posts, notes, photos). SNS are living spaces connecting all dimensions of people’s experience. This transforms culture because people share experience with a low emotional cost, while saving energy and effort. They transcend time and space, yet they produce content, set up links, and connect practices. It is a constantly networked world in every dimension of human experience. They co-evolve in permanent, multiple interaction. But they choose the terms of their co-evolution.

Thus, people live their physical lives but increasingly connect on multiple dimensions in SNS.

Paradoxically, the virtual life is more social than the physical life, now individualized by the organization of work and urban living.

But people do not live a virtual reality, indeed it is a real virtuality, since social practices, sharing, mixing, and living in society is facilitated in the virtuality, in what I called time ago the “space of flows” (Castells 1996).

Because people are increasingly at ease in the multi-textuality and multidimensionality of the web, marketers, work organizations, service agencies, government, and civil society are migrating massively to the Internet, less and less setting up alternative sites, more and more being present in the networks that people construct by themselves and for themselves, with the help of Internet social networking entrepreneurs, some of whom become billionaires in the process, actually selling freedom and the possibility of the autonomous construction of lives. This is the liberating potential of the Internet made material practice by these social networking sites. The largest of these social networking sites are usually bounded social spaces managed by a company. However, if the company tries to impede free communication it may lose many of its users, because the entry barriers in this industry are very low. A couple of technologically savvy youngsters with little capital can set up a site on the Internet and attract escapees from a more restricted Internet space, as happened to AOL and other networking sites of the first generation, and as could happen to Facebook or any other SNS if they are tempted to tinker with the rules of openness (Facebook tried to make users pay and retracted within days). So, SNS are often a business, but they are in the business of selling freedom, free expression, chosen sociability. When they tinker with this promise they risk their hollowing by net citizens migrating with their friends to more friendly virtual lands.

Perhaps the most telling expression of this new freedom is the transformation of sociopolitical practices on the Internet.

Communication Power: Mass-Self Communication and the Transformation of Politics

Power and counterpower, the foundational relationships of society, are constructed in the human mind, through the construction of meaning and the processing of information according to certain sets of values and interests (Castells 2009).

Ideological apparatuses and the mass media have been key tools of mediating communication and asserting power, and still are. But the rise of a new culture, the culture of autonomy, has found in Internet and mobile communication networks a major medium of mass self-communication and self-organization.

The key source for the social production of meaning is the process of socialized communication. I define communication as the process of sharing meaning through the exchange of information. Socialized communication is the one that exists in the public realm, that has the potential of reaching society at large. Therefore, the battle over the human mind is largely played out in the process of socialized communication. And this is particularly so in the network society, the social structure of the Information Age, which is characterized by the pervasiveness of communication networks in a multimodal hypertext.

The ongoing transformation of communication technology in the digital age extends the reach of communication media to all domains of social life in a network that is at the same time global and local, generic and customized, in an ever-changing pattern.

As a result, power relations, that is the relations that constitute the foundation of all societies, as well as the processes challenging institutionalized power relations, are increasingly shaped and decided in the communication field. Meaningful, conscious communication is what makes humans human. Thus, any major transformation in the technology and organization of communication is of utmost relevance for social change. Over the last four decades the advent of the Internet and of wireless communication has shifted the communication process in society at large from mass communication to mass self-communication. This is from a message sent from one to many with little interactivity to a system based on messages from many to many, multimodal, in chosen time, and with interactivity, so that senders are receivers and receivers are senders. And both have access to a multimodal hypertext in the web that constitutes the endlessly changing backbone of communication processes.

The transformation of communication from mass communication to mass self-communication has contributed decisively to alter the process of social change. As power relationships have always been based on the control of communication and information that feed the neural networks constitutive of the human mind, the rise of horizontal networks of communication has created a new landscape of social and political change by the process of disintermediation of the government and corporate controls over communication. This is the power of the network, as social actors build their own networks on the basis of their projects, values, and interests. The outcome of these processes is open ended and dependent on specific contexts. Freedom, in this case freedom of communicate, does not say anything on the uses of freedom in society. This is to be established by scholarly research. But we need to start from this major historical phenomenon: the building of a global communication network based on the Internet, a technology that embodies the culture of freedom that was at its source.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century there have been multiple social movements around the world that have used the Internet as their space of formation and permanent connectivity, among the movements and with society at large. These networked social movements, formed in the social networking sites on the Internet, have mobilized in the urban space and in the institutional space, inducing new forms of social movements that are the main actors of social change in the network society. Networked social movements have been particularly active since 2010, and especially in the Arab revolutions against dictatorships; in Europe and the U.S. as forms of protest against the management of the financial crisis; in Brazil; in Turkey; in Mexico; and in highly diverse institutional contexts and economic conditions. It is precisely the similarity of the movements in extremely different contexts that allows the formulation of the hypothesis that this is the pattern of social movements characteristic of the global network society. In all cases we observe the capacity of these movements for self-organization, without a central leadership, on the basis of a spontaneous emotional movement. In all cases there is a connection between Internet-based communication, mobile networks, and the mass media in different forms, feeding into each other and amplifying the movement locally and globally.

These movements take place in the context of exploitation and oppression, social tensions and social struggles; but struggles that were not able to successfully challenge the state in other instances of revolt are now powered by the tools of mass self-communication. It is not the technology that induces the movements, but without the technology (Internet and wireless communication) social movements would not take the present form of being a challenge to state power. The fact is that technology is material culture (ideas brought into the design) and the Internet materialized the culture of freedom that, as it has been documented, emerged on American campuses in the 1960s. This culture-made technology is at the source of the new wave of social movements that exemplify the depth of the global impact of the Internet in all spheres of social organization, affecting particularly power relationships, the foundation of the institutions of society. (See case studies and an analytical perspective on the interaction between Internet and networked social movements in Castells 2012.)

The Internet, as all technologies, does not produce effects by itself. Yet, it has specific effects in altering the capacity of the communication system to be organized around flows that are interactive, multimodal, asynchronous or synchronous, global or local, and from many to many, from people to people, from people to objects, and from objects to objects, increasingly relying on the semantic web. How these characteristics affect specific systems of social relationships has to be established by research, and this is what I tried to present in this text. What is clear is that without the Internet we would not have seen the large-scale development of networking as the fundamental mechanism of social structuring and social change in every domain of social life. The Internet, the World Wide Web, and a variety of networks increasingly based on wireless platforms constitute the technological infrastructure of the network society, as the electrical grid and the electrical engine were the support system for the form of social organization that we conceptualized as the industrial society. Thus, as a social construction, this technological system is open ended, as the network society is an open-ended form of social organization that conveys the best and the worse in humankind. Yet, the global network society is our society, and the understanding of its logic on the basis of the interaction between culture, organization, and technology in the formation and development of social and technological networks is a key field of research in the twenty-first century.

We can only make progress in our understanding through the cumulative effort of scholarly research. Only then we will be able to cut through the myths surrounding the key technology of our time. A digital communication technology that is already a second skin for young people, yet it continues to feed the fears and the fantasies of those who are still in charge of a society that they barely understand.

These references are in fact sources of more detailed references specific to each one of the topics analyzed in this text.

Abbate, Janet. A Social History of the Internet. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999.

Boyd, Danah M., and Nicole B. Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13, no. 1 (2007).

Cardoso, Gustavo, Angus Cheong, and Jeffrey Cole (eds). World Wide Internet: Changing Societies, Economies and Cultures. Macau: University of Macau Press, 2009.

Castells, Manuel. The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture. 3 vols. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996–2003.

———. The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

———. Communication Power. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.

———. Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2012.

Castells, Manuel, Imma Tubella, Teresa Sancho, and Meritxell Roca.

La transición a la sociedad red. Barcelona: Ariel, 2007.

Hilbert, Martin, and Priscilla López. “The World’s Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information.” Science 332, no. 6025 (April 1, 2011): pp. 60–65.

Papacharissi, Zizi, ed. The Networked Self: Identity, Community, and Culture on Social Networking Sites. Routledge, 2010.

Rainie. Lee, and Barry Wellman. Networked: The New Social Operating System. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012.

