Internet technology - Essay Example

The Internet The internet is an invention that has revolutionized our way of life and it has become so essential that most people in the world today cannot do without it. It has inspired many social changes in the modern world being a means through which candidates for elective positions can get a wider audience as compared to the traditional mode. Moreover, it has been the primary means through, which revolutionaries have been able to communicate with each other as seen most recently during the Arab Spring, which has managed to topple three Arab governments so far.

In addition, news can be received almost within a minute of their happening; and lastly, it has resulted in unintended threats such as cyber attacks among others.A new collaborative environment has developed on the internet in the past few years. People who would otherwise have not known each other or possibly interacted only a few years ago can now share information over the internet over extremely long distances and in different time zones. This has led to the development of new ideas which without the internet would never have come to into existence.

A consequence of this is the reduction of physical interaction between people which has now become more or less non-physical. This lack of physical interaction has led to most people living a very artificial life which they can twist into anything they would like to be, although in most cases, they can be considered lies. The internet has reduced the personal safety of its users because such people of child predators tend to establish initial contact with children online and lure them into very dangerous situations.

Furthermore, verbal attacks and malicious messages can be delivered online with little or no censorship because the internet has no single governing entity. An additional result of there not being an entity to control the internet has been its contribution to the violation of copyright law through the illegal distribution of copyrighted material on the internet by individuals. This denies the creators of such material as movies, music, and books the right to earn royalties from their work and it has instead led to its use without their consent.

The past recent years has seen the emergence of multibillion dollar social network companies based on friendships and photos. Social networking has become big business online with such major social networks as Facebook, Twitter, and My Space collecting huge revenues from advertising and the sale of their users’ personal information to other commercial companies. This is a violation of the privacy of the internet users most of who would rather not have their personal information all over the internet for all to see, or would not like to receive unwanted advertisements in their emails.

Despite the privacy issues especially on Facebook, social networks have facilitated the revolutions currently occurring in the Arab world and have served as a platform for the discussion of important social issues affecting the different societies in the world. The internet is one of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century and it has facilitated the swift development of technology in the twenty first century as a way of enhancing its uses. An example of this is the recent development of the iPhone and the iPad which have more or less revolutionized mobile internet.

Whether we like it or not, we are now dependent on it and as its usage continues to spread around the world, in a few years time, the entire human population on the planet will see it as a part of their daily lives. The internet is a system that is continually evolving and we can only speculate on what it is going to look like in the near future.ReferencesPanetta Institute (Producer). (2012). The Internet. Retrieved on 16 July 2012 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/05/arianna-huffington-vinton-cerf-panetta_n_1570797.html?ref=technology