Advantages and Disadvantagesof the Internet

Introduction

Internet has been perhaps the most outstanding innovation in the field of communication in the history of mankind. A few years back, the term Internet was practically anonymous to most of the people. Today, Internet has become the most powerful communication tool for people throughout the world. At the present time, approximately 33% of the world population has accessibility to the Internet.

The Internet or the World Wide Web is indeed a wonderful and amazing addition in our lives. Every day the Internet continues to provide a new facility, something new that is immensely convenient and that makes life easier for many people.

The Internet can be known as a kind of global meeting place where people from all parts of the world can come together. It is a service available on the computer, through which everything under the sun is now at the fingertips of anyone who has access to the Internet.

To get online, meaning to connect to the Internet, you need to have:• A Computer: Computer equipment is a sizeable investment. That is why you should select a computer carefully. Before buying a computer, understand your needs and then choose one accordingly. See that it comes with a warranty and that after sales service is available in case you need it. • Internet Service Provider: This is the software that you will require to get online. You can now choose from a dial-up service or 24-hour broadband services. This is the service that will help you to connect to the Internet and start your surfing experiences.

Internet has tremendous potential and a lot to offer in terms of services. However, like every single innovation in science and technology, Internet has its own advantages and disadvantages.

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Advantages of the Internet

1. Global AudienceContent published on the World Wide Web is immediately

available to a global audience of users, reaching more than 190 countries. This makes the World Wide Web a very cost-effective medium to publish information. The Internet operates 24 hours/day, 7 days a week, so you don't need to wait until resources are available. The fact that the Internet is operational at all times makes it the most efficient business machine to date.

2. Relatively InexpensiveIt is relatively inexpensive to publish information on the Internet.

At a fraction of the cost to publish information by traditional methods, various organizations and individuals can now distribute information to millions of users.

3. Faster CommunicationThe primary goal of the Internet is communication. It has done

extremely well in this field, however the development process is still going on to make it more dependable and quick. Now, you can communicate in a fraction of second with a person who is sitting in the other part of the world. For more personal and interactive communication, you can use the facilities of chat services, video conferencing and so on. Besides, there are plenty of messenger services in offering. With the help of such services, it has become very easy to establish a kind of global friendship where you can share your thoughts and explore other cultures.

E-mail is an online correspondence system. With e-mail you can send and receive instant electronic messages, which works like writing letters. Your messages are delivered instantly to people anywhere in the world, unlike traditional mail that takes a lot of time.

4. Information Resources

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Information is probably the biggest advantage that Internet offers. Internet is a virtual treasure of information. Any kind of information on any topic is available on the Internet. The search engines like Google, Yahoo are at your service on the Internet. There is a huge amount of information available on the Internet for just about every subject known to man, from government law and services, market information, new ideas and technical support, the list is simply endless. Students and children are among the top users who surf the Internet for research. Today, it is almost required that students should use the Internet for research or the purpose of gathering resources. Even teachers have started giving assignments that require extensive research on the Internet. Besides, you can have an access to latest researches in the field of medicine, technology and so on. Numerous web sites also allow you to talk to the doctors online. The Internet is an added bonus for teachers looking for more information on subjects. It allows them to efficiently communicate with parents and other teachers through email. Teachers can have their own class pages that parents can check at their convenience to see what is going on in the classroom.

5. EntertainmentEntertainment is another popular reason why many people prefer

to surf the Internet. Playing games or just surfing the celebrity websites are some of the uses people have discovered. Even celebrities are using Internet effectively for promotional campaigns. Besides, there are numerous games that can be downloaded from the Internet for free. The industry of online gaming has tasted dramatic and phenomenal attention by game lovers.

6. Social NetworkingPeople cannot imagine an online life without Facebook or

Twitter. Social networking has become so popular that it might one day replace physical networking. Apart from talking to friends, you can also look for job, business opportunities on forums, communities etc. Besides, there are chat rooms where users can meet new and interesting people. Some of them may even end up finding their life partners.

7. Online ServicesInternet has made life very convenient. With numerous online

services you can now perform all your transactions online. You can

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book tickets for a movie, transfer funds, pay utility bills and taxes right from your home. Some travel websites even plan an Itinerary and take care of airline tickets, hotel reservations etc.