Trajectory Partnership (Michael Willmott and Paul Flatters). The Information Dividend: Why IT Makes You “Happier.” Swindon: British Informatics Society Limited, 2010. http://www.bcs.org/upload/pdf/info-dividend-full-report.pdf

Selected Web References. Used as sources for analysis in the chapter

Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento. “Observatório de Sociedade da Informação e do Conhecimento (OSIC).” http://www.umic.pt/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3026&Itemid=167

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. “Features, Press and Policy.” http://www.bcs.org/category/7307

Center for the Digital Future. The World Internet Project International Report. 4th ed. Los Angeles: USC Annenberg School, Center for the Digital Future, 2012. http://www.worldinternetproject.net/_files/_Published/_oldis/770_2012wip_report4th_ed.pdf

ESRC (Economic & Social Research Council). “Papers and Reports.” Virtual Society. http://virtualsociety.sbs.ox.ac.uk/reports.htm

Fundación Orange. “Análisis y Prospectiva: Informe eEspaña.” Fundación Orange. http://fundacionorange.es/fundacionorange/analisisprospectiva.html

Fundación Telefónica. “Informes SI.” Fundación Telefónica. http://sociedadinformacion.fundacion.telefonica.com/DYC/SHI/InformesSI/seccion=1190&idioma=es_ES.do

IN3 (Internet Interdisciplinary Institute). UOC. “Project Internet Catalonia (PIC): An Overview.” Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, 2002–07. http://www.uoc.edu/in3/pic/eng/

International Telecommunication Union. “Annual Reports.” http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/sfo/annual_reports/index.html

Nielsen Company. “Reports.” 2013. http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/reports/2013.html?tag=Category:Media+ and+Entertainment

Oxford Internet Surveys. “Publications.” http://microsites.oii.ox.ac.uk/oxis/publications

Pew Internet & American Life Project. “Social Networking.” Pew Internet. http://www.pewinternet.org/Topics/Activities-and-Pursuits/Social-Networking.aspx?typeFilter=5

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Internet use statistically associated with higher wellbeing, finds new global Oxford study

Links between internet adoption and wellbeing are likely to be positive, despite popular concerns to the contrary, according to a major new international study from researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, part of the University of Oxford.

The study encompassed more than two million participants psychological wellbeing from 2006-2021 across 168 countries, in relation to internet use and psychological well-being across 33,792 different statistical models and subsets of data, 84.9% of associations between internet connectivity and wellbeing were positive and statistically significant.

The study analysed data from two million individuals aged 15 to 99 in 168 countries, including Latin America, Asia, and Africa and found internet access and use was consistently associated with positive wellbeing.

Assistant Professor Matti Vuorre, Tilburg University and Research Associate, Oxford Internet Institute and Professor Andrew Przybylski, Oxford Internet Institute carried out the study to assess how technology relates to wellbeing in parts of the world that are rarely studied.

Professor Przybylski said: 'Whilst internet technologies and platforms and their potential psychological consequences remain debated, research to date has been inconclusive and of limited geographic and demographic scope. The overwhelming majority of studies have focused on the Global North and younger people thereby ignoring the fact that the penetration of the internet has been, and continues to be, a global phenomenon'.

'We set out to address this gap by analysing how internet access, mobile internet access and active internet use might predict psychological wellbeing on a global level across the life stages. To our knowledge, no other research has directly grappled with these issues and addressed the worldwide scope of the debate.'

The researchers studied eight indicators of well-being: life satisfaction, daily negative and positive experiences, two indices of social well-being, physical wellbeing, community wellbeing and experiences of purpose.

Commenting on the findings, Professor Vuorre said, “We were surprised to find a positive correlation between well-being and internet use across the majority of the thousands of models we used for our analysis.”

Whilst the associations between internet access and use for the average country was very consistently positive, the researchers did find some variation by gender and wellbeing indicators: The researchers found that 4.9% of associations linking internet use and community well-being were negative, with most of those observed among young women aged 15-24yrs.

Whilst not identified by the researchers as a causal relation, the paper notes that this specific finding is consistent with previous reports of increased cyberbullying and more negative associations between social media use and depressive symptoms among young women.

Adds Przybylski, 'Overall we found that average associations were consistent across internet adoption predictors and wellbeing outcomes, with those who had access to or actively used the internet reporting meaningfully greater wellbeing than those who did not'.

'We hope our findings bring some greater context to the screentime debate however further work is still needed in this important area. We urge platform providers to share their detailed data on user behaviour with social scientists working in this field for transparent and independent scientific enquiry, to enable a more comprehensive understanding of internet technologies in our daily lives.'

In the study, the researchers examined data from the Gallup World Poll, from 2,414,294 individuals from 168 countries, from 2006-2021. The poll assessed well-being with face-to-face and phone surveys by local interviewers in the respondents’ native languages. The researchers applied statistical modelling techniques to the data using wellbeing indicators to test the association between internet adoption and wellbeing outcomes.

Watch the American Psychological Association (APA) video highlighting the key findings from the research.

Download the paper ‘ A multiverse analysis of the associations between internet use and well-being ’ published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behaviour, American Psychological Association.

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Essay on Uses of the Internet for Students

In this article, we have published an Essay on Uses of the Internet. Also, we have explained the terminology and history of the internet.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Internet is a global system used for sharing information and providing comprehensive service and communication by using an internet protocol suite to link devices worldwide. A vast range of data is carried through inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web. There is no single centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies of access and usage of the Internet.

Its surfing is very easy. The Internet is available in all major villages, towns, cities of almost every country. It is possible to surf through the Internet with the help of web browsers such as Microsoft Edge , Google Chrome , Safari , etc. The recent introduction of the mobile Internet has been equally successful.

It is used in today’s every walk of our life. In today’s world, the usage of the Internet is very common almost in every field. The usage of the Internet by students is very common.

They can get information online from different websites, and they can also do online courses, opt for online coaching, etc. by using the Internet in every sphere of life. It has connected the whole world. It provides us various modes of communication like social networking sites, email, web and video calls, etc.

The usage of the Internet on business has brought a revolutionary change in the market due to which businessman is able to promote their business and are able to sell their products online. It has promoted the online marketing platform in the world.

The Terminology Internet

The term Internet is used to refer to the particular global system of interconnected internet protocol networks. It is considered as a proper noun as per the Chicago manual of style, and hence it should be written with an initial capital letter.

Often the Internet is also referred to as Net as a short form for the network. The term Interweb is a linguistic blend of words between the Internet and the World Wide Web, which is used as sarcastically as a parody for the untechnical unsavvy user.

History of the Internet

The research on packet switching, which is one of the fundamentals of Internet Technologies, started in early 1960 by Paul Baran. The ARPANET project leads to the development of protocols and internetworking of multiple separate networks, which could be joined into a network or networks.

In mid-1980 the Internet expanded rapidly in Europe and Australia and in Asia it expanded in early 1990. As technology advanced and commercial opportunities increased, the growth and the volume of Internet traffic started growing.

Uses of the Internet

1. News and Journals

All the newspapers, magazines, and journals of the planet are available on the web. With the introduction of advanced mobile telecommunication technologies like 4G (fourth generation) and 5G (fifth generation) and broadband, the speed of internet service has increased tremendously. An individual can get the newest news about the planet during a matter of a few seconds.

2. Electronic Mode of Communication

It has given the foremost exciting mode of communication to all or any. We will send an Email (the short sort of Electronic Mailing System) to all or any corners of the planet. Chatting:

There is much chatting software which will be wont to send and receive real-time messages over the web. We will chat with our friends and relatives using anybody of the chatting software.

3. Social Networking

With the help of Social networking sites, people can connect with their old friends. They will even chat with them once they are online. Even the pictures taken by the users are allowed to be shared on social networking sites with others.

We will share pictures with our loved ones while we are on vacation. People are even concluding business deals over these social networking sites like Facebook.

4. Online Banking (Net-Banking)

the utilization of the Internet also can be seen within the field of banking transactions. Many banks like HSBC, SBI, Axis Bank, Hdfc Bank, etc. offer online banking facilities to its customers. They will transfer funds from one account to a different using the net-banking facility.

5. E-commerce

It is additionally used for completing business operations, which set of operations is understood as Electronic Commerce (E-commerce). Flipkart is the largest e-commerce company in India. Flipkart’s rival Amazon is giving stiff competition.

6. Mobile commerce

The commercial transaction that takes place over the mobile Internet is known as Mobile commerce (also M-Commerce). Using mobile web technology, many companies have introduced a mobile version of internet sites and mobile apps, to market and sell their products. The products can be easily browsed and buy by the customers by using the mobile Internet.

7. Mobile wallet

Mobile wallet service is offered to customers by many companies. To access the service, they must have a smart-phone and internet connection to use this service. Users pay an amount into their mobile wallet, which they will use to form online payment like bill payments, recharges, etc.

8. Entertainment

aside from a serious source of data and knowledge, the utility of the Internet within the field of entertainment can’t be undermined. We will visit various video sites and watch movies and serials at a convenient time.

9. The technology of the Future

It is the technology of the future. Within the times to return, offices would be managed at foreign places through the Internet.

