Introduction
Since the advent of humans on this planet, a long way has been passed during the journey that has progressed from the Iron Age until the present era of information technology. During this passage of time, more facilities and amenities have been developed by man, which has revolutionized and benefited the human race around the world. The invention of computers has been considered one of the major twists during the twentieth century. Approximately two decades back, most of the populace was practically unknown with the term of internet. However, nowadays, this term has been enveloped in almost all the homes, offices, malls, and several places around the world. Man has been benefiting from the abovementioned term that has powerfully provided an informative as well as an interactive platform throughout the globe. (Gattiker, pp. 55-61, 2001).
Briefly, various services and resources have been collected and provided by the internet for the improvement and promotion of humankind. In the history of humankind, the field of communication has developed a lot, and one of the most outstanding innovations is conceivable the Internet. However, everything has its advantages, as well as, disadvantages, and it depends upon the person to either benefit from it or allows the matter to harm the surroundings. Thus, the internet has also advantages, as well as, drawbacks; however, disadvantages have been outweighed by the superior enormity of its advantages.
Some of the advantages
Although, it is a common thought that the principal ingredients of the internet are e-mail, chat rooms, search engines, and the World Wide Web. However, the internet constitutes more than the abovementioned tools and resources, which will be discussed in this paper. Nowadays, the contemporary state of affairs has been benefiting from this tool, which has proved itself as one of the best among the rest of the world. Today, a single room has been presented as a new and innovative appearance of the whole globe. Currently, a student can acquire his education on the internet without even standing up from his chair. On the other hand, a businessperson can make a deal on the internet with the best suppliers around the world without any visa application, as well as, without any traveling expenses, which was not possible some decades ago.
Moreover, a South African can catch the latest news of an event occurring in an American part of the world, which has only become possible due to the availability of the internet in almost every corner of the world. In addition, thousands of books can be read and studied within mouse clicks, and without collecting these books in bookshelves that require lots of space. Interestingly, shopping can also be done within minutes with the help of credit cards without roaming in the rush of shopping malls, which has been greatly appreciated by the female populace of the globe. Thus, the internet has become a matter of just fingertips and has promoted, as well as, assisted humans in achieving a better and improved place in their lives.
In other words, a small global village has been formed by the creation and introduction of the internet into human lives. Communication has become a matter of seconds from one corner of the world to another. Reliability and speed are being innovated and improved day by day, which has changed the perceptions of humans at all. It is now just a fraction of a second to greet loved ones or study the African culture while residing in the United States. One of the biggest advantages of the internet is the plenty of information that has been provided by this platform. (Gattiker, pp. 23-29, 2001) A virtual library of millions of books has been an innovative wardrobe of the internet, which is one of the major reasons for its popularity and demand around the world. As the result, internet surfing has become one of the common and popular habits of students and children around the world. Today, research work is carried out by the utilization of internet libraries and virtual tours that are provided to internet users. One of the advantages of the internet is its reliability, as the data and information on the internet are updated within seconds. Businesspersons can be informed of trade fairs and exhibitions that would be organized shortly. Thus, the internet has become a necessity, rather than a luxury in almost every part of the world.
The disadvantages and drawbacks
Until now, we have described and discussed some of the advantages of the internet, such as communication, information, entertainment, services, e-commerce, etc. Now, the disadvantages and drawbacks of the internet will be discussed in the following pages. As the internet has masses of advantages that have benefited almost every sector of the planet, it has become an addiction and a compulsion for several people. As the result, the internet has become one of the places for theft of personal information that is available on the internet. Nowadays, schools and colleges do not observe fights in their classrooms or grounds, which was a common habit in previous years. One of the reasons is that nowadays, hacking has become an alternative way for many students, and even professionals to take revenge on other persons by stealing their personal information, which can result in emotional trauma or psychological disorder.
Secondly, spamming is another disadvantage of the internet. Several experts have evaluated and noted that frustration and anxiety have been the outcomes of spamming, as the entire system of internet users is obstructed by the illegal act of spamming. Thirdly, one of the basic requirements of the internet is the utilization of computers, which is made difficult by the viruses that threaten and harm computer systems. It has been observed that several internet systems and businesses attached to the internet have been destroyed and deteriorated due to these virus programs. (Gattiker, pp. 100-107, 2001).
Moreover, pornography is another gigantic weakness and annoyance of the internet. It has been observed by several medical experts that the healthy mental lives of children are being threatened by the abovementioned drawback of the internet. One of the main downsides is that pornographic sites can be found with several easy mouse clicks and can easily endanger the lives of children, which has become a serious issue and concern of most parents around the world.
Several disadvantages have been studied in this paper, which can deteriorate human lives. Havoc and destruction can be created by the internet, and fatal outcomes can be observed by the misuse of this informative and interactive world. Moreover, it has been observed that the attractive world of the internet has resulted in the avoidance of family members by internet-addicted persons, which has worsened the emotional lives of thousands of families around the world. The time of exercise is now given to the chat rooms with unknown internet chatters, who can be nerds, professionals, and sometimes, even criminals.
It has been observed by most professionals that chatting is one of the main factors that have deteriorated and addicted masses of students, children, and internet users around the world. In this regard, different programs and activities are being introduced by the schools, colleges, and universities, to avoid any obsession related to the internet from these students. Thus, the advantages of the internet have outweighed the disadvantages, and humankind has benefited a lot from this informative and resourceful platform, which is still being innovated and improved every day.
References
Urs E. Gattiker. (2001). The Internet as a Diverse Community. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.