8. E-commerceAlong with getting information on the Internet, you can also

shop online. There are many online stores and sites that can be used to look for products as well as buy them using your credit card. You do not need to leave your house and can do all your shopping from the convenience of your home. E-commerce has become a phenomenon associated with any kind of shopping, business deal etc. Websites such as eBay allow you to even bid for homes, buy and sell stuff online.

9. Downloading SoftwareThis is one of the most happening and fun things to do on the

Internet. You can download games, music, videos, movies, pictures and a host of other entertainment software from the Internet, most of which are free.

10. Product AdvertisingCompanies can use the World Wide Web to advertise various

products. Before purchasing a product, customers will be able to look up various product specification sheets and find out additional information. You can use the multimedia capabilities of the World Wide Web to make available not only various product specification sheets but also audio files, images, and even video clips of products in action. The beauty of the Web is that it allows customers to explore products in as much detail as they desire. If the client just wants a general overview, he or she can look at the advertising information. For those wanting more in depth information, you can provide white papers and product descriptions for download.

11. Online SurveysTraditional methods of performing surveys are often relatively

slow and expensive compared to online surveys conducted on the Internet. For example, in order to fill out various needs of customers or what they would like to see in a future product, it's often necessary to compile a list of address and mail a questionnaire to many customers. The success of such an attempt is not always guaranteed and can be very costly in terms of mailing the questionnaires and entering responses to a databases and analyzing it. On the other hand,

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you can use the World Wide Web to automate the whole process. Results of such a survey can be automatically updated to a database. This database can then be used to keep a pulse on various opinions and needs of customers.

Disadvantages of the Internet

1. Theft of Personal InformationWith a large amount of information freely available on the

internet theft of this information is a likely possibility. If you use the Internet for online banking, social networking or other services, you may risk a theft to your personal information such as name, address, credit card number etc. Some people can access this information through unsecured connections or by planting software and then use your personal details for their benefit.

2. Social DisconnectThanks to Internet, people now only meet on social networks.

Even children prefer to play online games rather than going out and playing with other kids. Even though the Internet has in many ways brought the world closer together, it has in many other ways caused a lot of damage to relationships and growth of individuals. Chat rooms and forums or other ways of interactivity shouldn't replace real life socializing.

3. AnonymityAnother problem or disadvantage of the internet is that it has

allowed a great deal of anonymity to a large number of people who may access the different websites, forums and chat rooms available. This has allowed some individuals to take advantage of innocent people and abuse their trust.

4. VirusesThe Internet has also given birth to viruses that can cause a lot of

damage. Many websites are notorious for sending adware, viruses and also other malicious software that can slow the computer and even harm it considerably.

5, SpammingSpamming denotes distribution of unsolicited e-mails in large

numbers. They are meaningless and they unnecessarily block the whole system. They may contain viruses that may corrupt the system

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and even if they don’t cause any harm, these can be very annoying. Spamming is treated as illegal.

Conclusions

Internet is defined as a collection of various services and resources. Although many people still think that e-mail and World Wide Web are the main constituents of Internet, there is a lot more in store than e-mail, chat rooms, celebrity web sites and search engines.

Internet has also become the best business tool in the modern scenario. Right from getting news across the corner of the world to accessing knowledge resources to shopping, everything is at your fingertips. Internet has become the most powerful communication tool for people throughout the world.

As with every single innovation, Internet has its own advantages and disadvantages.

The main advantages of using the Internet are: - the content published on the World Wide Web is immediately available to a global audience of users;- it is relatively inexpensive to publish information on the Internet;- you can communicate in a fraction of second with a person who is sitting in the other part of the world;- any kind of information on any topic is available on the Internet;- playing games or just surfing the celebrity websites are some of the uses people have discovered;- there are chat rooms where users can meet new and interesting people;- with numerous online services you can now perform all your transactions online;- you can also shop online;- you can download games, music, videos, movies and pictures for free;- companies can use the World Wide Web to advertise various products and for online surveys.

The main advantages of using the Internet are: theft of personal information, social disconnect, anonymity, viruses and spamming.

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That said, the advantages of the Internet far outweigh the disadvantages, and millions of people each day benefit from using the Internet for work and for pleasure.

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