10. Jobs on the Internet

Online job searching is a person who is using the Internet to search job to resume as an employer/worker. It is also the multifaceted process taking at the same time. Nowadays, many people use the Internet to search for their desired job, especially teenagers from 25 years old to 35 years old.

The reason is that they feel easier compared to traditional methods such as search jobs in newspapers, flyers, advertisements, etc. For them, a searching job on the Internet is faster and more option.

Moreover, searching for a job online can satisfy their desire. In this technology booming century, we can find a job not only in job search engines, but we also can use networking to search for a job.

It is a very helpful way to seeking a job because a 60% – 80% job will not be advertised; this is called the hidden job market. One way to find out these hidden jobs is through networking, such as ‘Facebook’ is the most popular website to seek for a job. This is why networking is so powerful.

11. Corporate Base

On the Internet, for file sharing, data transfer, internal communication, and external communication, and many other purposes are extensively used in the corporate world. In simple words, It is slowly forming the base of the corporate today.

The Bottom Line (Conclusion)

The Internet is extremely useful for everybody. It’s the superhighway of data. The value of the Internet has been reduced over-time. The value of the pc system, modem, and other associated hardware is additionally likely to return down.

Just in a case computing system isn’t available, one can browse the Internet over mobile phones. All major smart-phones support browsing functionality. The possibilities online are endless. Some people waste their time while surfing through the different types of websites. Some others attempt to view those websites that aren’t meant for them.

This is often a nasty tendency and must be checked. It has to be used for development and not for decay. People must learn Internet operations and must attempt to collect only the useful information. This century would usher humanity into a replacement era of data Technology (IT), and the Internet is that the backbone of this exciting era.

The greater flexibility in working hours and location is allowed by the usage of the Internet and high-speed connection. By numerous means and almost everywhere, It can be accessed including through mobile devices. Users are able to connect to the Internet wirelessly through Mobile phones , data cards, handheld game consoles, and cellular routers.

Within the restrictions imposed on pocket-sized devices, small screens and other limited facilities of such the services of the Internet, including email and the web, may be available. The service offered by the service providers may be restricted and mobile data charges may be significantly higher than other access methods.

The nearly instantaneous sharing of ideas, knowledge, skills, and low cost have made collaborative work dramatically more accessible, with the assistance of collaborative software. Not only can a gaggle cheaply communicate and share ideas, but the broad reach of the web allows such groups more quickly to make.

Essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet

Students are often asked to write an essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet

The uses of internet.

The internet is a powerful tool that has revolutionized our world. It provides us with information, communication, and entertainment. We can research any topic, connect with friends, and enjoy movies or games.

The Abuses of Internet

However, the internet can also be misused. Cyberbullying, online scams, and the spread of false information are common problems. Furthermore, excessive internet use can lead to addiction, affecting our health and social life.

In conclusion, while the internet offers numerous benefits, it’s crucial to use it responsibly to avoid its potential pitfalls.

Also check:

Paragraph on Uses and Abuses of Internet

250 Words Essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet

Introduction.

The internet, a revolutionary invention of the 20th century, has transformed our lives in profound ways. It has become an indispensable tool in various sectors, including education, business, communication, and entertainment. However, like any tool, it can be used both for constructive and destructive purposes.

Uses of Internet

The internet has democratized access to information, breaking down geographical barriers. It has made education more accessible, with countless resources and online learning platforms available at our fingertips. It has also revolutionized communication, enabling instant interaction across the globe. The internet has made business operations more efficient, from online banking to e-commerce. It has also provided a platform for creative expression and entertainment, with platforms like YouTube and Spotify.

Abuses of Internet

However, the internet’s misuse is a growing concern. Cyberbullying, identity theft, and online harassment are rampant, causing psychological harm to individuals. The internet has also facilitated the spread of misinformation and fake news, leading to societal discord and distrust. Additionally, it has given rise to internet addiction, affecting individuals’ mental health and productivity. The proliferation of explicit content is another issue, impacting the moral fabric of society.

In conclusion, while the internet has myriad benefits, its misuse can lead to serious consequences. It is crucial to use this tool responsibly, promoting digital literacy and ethical online behavior. As we stride further into the digital age, we must strike a balance between leveraging the internet’s potential and mitigating its pitfalls.

500 Words Essay on Uses and Abuses of Internet

The advent of the internet has revolutionized the world, bringing about profound changes in the way we live, learn, and work. It has become an integral part of our lives, providing us with a plethora of information and services at our fingertips. However, like any other invention, the internet also has its share of uses and abuses. This essay explores the beneficial aspects of the internet and its potential pitfalls.

Uses of the Internet

The internet’s most significant advantage is its ability to connect people globally. It has made communication faster, cheaper, and more efficient, breaking down geographical barriers. Through email, social media, video conferencing, and instant messaging, we can interact with anyone, anywhere, at any time.

The internet has also democratized education. Online learning platforms, digital libraries, and educational websites have made knowledge accessible to all, regardless of location or financial status. It has also facilitated research, with a vast amount of information available on any conceivable topic.

Moreover, the internet has transformed the business landscape. E-commerce has opened up new markets, enabling businesses to reach customers globally. It has also made financial transactions more straightforward and faster through online banking and digital payments.

Abuses of the Internet

Despite its advantages, the internet is not without its downsides. One of the most prevalent abuses is cybercrime. This encompasses a wide range of malicious activities, from identity theft and fraud to cyberstalking and cyberbullying. The anonymity that the internet provides can be exploited by unscrupulous individuals to harm others.

Another significant issue is the spread of false information or ‘fake news’. The speed at which information spreads online can lead to the rapid dissemination of misinformation, often leading to panic, confusion, and mistrust.

Additionally, the internet can be a source of addiction. Excessive use of social media, online gaming, or other digital activities can lead to internet addiction, negatively impacting mental health and personal relationships.

In conclusion, the internet is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it offers immense benefits, facilitating communication, education, and business. On the other hand, it can be a tool for harm, enabling cybercrime, the spread of misinformation, and addiction. As users, it is incumbent upon us to use the internet responsibly. We must be vigilant in protecting ourselves from its potential abuses while harnessing its vast potential for our benefit. As the internet continues to evolve, so too must our understanding and regulation of its use and abuse.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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Internet use is associated with greater wellbeing, global study finds

Researcher cautions against ‘one-size-fits-all solutions’ amid growing debate over impact, particularly on young people

Spending time online is often portrayed as something to avoid, but research suggests internet use is associated with greater wellbeing in people around the world.

The potential impact on wellbeing of the internet, and social media in particular, has become a matter of intense debate. “Our analysis is the first to test whether or not internet access, mobile internet access and regular use of the internet relates to wellbeing on a global level,” said Prof Andrew Przybylski, of the University of Oxford, who co-authored the work.

Przybylski said previous findings had been limited by poorly conducted studies, a focus on North America and Europe and research chiefly looking at concerns about such technology, particularly in relation to young people.

“It would be really good to be able to target advice and tools and regulation to protect young people in particular, but that evidence simply doesn’t exist in a way that would be useful for those ends,” he said.

Published in the journal Technology, Mind and Behaviour, the study describes how Przybylski and Dr Matti Vuorre, of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, analysed data collected through interviews involving about 1,000 people each year from 168 countries as part of the Gallup World Poll.

Participants were asked about their internet access and use as well as eight different measures of wellbeing, such as life satisfaction, social life, purpose in life and feelings of community wellbeing.

The team analysed data from 2006 to 2021, encompassing about 2.4 million participants aged 15 and above.

The researchers employed more than 33,000 statistical models, allowing them to explore various possible associations while taking into account factors that could influence them, such as income, education, health problems and relationship status.

The results reveal that internet access, mobile internet access and use generally predicted higher measures of the different aspects of wellbeing, with 84.9% of associations between internet connectivity and wellbeing positive, 0.4% negative and 14.7% not statistically significant.

The study was not able to prove cause and effect, but the team found measures of life satisfaction were 8.5% higher for those who had internet access.

Nor did the study look at the length of time people spent using the internet or what they used it for, while some factors that could explain associations may not have be considered.

Przybylski said it was important that policy on technology was evidence-based and that the impact of any interventions was tracked.

after newsletter promotion

“If we’re to make the online world safer for young people, we just can’t go in guns blazing with strong prior beliefs and kind of one-size-fits-all solutions. We really need to make sure that we’re sensitive to having our minds changed by data,” he said.

Dr Shweta Singh, an assistant professor of information systems and management at the University of Warwick, who was not involved in the study, said safe internet or harmless social media did not exist yet.

