We are now living in the Information Age, the age in which humanity relies on I.T more than ever before, we have entered a marriage, and we’re stuck in it for better and for worse.
To say that I.T, and specifically the internet doesn’t offer extraordinary benefits to humankind would be ignorant, and just plain wrong. Never before has it been possible to send data from Pole to Pole in mere seconds, thanks to fibre optic networks. Before, we would have to rely on telephones, which could only be accessed by the super wealthy, the printed media, which although has its own merits, just doesn’t offer the level of speed, choice, and overall interactive ability.
To focus on the internet, is really narrowing it down, but it’s simply the most important invention the communications industry has ever witnessed.
It has become a primary educator in our lives, with online encyclopaedias, such as Wikipedia, direct translation to every language known to man, and the answer to every maths problem conceivably possible. We no longer have to spend hours trawling through a huge book searching for the capital of Venezuela for a primary school geography project, we simply ‘Google’ it, and not only do we get the answer,(Caracas, for those interested) we instantly learn the current weather, population, how big it is, it’s tourist points, and how we can get there. We can even zoom into a single street and take a virtual tour of the selected environment. Everything we could possibly need to know about Caracas and its inhabitants is instantly available for us to see.
Fig.1: The instant results of our queries, and more.
Not only is the internet now one of our primary educators, but it’s fastly becoming one of our main means of socialisation, with ‘Social Networks’  making it easier then ever before to keep in touch with our loved ones, and even meet new people, as over 1 billion people are now registered on Facebook, and over 140 million on Twitter. People can chat, share photos and vidoes, update their status to let people know in bulk exactly what they’re doing. We can also keep up to date of the goings on of celeberties, by ‘liking’, their pages, which they can update to keep in touch with their fans, and it works. Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo now has over 50 million followers on his official facebook page, which you can be sure he profits from.
Twitter, has been the spark of revolutions, literally. With people spreading word of protests, sharing photos of their persecution, and drumming up support for what they want, 4 examples of Twitter Revolutions are the Moldova civil unrest, in which twitter users helped spread the rumour that the election was rigged. The 2010 Iranian Election protests, also known as the ‘Green Revolution’, the Tunisian revolution. As well as the more recent Egyptian revolution. Citizens from these countries spread the word of what was going on, on a real time basis in 140 characters or less, which lead to outcries from the rest of the world, showing that social media is an effective way of spreading ideas, thoughts and appeals.
 with studies showing that 40 million Americans have at one time tried ‘Online Dating’, an industry that accounts for 17% of American marriages, and now makes over 1 billion dollars annually, the process of meeting your future spouse online, has never been easier. Websites like Eharmony.com practically pick out your apparent perfect match out of millions of potential suitors, send you a picture of them, and tell you everything you need to know, all you have to do is actually socialize with them.
Online shopping, on sites such as Ebay, Amazon, and littlewoods, means you don’t have to step outside your door to shop, all you need is a paypal account, and internet access, and they even sell picnic tables! And if you grew up in Dublin too, maybe you’ll understand the reference. Shops such as Tesco, and Super-Valu, now allow you to shop online, and they deliver your groceries to your door, which can come in extremely handy to lone parents with young children, and lazy college students, me included.
Another part of the internet which shouldn’t be overlooked is the fact that it’s just a whole lot of fun, with online communities such as reddit, which has something for everyone, literally. YouTube for those of us who enjoy looking at videos of cats running into things, and thousands of websites for every interest, within reason.
Of course, there is a bad side to I.T, and the internet, too much of a bad thing can be a good thing. Cyber Bullying is becoming a problem for today’s youth, with nearly 43% of 10-18 year olds experiencing cyber bullying at some time, whilst 9 out of ten teenagers have had their feelings hurt online
What’s even more surprising is that 58% of children have admitted to being involved in cyber bullying, and 75% have seen a webpage that slanders another teenager, these shocking statistics show that the internet can be used as a vicious means of bullying, passive aggression, and hate.
Some people say that there social life has suffered because of I.T, saying they very rarely go out, because they just sit in on their computer, or phone. This in the long run could actually lose people friends.
Overall, I.T has had a huge impact on society, and although finding information on the internet, can be a bit like ‘’Getting a glass of water from a waterfall’’ I believe that the internet is a hugely positive thing, it unites, reunites, enlightens, entertains and pretty much anything else you want it to do, within reason of course.