Introduction
Because of the constant development, the world is changing every single moment to take a new shape the next day. With help of the technological innovations combined with the unique culture, people have managed to reach the top of the progress, yet there is much to be done. Together with suggesting technological, political, and economical innovations, society has also introduced its new form, namely the information society. Despite the progressive beginning, the new society has a lot of issues to tackle to create a stable world environment.
Internet as a Worldwide Playground
Tracking the impact that the Internet has had on society, one can suggest that the World Wide Web has finally become what one cold call the entertainment for the people. Unlike the rest of the means of conveying the information, this one has quite a history of its own, it must be admitted. However, the fact that the Internet has finally become the means to learn all kinds of facts and enhance one’s knowledge in a certain sphere cannot be denied. With help of the Internet, people can access a variety of facts now, which is, no doubt, a huge benefit. However, it must be admitted that the situation has not always been like that.
At the very beginning of the computer era, the Internet was designed to serve people as the link that bridges nations. Serving as the road from one world to the other, it was supposed to help people broaden the horizons of modern science and increase the pace of progress. However, things changed as the Internet became available to the population and, which is the most important, to the world of advertisement and business.
As soon as the world’s greatest corporations captured the power over the Internet, it was designed t bring money as the means of mass media and the way to convey certain information to the public. Even though such a situation cannot be considered either a positive or negative one, I still cannot be denied that the initial purpose of the Internet has been considerably changed.
According to the ideas expressed by Rowland in his The Spirit of the Web, the Internet has created to serve the purpose of academic studies:
At first manly academic or interest-related and non-commercial, the idea of online communities was quickly taken up as a business opportunity by Commercial BC operators. CompuServe, which would become one of the giants of the new industry, went online that year. (p. 364)
If only people could know which way the new ideas led to! As soon as these changes were made, the Internet started to become more and more flooded with all sorts of advertisements. Although it has to be admitted that the Internet at present is used not only as of the means of advertising all kinds of goods but also as a means of communication all over the world.
Bridging the most distanced places with each other and providing people with the ersatz-conversation which can be compared to the real one, it is evident that the modern internet is filled with advertisements and various commercials, which people cannot avoid entering most cites – the so-called “banners”, the World Wide Web is increasingly growing as the means of mass media. However, this means is a rather commercialized Net, which must be admitted.
Therefore, one can drive the following conclusion: As soon as the Internet has become available to the world’s greatest companies and corporations, it has become filled with advertisements and commercials. Thus, the Internet was turned into a huge advertisement of its own, and there is no need to watch the news to prove this sad fact – it is enough to start an online session.
Back to the Progress: New Technologies and their Impact
One of the world’s greatest concerns, the impact of the new technologies on modern society and the global world situation cannot be considered as totally positive. Although the importance of the world technical progress and development cannot be denied, it is still clear that technical development is a double-sided sword. Therefore, it has all grounds to be considered somewhat negative as well.
On the one hand, the new-age technologies are taken as the means to change the existing society for the better, enhancing democracy and suggesting new possibilities for its development. Yet, on the other hand, the new opportunities can bring certain harm, namely, serve as the tools to ruin society as we know it. Therefore, the phenomenon has to be discussed taking into account both view points.
Among the dangers that posed the greatest threat, critics emphasized the one posed to the system of legacy. Considering the Net as the means to represent undesirable ideas, the critics suggested that this could lead to chaos. As Rowland explained,
Early on in the history of the Net, lawyers began to worry that the rise of an electronic medium that disregards geopolitical boundaries throws the law into disarray by creating entirely new phenomena that need to become the subject of clear legal rules but cannot be governed satisfactorily, by any current territorially based sovereign. (p. 30)
To put it in simpler words, the critics considered that the new system lacked a government (Rowland, p. 30). Becoming uncontrolled, this could lead to much more serious consequences than one could predict, the critics assumed. However, such considerations finally proved wrong. Speaking of the most pessimistic ideas concerning the new technologies and their effect on society, one can suppose that the fears have been greatly exaggerated.
Even though there can be drawbacks concerning the new technologies development, they are quite unlikely to lead to such an apocalyptic ending. On the contrary, the new technologies are likely to enhance the development of mankind and broaden the horizons of modern science. Breaking new grounds in the sphere of computing, people will be able to achieve even greater progress. However, it cannot be denied that negative prognoses are quite popular nowadays. According to Rowland, these are mostly encouraged by the representatives of the press. Thus, Rowland drives the following fact as an example of people’s fears for the future of democracy:
Journalism refers to the Net as “archaic”, and that’s not an inappropriate description, although the Internet does not exist in a political vacuum: in principle at least, the laws of nations apply on the net as they do in ordinary life. (p. 30)
Indeed, with help of the new technological tools, society can ease the journey to democracy. According to what Rowland claims, there are certain reasons to suggest that with help of the new technologies, modern society can be promoted to a higher level of development. As the author claims, the concerns touch upon such an intriguing aspect of the public space and its interpretation on the Internet.
According to Habermas’s public sphere theory, the Internet can be viewed as a place called a public sphere, namely, a space where people can communicate their ideas to each other without any obstacles in their way. However, Habermas developed his theory to apply it to the people who take a certain position in society – the position of the privileged, whereas the Internet can be accessed by anybody.
The Information Society as It Is
It seems that the Internet is currently becoming more and more flooded with commercials. Though this might sound a bit sad, at present it seems impossible to stop the process of filling the World Wide Web with advertisements. Despite their obvious importance – people need to know about the latest innovations and goods – the system of Internet advertising is often obtrusive and annoying. This means that Internet advertising can lead to the most unwanted effect. As a result of an excessive advertisement, people will grow irritated and abandon the World Web to search for another means of socializing.
The global net will handle the excessive commercial “attack”, yet the consequences can be deplorable. Unless people can face the on-coming excessive advertisement on the Internet, there will be no possibility to stop the process or even hinder it. Despite the optimistic prognoses of several scientists, it seems that the Internet is highly likely to become over-hyped, which, in turn, will trigger irritation of the Internet users.
However, there is a chance that the Internet will be able to resist the influence of excessive advertising. To help people fight this problem, one has to realize the positive and the negative impact of the latter and to understand that the age of Internet exploration belongs to people, not to machines. According to Rowland, “marketplace created by the Net is a historically unique commercial environment.
It exists nowhere and everywhere at the same time, and can be accessed from anywhere in the world.” (p. 404) This means that by establishing the laws of its own, the Internet users can create the most favorable conditions for their online existence, without the excessive virtual advertisements and with the environment that they will find most suitable for their online life. Unlike the rest of the places, cyberspace is extremely flexible, which means that it can be shaped according to the visitors’ needs.
This means that the information society in which people are living now is currently transforming into an advertisement t society – at least on the Internet. Unfortunately, this process is unlikely t be stopped or even hindered. Even though the Internet was initially designed for people to communicate free, at present, it seems that the sphere of pleasant communication is becoming cluttered with ads and commercials, which is rather sad.
There is no doubt that with the use of the Internet, the number of jobs has grown considerably, yet it is obvious that these jobs mostly concern the online business (Rowland, p. 405). Therefore, the impact of the Internet still can be considered quite commercial. Thus, it seems that, no matter how hard one might try, there still will be a speck of advertising on the Internet, for this is a piece of cyberspace itself. However, this process can be viewed as quite natural and expected. Therefore, what people should do is to consider the situation carefully and understand whether they should do something about it or not.
Reference List
Rowland, W. (2006) Spirit of the Web. Toronto, CA: Thomas Allen Publishers.