“As much as I love to agree with these findings and really wish they are true to totality, there is unfortunately counter-evidence and arguments which suggest that is not necessarily the case,” she said, noting reports that cases of “sextortion” in Canada had reached a new high, with teenage boys particularly affected.

Prof Simeon Yates, of the University of Liverpool, said there had been much focus on online harms, but there were also benefits, though there was more nuance in both than the latest study had been able to capture.

“Just because people are quoting a higher level wellbeing, it doesn’t mean therefore that no negative things are happening to them online,” he said.

Internet safety

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12 May 2024

Is the Internet bad for you? Huge study reveals surprise effect on well-being

Carissa Wong

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

A woman and a man sit in bed in a dark bedroom, distracted by a laptop computer and a smartphone respectively.

People who had access to the Internet scored higher on measures of life satisfaction in a global survey. Credit: Ute Grabowsky/Photothek via Getty

A global, 16-year study 1 of 2.4 million people has found that Internet use might boost measures of well-being, such as life satisfaction and sense of purpose — challenging the commonly held idea that Internet use has negative effects on people’s welfare.

US TikTok ban: how the looming restriction is affecting scientists on the app

“It’s an important piece of the puzzle on digital-media use and mental health,” says psychologist Markus Appel at the University of Würzburg in Germany. “If social media and Internet and mobile-phone use is really such a devastating force in our society, we should see it on this bird’s-eye view [study] — but we don’t.” Such concerns are typically related to behaviours linked to social-media use, such as cyberbullying, social-media addiction and body-image issues. But the best studies have so far shown small negative effects, if any 2 , 3 , of Internet use on well-being, says Appel.

The authors of the latest study, published on 13 May in Technology, Mind and Behaviour , sought to capture a more global picture of the Internet’s effects than did previous research. “While the Internet is global, the study of it is not,” said Andrew Przybylski, a researcher at the University of Oxford, UK, who studies how technology affects well-being, in a press briefing on 9 May. “More than 90% of data sets come from a handful of English-speaking countries” that are mostly in the global north, he said. Previous studies have also focused on young people, he added.

To address this research gap, Pryzbylski and his colleagues analysed data on how Internet access was related to eight measures of well-being from the Gallup World Poll , conducted by analytics company Gallup, based in Washington DC. The data were collected annually from 2006 to 2021 from 1,000 people, aged 15 and above, in 168 countries, through phone or in-person interviews. The researchers controlled for factors that might affect Internet use and welfare, including income level, employment status, education level and health problems.

Like a walk in nature

The team found that, on average, people who had access to the Internet scored 8% higher on measures of life satisfaction, positive experiences and contentment with their social life, compared with people who lacked web access. Online activities can help people to learn new things and make friends, and this could contribute to the beneficial effects, suggests Appel.

The positive effect is similar to the well-being benefit associated with taking a walk in nature, says Przybylski.

However, women aged 15–24 who reported having used the Internet in the past week were, on average, less happy with the place they live, compared with people who didn’t use the web. This could be because people who do not feel welcome in their community spend more time online, said Przybylski. Further studies are needed to determine whether links between Internet use and well-being are causal or merely associations, he added.

The study comes at a time of discussion around the regulation of Internet and social-media use , especially among young people. “The study cannot contribute to the recent debate on whether or not social-media use is harmful, or whether or not smartphones should be banned at schools,” because the study was not designed to answer these questions, says Tobias Dienlin, who studies how social media affects well-being at the University of Vienna. “Different channels and uses of the Internet have vastly different effects on well-being outcomes,” he says.

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01410-z

Vuorre, M. & Przybylski, A. K. Technol. Mind Behav . https://doi.org/10.1037/tmb0000127 (2024).

Article Google Scholar

Heffer, T. et al. Clin. Psychol. Sci. 7 , 462–470 (2018).

Coyne, S. M., Rogers, A. A., Zurcher, J. D., Stockdale, L. & Booth, M. Comput. Hum. Behav . 104 , 106160 (2020).

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v.24(1); 2016 Feb

Social and Psychological Effects of the Internet Use

Marianna diomidous.

1 Dept. of Public Health, Faculty for Nursing, School of Health Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

Kostis Chardalias

Adrianna magita, panagiotis koutonias, paraskevi panagiotopoulou, john mantas, background and aims:.

Over the past two decades there was an upsurge of the use of Internet in human life. With this continuous development, Internet users are able to communicate with any part of the globe, to shop online, to use it as a mean of education, to work remotely and to conduct financial transactions. Unfortunately, this rapid development of the Internet has a detrimental impact in our life, which leads to various phenomena such as cyber bullying, cyber porn, cyber suicide, Internet addiction, social isolation, cyber racism etc. The main purpose of this paper is to record and analyze all these social and psychological effects that appears to users due to the extensive use of the Internet.

Materials and Methods:

This review study was a thorough search of bibliography data conducted through Internet and library research studies. Key words were extracted from search engines and data bases including Google, Yahoo, Scholar Google, PubMed.

The findings of this study showed that the Internet offers a quick access to information and facilitates communication however; it is quite dangerous, especially for young users. For this reason, users should be aware of it and face critically any information that is handed from the website

1. INTRODUCTION

It is an undeniable fact that both computers and the Internet have become one of the most important achievements of modern society. They bring their own revolution in human daily life (science, education, information, entertainment etc) eliminating the distances and offering immediate and easily access to information and communication. With the continuous development of new technologies, the Internet users are able to communicate anywhere in the world to shop online, use it as an educational tool, work remotely and carry out financial transactions with various services offered by banks. The infinite possibilities that are offered by the Internet can often lead users to abuse it, or to use it for malicious purposes against other users, organizations and public services. With the rapid spread and growth of the Internet, they have appeared some social phenomena such as cyberbullying, internet pornography, grooming through social networks, cybersuicide, Internet addiction and social isolation, racism on the web. Moreover, there is always the risk of any sort of fraud exploitation by the so called experts of technology systems who use Internet as a mean to carry out illegal acts.

Social Networks

The human being is often considered as a “social being.” Therefore, it is no surprise that the Internet is continuously transformed from a simple tool for publishing information to a mean of social interaction and participation. Social networks ( 1 ) are characterized as online services that allow individuals to create a public profile within an entrenched net system. Additionally, the users publish a list of other users with whom share a connection and view and interchange their own lists of connections and those who are created by others in the system. Social networks are a set of interactions and relationships. The term is also used today to describe websites that allow interface between users sharing reviews, photos and other information. The most famous of these websites are Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Skype, OoVoo, LinkedIn, Tumblr, YouTube, TripAdvisor. These websites are virtual communities where people can communicate and develop contacts through them.

A social network is a social structure made up for a number of factors, such as individuals or organizations. On the internet, social networks are a platform that is maintained for the creation of social relations between people, usually as active members of the social network, with common interests or activities.

Social networking sites are organized sites on the web with more centered character providing in their overwhelming majority, a series of basic and free services such as creating profiles, uploading pictures and videos, commenting on actions taken by other members of the network or group, instant messaging and other more

Internet Risks

Social networking is an amazing technological phenomenon of the 21st century. Social networking websites allow each user to create and design a personal website, using graphics, color, music, pictures and give it a unique character. This activity is particularly popular among young people and does not require specific technical knowledge. On these websites, users through their virtual profile work interactively with other users, publishing photos and videos, join groups of common interests, publish and exchange their artistic creations, visit pages of other users and use a variety of applications. The Internet is a powerful tool in our hands, but if it is not used properly can put someone in a very risky situation. The challenge of the Internet is to be able to recognize potential hazards, to know how to prevent the risks and create options to avoid and terminate them.

The most significant problems that may be found in the social networking sites are:

Online Grooming ( 2 ), describes the behavior that tries to inspire confidence to the young user, so that to be able to perform a secret meeting with the user. The sexual abuse of the victim, physical violence or child prostitution and abuse through pornography may be the outcome of this meeting which makes it a kind of psychological treatment that is conducted online Another definition says that the «grooming» is a smart handling process, which typically starts without sexual approach, but is designed to entice the victim to sexual encounter. Moreover, sometimes is characterized as a seduction to highlight the slow and gradual process of disclosure of information from the younger user and build a relationship of trust.

Cyberbullying ( 3 ) is an aggressive behavior using electronic means. Such behaviors can make young people feel lonely, unhappy and frightened, to feel insecure and think that something is wrong. They lose confidence in their selves and may not want to go back to school or try to find ways to be isolated from their friends. Furthermore, in extreme cases, continuous, persistent and intense bullying has led to terrible consequences such as suicide intent. Harassment among children and adolescents may occur in very different forms not only manifested through roughhouse and aggression, but also through different types of intimidation that leaves the victim exposed.

Cybersuicide ( 4 ) describes the suicide or the attempt of suicide, which is influenced by the Internet. The Cybersuicide has caught the attention of the scientific community from the time that the recorded incidents of suicide are growing over the internet. It has been suggested that the use of the internet and specifically that the websites about suicide can promote suicide and thereby contribute to increasing rates of Cybersuicide. People who do not know each other come together and meet online and then they are gathered in a certain place in order to commit suicide together. Apart from committing suicide on the internet there is the case of users who commit this act while they are connected to the Internet: “committing suicide in real time via webcam”. In response to the above and other similar cases, the issue of the impact of the Internet in facilitating suicide has begun to be actively discussed. On a practical level, the scientific research regarding the Cybersuicide is still in a native stage, and the empirical evidence that the Internet has contributed to the increase of suicides is currently minimal. However, the Internet bears some features that allow someone to assume that a user can facilitate the act of committing suicide.

Cyber Racism ( 5 ) refers to the phenomenon of online racism. The expression of racism on the internet is common and frequent and is facilitate by the anonymity which is offered by the internet. Racism may be expressed through racist websites, photos videos, comments and messages on social networks.

Internet addiction ( 6 ) is a relatively new form of dependency, which is under review by the scientific community. Essentially it refers to the increasing number of people who report more and more involvement with the Internet to raise the feeling of satisfaction and a systematic increase in the time spent for pumping this feeling. The Internet addiction although not officially recognized as a clinical entity is a condition that causes significant reduction in the social and professional or academic functioning of the individual. Experts of mental health are increasingly invited to approach therapeutically people with problematic Internet use.

Online scams : ( 7 ) the internet facilitates electronic transactions, every day for millions of people and businesses and arrange their economic works through the net. As a matter of fact, it is necessary that the navigation on websites that include transactions should be performed with extreme caution and with confidence that they have been taken into account the forthcoming legislation and the compulsory insurance transaction regarding personal data. The most common scam is the method of Phising. It comes from combining the words password (code) and fishing (fishing). This is a particularly smart technique for economic deception through revealing both the personal data and in particular information concerning financial transactions. Misled unsuspecting users may disclose personal information to a fake form on the Internet. Evidence of the faked victim are double crossed and used for gaining access to personal data.

Electronic Gambling , [8] with the term Electronic Gambling can be identified the activity during which two or more people meet online to exchange bets. Such activity involves the risk of real financial loss or gain. One of the main problems of gambling is loss of money. This can lead to lose ones’ savings, home, or property etc. Many people become addicted and they cannot stop thinking that during the next round will get their money back. Therefore, wasting a lot of money one can waste considerable time in parallel, neglecting existing obligations with all the other ensuing consequences of the addiction. It is found that even the frequent attendance in gambling environments where there is no use of real money, can cause addiction. The ease of access to online gambling websites increases the risks of engagement of young adults in such activities.

Physical problems associated with the use of Computers: The ever-increasing use of computers has a negative impact on the health of users affecting various systems and causing physical and mental problems. Due to these problems there is a discrepancy on the body functionality of some user’s system with consequent changes in their quality of life. The most important of these problems affect the following systems: a) The ophthalmology system, b) The nervous system, c) The musculoskeletal system, d) Headaches, e) Tendency to obesity.

Internet Security: Used as a tremendous source of information and services the Internet should filter the bulk of such information, so that would never be accepted without criticism. Some readily provided information seeking valid practices and technique are listed below:

Search of information sources by using valid techniques
Assessment of the information provided
Disclosure of information provided for ideological or economic benefits
Safe management of electronic transactions
Protection from potential online scams

This review study was conducted through bibliographical search of national and international research articles relevant to the subject matter. The Social network sites are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. Research has indicated that social networking internet sites are being used extensively by young adolescents and adults. As a matter of fact, some communications are of an improper and illegal nature, in which personal information is gathered to facilitate financial fraud, child grooming and new type of racist culture. All of the above are possible in cyberspace.

The spread of the Internet and the growing influence of it to such an extent as to constitute a dominant element in the lives of users, led to the exploration of the consequences that may cause the frequent usage of the internet in the physical and mental development of both young people and adults. Among the multitude of parameters that make up this new and constantly evolving situation are the exposure of users to propaganda and racist ideas. Additionally, Internet may offer inappropriate material and misleading ideas that medicate suicide as a solution. Internet addiction may be causes by the online gambling and various other forms of gambling for users over the Internet. Especially the younger users bear a high risk from exposure to the online world through social networks, as the new phenomena that have appeared such as seduction online, cyberbullying, cheating by hidden advertising messages, etc. greatly influence their psychology and emotional development and often irreversibly stigmatize them forever. Furthermore, the development and the spread of the Internet transformed and modernized the definition of scam. Once users began to use plastic money for transactions conducted solely on the Internet appeared the cases of extortion of money by deceit, through the theft and use of personal data of users. Although frauds have always existed, the abolition of personal contact and the extermination of geographical boundaries provided an opportunity to grow.

4. DISCUSSION

Questions arise about how certain personality characteristics and up to which point the social and family situation and the existing of psychiatric disorders may affect the use of the Internet and may lead to the misuse of it. Excessive use of the Internet has both internal and external effects for users. The internal output is the psychological and emotional sector and personality problems that may arise, such as reduced psychological wellbeing for excessive users according to research findings. The external influence refers to the functionality of the user and the problems associated with reduced activities in real life and minimal to non- existent interaction with the social environment. The excessive use of Internet may lead to poor relationships with friends and family, lack of interest in daily life and neglect of domestic, academic, professional and other responsibilities that gradually lead to a discount of the quality of life. Besides the above mentioned risks of inappropriate Internet usage the benefits of the Internet are numerous and contribute to progress to the human well-being in all areas. It offers a quick access to information and facilitates communication, providing entertainment, education and assistance in medical issues. Unfortunately, it offers anonymity that can make it equally dangerous, especially for young users. For this reason, users should be aware of and ensure the proper use of the Internet so it will not adversely affect their personal lives and their prosperity.

According to this more and more mental health professionals and other specialists are invited to work with people who have problems related to poor or excessive use of the Internet. There are now organized multilateral efforts to address the social and psychological effects of the Internet on a global and national level, implemented by public and private bodies. Campaigns, discussions at schools, advertising campaigns in mass media, sessions for information and sensitization parents and teachers on the safety and security of the Internet. Additional complaint lines and counseling–psychological support work are functioning around the clock for users to prevent scams, gambling, cybercuiside, cyberbullying and cyber grooming

5. CONCLUSION

In conclusion, one would say that the Internet benefits are numerous and contribute to the progress and prosperity of humans in all areas. It offers quick access to information and facilitates communications. However, Internet is provided in abundance and is easily accessible and the illogical use of the Internet makes it be quite dangerous, especially for young users. For this reason, users should be aware of and face critically the information handed at the websites, so that to ensure a proper behavior and delimit the excessive use it of it. The result will be to never appear any effect that will endanger the personal welfare of the users. As a matter of fact the logical use and the maintain balance are the key to maximizing the benefits of the Internet.

• Author’s contribution: author and all co-authors of this paper have contributed in all phases if it’s preparing. Final proof reading was made by first author.

• Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Essay on Uses of Internet for Children and Students

Table of Contents

Internet has changed the life of man for good. Be it at home or in the office internet is used everywhere for several reasons. Some of the uses of internet include communication, shopping, booking, researching and studying.

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Internet these days has become an integral part of our lives. It has brought people closer. Be it your friends, family or your business associates – everyone is just a click away now that we have internet to our rescue. And this is just one use of the internet. There are numerous others. Here are essays of varying lengths to help you with the topic in your exam. You can select any uses of internet essay given below as per your need:

Essay on Uses of Internet

Uses of internet essay 1 (200 words).

Internet is one thing that we cannot imagine our lives without. It is used in every sphere of life. It has brought the world closer. Today, communicating with friends and relatives living in foreign lands is no longer a costly affair. You can connect with them at just the click of a button. Internet offers various means of communication including email, social media platforms, web calls and messengers. You can call or chat with your near and dear ones at any time of the day with the help of Internet.

Internet is also a great source of entertainment. In today’s times when everyone is busy with their own lives internet can prove to be your best friend. From e-books to movies to music – everything you need for entertainment is available on the internet.

Internet has also proved to be a boon for the businessmen. It has become a platform to sell products and make a presence across the country as well as abroad sitting in your home town. Everything today is being sold online. Even those who are not providing goods and services online are using this medium for promotion of their businesses.

Uses of Internet Essay 2 (300 words)

Introduction

Internet has brought about numerous changes. It has changed the way we live and carry out various tasks. Internet is known for its numerous uses and has impacted almost every sector. Almost everything these days has gone online. One of the sectors that internet has had huge impact on is the travel and tourism sector.

Use of Internet has Changed the Way We Travel

The use of internet has largely changed the way we travel. You no longer require travelling to the bus stand or railway station and standing in the queue for long hours to get your tickets booked. Online booking portals have eased the task for you. Same is the case with the hotel booking. There is no longer any ambiguity on whether you will get a good accommodation as you head for a holiday. You can book the hotel of your choice online without any hassle.

Travelling to a different city no longer gives any qualms whether it is for a business tour or a leisure trip. This is because you can get complete information about the places to visit there beforehand itself. So you are no longer clueless and can plan your trip more systematically.

Travel and Tourism Industry has Benefitted with Internet

Just as the travellers the travel and tourism industry has also benefitted immensely with the use of internet. Internet has given a boost to the tourism industry. Since people have a clear picture about where they would be travelling and how they can enjoy there, there is no hesitation in planning trips. More and more people around the globe are travelling these days.

Several travel packages have also been floated on the internet to encourage travellers. Small hotels that were lesser known earlier are using internet as a means for promotion and benefitting by it.

So the use of internet has benefitted hotels, tourist places as well as the tourism industry as a whole. It is encouraging people to travel and explore and has taken the tourism industry to newer heights.

Uses of Internet Essay 3 (400 words)

Internet offers tremendous uses. It has brought immense changes in our lives. From small day-to-day tasks to big industrial jobs, internet is being used everywhere. It has brought about a revolution and has touched every aspect of our lives. Education sector has particularly benefitted enormously with the use of internet.

Use of Internet in the Education Industry

There are numerous uses of internet in the education industry. Here is how the teachers, management and students use it to their benefit:

Use of Internet for the Teachers

Internet serves as a place for knowledge sharing for the teachers. Teachers around the world can interact with each other and exchange ideas via internet. This is a great way to learn and evolve the methods of teaching.

Online teaching has also given way to numerous job opportunities for these professionals. Many teachers give up on their profession after their marriage owing to the added responsibilities while many others do not take up teaching owing to lack of opportunity in their vicinity. Online coaching has proved to be a boon for such teachers. It allows them to deliver video lectures from their own place. This has only been made possible with the help of internet.

Use of Internet for the Management

The management of different educational institutes around the world can interact by way of internet. This has helped the managements of educational institutes in developing countries improve the infrastructure of their institutes. Newer ideas are incorporated from time to time to keep up with the international standards.

Use of Internet for the Students

Students have also benefitted immensely with the use of internet. In case any of their lectures gets missed in the class, they do not necessarily require seeking help from their teachers or fellow students. Internet has all the required information. They can get help related to any topic/subject online. Internet also comes handy in the preparation of projects and the completion of assignments.

Online coaching has also benefitted the students who do not have access to good educational institutes in their vicinity. There are many towns and villages in the country that do not encompass institutes for the preparation of competitive exams such as JEE and NEET. Online coaching is a great help for such students. They can prepare for these exams from the comfort from their home rather than relocating to a different place or giving up on their dreams.

Internet offers several uses but its contribution to the education sector is simply impeccable. It has actually redefined this sector.

Uses of Internet Essay 4 (500 words)

Gone are the days when internet was only used in the offices, these days it is used as frequently at homes. In fact, everyone has an internet connection not only at home but also on their mobiles. This is to enable them to surf the internet even on the move. The situation is such that today people can miss a meal during the day but they cannot imagine their life without internet even for a few hours. Internet has become an important part of our day to day lives.

Uses of Internet at Work Place

Here is a look at the uses of internet at work place:

Communicate

One of the main reasons why internet is essential at work place is for the purpose of communicating. Internet facilitates emails and chats that make communication easy among employees. Reaching out to the clients has also become easier with the help of internet.

Share Ideas

Internet enables us to share ideas through different broadcast platforms. This has made it is easier to share ideas with large number of people at the same time.

Any project requires a good amount of research and internet is a great help when it comes to conducting research activities. All the information you require can be found within no time on the internet.

Promote Business

Internet these days has become a powerful tool for promoting businesses. Different social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have not only helped big businesses grow bigger but have also encouraged small businesses reach out to masses and make their presence felt.

Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge sharing among clients can easily be done through internet. You can build PR to grow your business by way of internet.

Uses of Internet at Home

Just as it is used in the offices, internet is used for various purposes at home as well. Here is a look at some of the common uses of internet at home:

Internet has brought our friends and family closer. You can communicate with any of your relatives, friends or family members at any time of the day you want if you have an internet connection.

Entertainment

From watching movies to playing games to surfing social media – internet is a complete source of entertainment. At home, people mostly use it for the purpose of entertainment.

Stay Updated

Internet acquaints us with the latest happenings around the world. People no longer like turning on news channels on their televisions. News apps have become the new way to stay updated with the latest news.

Internet has made our lives extremely comfortable as well as interesting. Internet is such a useful tool that helps us with so many things during the day that we cannot think of our life without it now. However, just as excess of everything is bad the over usage of internet is also bad for our mental, physical and social health. We must thus use it wisely for our benefit and refrain from over indulgence.

Uses of Internet Essay 5 (600 words)

Internet offers several uses. From booking tickets to communicating with our loved ones, from looking for a job to making financial transactions – it has eased every task. Here is a look at the various uses of internet.

Easy and Affordable Means of Communication

Gone are the days when people had to write letters to their loved ones living in distant lands to convey their messages and then wait for weeks to get a revert from them. While telephone proved to be a relief as it became a quick way to communicate with our dear ones residing in far off lands, the calls were highly priced. Internet has shed all these barriers and made communication among people quite easy and affordable. Emails, chats and web calls are the new means of communication.

Hassle Free Financial Transactions

Going to the bank and standing in long queues to deposit or withdraw cash or conduct other financial transactions is the thing of the past. These days, internet can be used to carry out various financial transactions with ease at just the click of a button.

News from around the World

Internet has made it extremely easy to share news. You can get information about anything that happened around the globe in just a fraction of seconds. Several news apps have been developed to keep you update with the latest news around the world. You are also warned of hurricanes, floods and other natural calamities beforehand by way of internet so you get enough time to take a decision to stay at a particular place or vacate it for a few days/ weeks.

Research and Education

Internet is the power house of information. Conducting research related to any subject has thus become quite easy these days. You do not require taking library memberships and spending hours in the library to extract information for your research. You get it all on the internet.

Education industry has also benefitted immensely with the use of internet. Internet has given way to online education system that has benefitted both the teachers and the students alike. The vast amount of information available on the internet also benefits both teachers and students.

Shopping Effortlessly

You no longer require going out to the market on a hot sunny day or a chilly winter evening. Everything you want to shop for is available online. Be it your clothes, books, accessories, household stuff, electronic items or automobiles, you can get everything online. You do not require hoping from shop to shop to look for the exact items you require. You can surf through a variety of things effortlessly on the internet and order them instantly.

Internet has opened numerous sources of entertainment. You no longer require waiting for your favourite serial on the television. You can view anything you want at any time with the help of internet. Besides, there are several social media platforms and other interesting websites on the internet that offer immense source of entertainment.

Job search has become extremely easy with the use of internet. There are several job portals wherein you can post your resume so that it can be found by numerous employers. You can also surf through jobs suiting your interest and contact the employers via these portals. Opportunities from around the globe are made available on your mobile by way of internet. Looking for jobs has thus become quite easy. Internet can also be used to look for tips to crack the interview.

You no longer require going to the bus stand or railway station or looking for travel agents to get your tickets booked. You can do it easily from the comfort of your home. Similarly, booking hotels and movie tickets has also become extremely simple with the use of internet.

Internet has eased our lives in numerous ways. It has helped us connect with our near and dear ones and has also made our life extremely comfortable.

Negative Impact of Internet on Society Essay

Introduction, thesis statement about internet, literature review, works cited.

Today it is eminent that the role of computers has a huge impact on every person. Computerization has taken over the majority of the societal roles and has dramatically improved lives. The battle with technology is dynamic and a continuous process expected to bring about new challenges each day.

This primary influence comes from Internet usage, which seems to be very vibrant, particularly among the youth, due to the stable and anticipated creativity. That’s why the author will explore the negative impact of the Internet on society in the essay.

Society is dependent on technology today. Having computers in the workplace, homes, and mobility enable effectiveness and efficiency. Today’s technology has advanced to a point where there is massive support for security intelligence. The Internet, therefore, enables resourceful communication and sharing of any form of information, whether it is useful or abusive.

“The Internet technology is affecting an individual’s life in a negative way.” This paper examines the real situational effects of internet technology on users and forms an analysis of how the Internet can cause depression. This negative effects of the Internet essay also focuses on the intellectual behavior of people regarding effects and other cyber-related crimes.

Effects of Internet usage on the brain and behavioral development

One prominent impact of internet technology is the creation of a democratic media. The broadcast is international and free.

According to McDonnell (p.1) the highly recognized sites that allow a personal view makes the aspect of internet publishing easy and accessible to the majority without the need for technical knowledge. Internet tools in the majority of the search engines such as Google promote democratic media and form a basis for other macro-media such as weblogs, videocasts, wikis and podcasts.

The universal knowledge behind these tools is to enhance knowledge transmission by allowing direct and literal subscription and automatic collection of text, audio or visual data. Internet is thus a good source of peer pressure, particularly among the youth.

Through internet usage, people are putting up with negative information and giving up personal trust and values, and such pressure becomes a form of a negative force. In most cases, it would be invariable to have a link between the development of the brain and the behaviors. The Internet provides high emotional or intense influences, thus leading to a poor decision such as crime related activities.

The brain of a teenager is under some less optimal control mechanisms and thus under higher probability to act from guts or instincts in submitting to internet posting that relates to criminal activities, especially when confronted with stressful, depressing or emotional strains.

Internet users are hastier, insistent, emotionally volatile, high-risk takers, proactive and reactive to strain or stress and are thus at risk of peer influences (McDonnell, p.1). They focus on the short time payoffs, underrate any long-term consequences, and are therefore prone to looking for an alternative course of actions such as cyber crimes.

Psychological Effects of Internet on Young People

Young people are often curious; therefore, their time on the internet is the time of experimenting and seeking newness. The adolescent brain may be more vulnerable to social discomforts due to internet addiction. These social effects can bring about potential social experiences, such as contributing to the feeling of less shyness, more interaction, ability to hack others’ information and discover more from the internet. Some of the unrestricted information on the internet also causes negative behaviors.

Phonographic material causes negative anxiety and inability to make decisions makes them feel the need to explore their sexuality and deal with different emotions concern with uncertain and impulsive activities since human beings have to make decisions based on the challenge at hand.

There are many different reasons why people use the internet, probably to relax, have fun, find rest, forget problems, and mostly to meet friends. The youth mainly engage in internet activities because they easily find their styles. They suffer from external or internal anxieties while trying to be like others. Internet usage is fine as long as it serves the role of determining the right character in a person.

The social interaction on the internet is arguably one of the reasons why American teenagers mimic the same lifestyles and have similar talking style. People in a group network act differently and do some weird activities they would probably not do on their own. This is the identity of a group as opposed to that of an individual. The control placed on these behaviors can easily crumple before the achievement of a valued need.

One of the huge challenges of internet usage among children and teenagers is increased maturity and changes in the lifestyle that easily leads to criminal activities or conflicts. If not controlled, internet usage leads to addiction or continual usage thus a trend that causes solitary usage and depression. In most instances, when solitary use occurs, then the addict has more significant future problems related to chronic addiction and isolation from the rest or even communication problems that may lead to mental-related complications (Kelland, p.1).

If not controlled, internet usage leads to addiction. This form of usage thus causes friendlessness and depression. In most instances, when solitary occurs, then the internet addict has more significant future problems related to other kinds of chronic addictions and communication problems that may lead to mental-related complications.

According to Glor, (p.1), addictive surfing can have a severe impact on mental health, “internet addicts” spent proportionately more time browsing sexually satisfying websites, online gaming sites, and online communities. They replace real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites and this in time is replacing normal social function, which might have a link to psychological disorders like depression and addiction.

Cyberbullying is also becoming a common trend where we find rude comments and insulting words that one would never use in person. The police explorations of whether cyber intimidation was the root cause of teenage suicide in the New York town of West Islip, is a clear indication of how internet addiction is contributing to depression. That Soccer star Alexis Pilkington, 17, took her own life on March 21, 2010, following social disturbances from social networking sites (Glor, p.1).

Analysis of Internet addiction as a psychological illness

According to Citizen (p.1), when someone is, using the internet, it is possible to suffer from several illnesses or addicted. The illness or condition depends on what you are doing and how long you will be online. When used to cyber cafe visits to read e-mail, one is tempted to take more time to excessive gaming, chatting and text messaging.

This can lead to brain illness because people often neglect essential livelihood requirement such as sleep or food due to internet addiction, they suffering but consciously assume it is a healthy lifestyle. This chronic illness can smoothly go unnoticed unless a therapist intercedes (Citizen, p.1).

The most affected people are those who are educated but socially shy. In line with Citizen (p.1), they are mostly the middle age women. They use computers as an escape route from reality. A computer does affect people’s lives and cause emotional upsets to the person who wants to be pre-occupied online for a long time.

Effects of Internet on Lifestyles

“The Chinese government launched a national wide campaign after a survey found that 14 percent of their teens are vulnerable to becoming addicted to the internet” (Eunjung Cha, p.1). According to the government, they are trying to stamp out what the communist youth league calls “a grave social problem” (Eunjung Cha, p.1).

The state policies focus more on eliminating cybercrime, which seem to ruin lives for instance cases where causes of assassination have a connection to mimicked characters in online entertainments. The internet is equally forming a sequence of suicide-related cases and poor studies, especially among the youth.

Depression and suicidal thoughts are higher among the students deemed “internet-addicts” (Eunjung Cha, p.1). According to self-report questionnaires, gender is not a differential factor. Internet addiction was likely to affect males, as well as females and cause children-major depression disorder.

Eunjung Cha, (p.1) indicated that users are becoming addicted to the internet similarly that individuals become addicted to drugs or alcohol. This internet addiction finally leads to academic, social and occupational impairments. According to Eunjung Cha, (p.1), individuals on chat rooms may use tactics, such as peer pressure to arouse feelings and thus course them to commit suicide.

Effects of internet on schools

Today, digital technology has become completely part of the youth’s life. It has fully incorporated all the social characteristics in their lives. Many students pick up new styles of learning, communicating with new people and formulating creativity. The behaviors are like permanent fixtures into their reasoning styles and operating procedures.

It is common to find a situation where children use knowledge-gathering techniques that appear alien to adults, mainly their parents and teachers. In relation to Lane (p.1), such advancements have severe impacts on the education platform.

People have established ways of harnessing the technological aspects into career settings for decades but failed to implement security and ways of limiting information access. There is some resistance on usage, but implementation is a good indication that educators appreciate the effectiveness and importance of technology.

According to McDonnell (p.1), the education sector is the most affected by internet usage; students can gather techniques of hacking networks and finding illegal ways of accessing information. This is arguably the reason why institutions are also not enthusiastic enough to embrace full technological platforms such as digital networks and incorporation of social networks to education systems. They focus on security matters due to potential threats posed by social network technologies.

Current social settings can give the impression that internet usage is under control, but a closer look at the phenomenon indicates that every day a person starts to use and subsequently becomes addicted to the negative aspects available in the net.

Possibly the pressure to resist deception is tremendous and persistent unless there is an intervention, especially by the authorities such as parents when the person involved, is a minor. Sometimes failure to control internet access is due to the current social setting for instance; most of the parents are full-time employees probably looking for the overtime and better remuneration in support of the family.

They may be trying to work out one area while the other collapses. The biggest problem in the majority of the minds lies on the reason why people especially the youth are misusing the internet. The most likely answer is within the family setting. They emulate their parents who are their closest role models.

They embrace the social settings and meet friends who deceive them into engaging in social mischiefs such as pornography, online gambling, and information-hacking activities. They may also suffer from solitary use due to stress. Whichever the case, parents are the most effective cure to the vice. It is the parental responsibility to face the problem and talk out with the teenagers on the dangers involved before things are out of hand.

Citizen, Ottawa. “ Recognize Internet addiction as a mental illness, MD urges that compulsive e-mailing and text messaging could soon become classified as an official brain illness. ” Canada: CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc .2008. Web.

Eunjung Cha, Ariana. “ In China, Stern Treatment For Young Internet ‘Addicts’ .”

Washington, WA: The Washington Post Foreign Service. 2007. Web.

Glor, Jeff. “ Cyberbullying Continued After Teen’s Death. ” New York, NY: CBS Interactive Inc. March 29, 2010. Web.

Kelland, Kate. “ Study links excessive Internet use to depression. ” London, UK: Lane, Reuters Inc. Feb 3, 2010. Web.

Lane, Christopher. “ Side Effects From quirky to serious, trends in psychology and psychiatry .” New York, NY: Sussex Publishers, LLC. 2009. Web.

McDonnell, Dean. “ How does the internet affect the way we mentally behave? ” Hubpages Inc. (n.d.) Web.

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The internet is good for you, finds Oxford study

The internet is actually good for you, a study by the University of Oxford has suggested.

Experts analysed more than 2.4 million people from 168 countries in the largest study of its kind and found the effect of the internet on the world’s population was overwhelmingly positive.

The researchers said the findings went against popular opinion that it had been a negative force in society.

While the research did not break down the type of internet use, such as social media, it found that people’s level of life satisfaction was 8.5 per cent higher among those who had regular internet access across all countries.

The research used more than 33,000 statistical models to ensure that it accounted for factors like deprivation, education and health.

It utilised survey results for people aged 15 to 99 across areas such as social, physical and community wellbeing, daily positive and negative experiences, and life satisfaction.

The researchers found that 85 per cent of the associations between the internet and wellbeing were positive, while 0.4 per cent were negative. The rest were neutral.

The group most likely to have unfavourable experiences were women aged 15-24, particularly in relation to their sense of community wellbeing, which suggests it was having a negative effect on how they felt about where they lived.

Professor Andrew Przybylski, human behaviour and technology expert at the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute, said: “It’s a bit cliché, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

“If we’re to make the online world safer for young people, we just can’t go in guns blazing with strong prior beliefs and one-size-fits-all solutions,” he said.

“We really need to make sure that we’re sensitive to having our minds changed by data, and I really hope that that message comes through instead of just another volley, in another silly debate.”

It comes after the media regulator last week announced proposals to name and shame social media sites who fail to comply with new rules due to come into force next year under the Online Safety Act – and ban under-18s from using them.

Prof Przybylski said his research suggests the perceived threat of the internet on children and young people was unfounded, and concerns around social media were likely to pass.

“The thing that we’re worried about [is how] the internet changes over time. Five years ago, maybe the main concern would have been screen time, World of Warcraft, Pokémon Go or something,” he said.

“Today, we’re talking about social media. But I guarantee you if and when we panic about generative AI, we’re going to think back to the good old days when we were worried about phones and social media that had real people at least on the other side of the screen.”

The poll assessed wellbeing with face-to-face and phone surveys, which included questions such as “does your home have access to the internet?”, and asked about positive or negative experiences and life satisfaction.

“We think this is the best work in the area, but it’s not the be-all and end-all,” he said. “Don’t go out and buy a phone because of this.”

The study was published in the journal Technology, Mind, and Behavior.

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The Oxford study found the effect of the internet on the world's population was overwhelmingly positive - oatawa/iStockphoto

Appointments at Mayo Clinic

Tween and teen health

Teens and social media use: What's the impact?

Social media is a term for internet sites and apps that you can use to share content you've created. Social media also lets you respond to content that others post. That can include pictures, text, reactions or comments on posts by others, and links to information.

Online sharing within social media sites helps many people stay in touch with friends or connect with new ones. And that may be more important for teenagers than other age groups. Friendships help teens feel supported and play a role in forming their identities. So, it's only natural to wonder how social media use might affect teens.

Social media is a big part of daily life for lots of teenagers.

How big? A 2022 survey of 13- to 17-year-olds offers a clue. Based on about 1,300 responses, the survey found that 35% of teens use at least one of five social media platforms more than several times a day. The five social media platforms are: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

Social media doesn't affect all teens the same way. Use of social media is linked with healthy and unhealthy effects on mental health. These effects vary from one teenager to another. Social media effects on mental health depend on things such as:

What a teen sees and does online.
The amount of time spent online.
Psychological factors, such as maturity level and any preexisting mental health conditions.
Personal life circumstances, including cultural, social and economic factors.

Here are the general pros and cons of teen social media use, along with tips for parents.

Healthy social media

Social media lets teens create online identities, chat with others and build social networks. These networks can provide teens with support from other people who have hobbies or experiences in common. This type of support especially may help teens who:

Lack social support offline or are lonely.
Are going through a stressful time.
Belong to groups that often get marginalized, such as racial minorities, the LGBTQ community and those who are differently abled.
Have long-term medical conditions.

Sometimes, social media platforms help teens:

Express themselves.
Connect with other teens locally and across long distances.
Learn how other teens cope with challenging life situations and mental health conditions.
View or take part in moderated chat forums that encourage talking openly about topics such as mental health.
Ask for help or seek healthcare for symptoms of mental health conditions.

These healthy effects of social media can help teens in general. They also may help teens who are prone to depression stay connected to others. And social media that's humorous or distracting may help a struggling teen cope with a challenging day.

Unhealthy social media

Social media use may have negative effects on some teens. It might:

Distract from homework, exercise and family activities.
Disrupt sleep.
Lead to information that is biased or not correct.
Become a means to spread rumors or share too much personal information.
Lead some teens to form views about other people's lives or bodies that aren't realistic.
Expose some teens to online predators, who might try to exploit or extort them.
Expose some teens to cyberbullying, which can raise the risk of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

What's more, certain content related to risk-taking, and negative posts or interactions on social media, have been linked with self-harm and rarely, death.

The risks of social media use are linked with various factors. One may be how much time teens spend on these platforms.

In a study focusing on 12- to 15-year-olds in the United States, spending three hours a day using social media was linked to a higher risk of mental health concerns. That study was based on data collected in 2013 and 2014 from more than 6,500 participants.

Another study looked at data on more than 12,000 teens in England between the ages of 13 to 16. The researchers found that using social media more than three times a day predicted poor mental health and well-being in teens.

But not all research has found a link between time spent on social media and mental health risks in teens.

How teens use social media also might determine its impact. For instance, viewing certain types of content may raise some teens' mental health risks. This could include content that depicts:

Illegal acts.
Self-harm or harm to other people.
Encouragement of habits tied to eating disorders, such as purging or restrictive eating.

These types of content may be even more risky for teens who already have a mental health condition. Being exposed to discrimination, hate or cyberbullying on social media also can raise the risk of anxiety or depression.

What teens share about themselves on social media also matters.

With the teenage brain, it's common to make a choice before thinking it through. So, teens might post something when they're angry or upset, and regret it later. That's known as stress posting.

Teens who post content also are at risk of sharing sexual photos or highly personal stories. This can lead to teens being bullied, harassed or even blackmailed.

Protecting your teen

You can take steps to help your teens use social media responsibly and limit some of the possible negative effects.

Use these tips:

Set rules and limits as needed. This helps prevent social media from getting in the way of activities, sleep, meals or homework.

For example, you could make a rule about not using social media until homework is done. Or you could set a daily time limit for social media use.

You also could choose to keep social media off-limits during certain times. These times might include during family meals and an hour before bed.

Set an example by following these rules yourself. And let your teen know what the consequences will be if your rules aren't followed.

Manage any challenging behaviors. If your teen's social media use starts to challenge your rules or your sense of what's appropriate, talk with your teen about it. You also could connect with parents of your teen's friends or take a look at your teen's internet history.
Turn on privacy settings. This can help keep your teen from sharing personal information or data that your teen didn't mean to share. Each of your teen's social media accounts likely has privacy setting that can be changed.

Monitor your teen's accounts. The American Psychological Association recommends you regularly review your child's social media use during the early teen years.

One way to monitor is to follow or "friend" your child's social accounts. As your teen gets older, you can choose to monitor your teen's social media less. Your teen's maturity level can help guide your decision.

Have regular talks with your teen about social media. These talks give you chances to ask how social media has been making your teen feel. Encourage your teen to let you know if something online worries or bothers your teen.

Regular talks offer you chances to give your child advice about social media too. For example, you can teach your teen to question whether content is accurate. You also can explain that social media is full of images about beauty and lifestyle that are not realistic.

Be a role model for your teen. You might want to tell your child about your own social media habits. That can help you set a good example and keep your regular talks from being one-sided.

Explain what's not OK. Remind your teen that it's hurtful to gossip, spread rumors, bully or harm someone's reputation — online or otherwise.

Also remind your teen not to share personal information with strangers online. This includes people's addresses, telephone numbers, passwords, and bank or credit card numbers.

Encourage face-to-face contact with friends. This is even more important for teens prone to social anxiety.

Talk to your child's healthcare professional if you think your teen has symptoms of anxiety, depression or other mental health concerns related to social media use. Also talk with your child's care professional if your teen has any of the following symptoms:

Uses social media even when wanting to stop.
Uses it so much that school, sleep, activities or relationships suffer.
Often spends more time on social platforms than you intended.
Lies in order to use social media.

Your teen might be referred to a mental healthcare professional who can help.

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