5 Ways the Internet Has Changed the World

The internet has only really been around for most people for less than 20 years, yet its impact on the planet has been immense. What follows are five ways the internet has changed the world.

Communication

Remember the days when you had to pick up a bit of paper and a pen as a way to write to someone? And you would need to go through the procedure for putting the letter in an envelope, stamping it and taking it to a postoffice to send. All this, and the card you sent for Christmas would invariably arrive sometime around Easter...

But that was before the arrival of the web. With the web came e-mail, and then a bit later VoIP, Instant messaging and video calls. Now you can send a letter to someone halfway around the world, confident that it'll arrive almost instantly. You can have telephone conversations online, and even video chats, so granny in South Africa can easily see her grandchildren in Australia and talk to them like they were in exactly the same room.

This doesn't even include social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, which allow visitors to communicate with a lot of friends at a time, as well as to post pictures and comments.

Entertainment

In the days prior to the internet, it we wished to watch TV, we had to watch whatever was being shown by the networks. If you missed an episode, and weren't in a position to record it, that was it unless you managed to visit a rerun. Now, with the rise of the internet, not only can you download whatever bout of whatever series once you want, also you can download movies, music, games and much more.

It was previously that to be discovered as a musician or actor, you had to go to auditions and become "discovered by agents and directors or music company executives. Today, all you need to accomplish is post a video of yourself on YouTube or MySpace, like Justin Bieber or Lily Allen.

With the internet, so long as have to wait for a friend to go to if you want to play multiplayer games. Nowadays there are numerous games you could play online against people all over the world. There are even games like Second Life, where people are able to get on a virtual world and connect to other people. They could buy property, create artwork and have relationships.

News

With the internet came a different form of news. You used to have to rely on the mainstream media for the daily dose of news. You understand how it went, every night at 7 the youngsters would need to be dead quiet because dad had to view the evening news, and the stories of butlers having to iron the morning newspapers because of their wealthy masters. The news headlines was basically fed for you, you weren't able to go out and find different opinions.

Nowadays, it is possible to go out and find the news. It is possible to read an article on the gulf oil spill on enough time Magazine site, and then read one from the different perspective from CNN. The news headlines is also no more just being reported by journalists and mainstream media. There have been many times where in fact the larger news companies have already been scooped by smaller sites, as well as blogs, as in the case of Michael Jackson's death where TMZ.com was the first to report that he had been taken to a healthcare facility.

Information

One of the biggest advantages the internet has had to your daily lives is that now we are able to find a little bit of information anywhere in the world where there is internet access. Need info on the Mount St. Helen's eruption? The release date of the most recent Artemis Fowl book? And even instructions on how to tie certain boy scout knots? In just a few seconds, you will find millions of sites that give you just everything you are looking for. No more spending hours searching through the library for me personally...

Business

Just about every type of business, from large news corporations, to small clothing stores have websites to market themselves and their products. New ways of business have even started due to the web, such as people making money from blogs and websites they will have started, web site design companies, and on-line shops which have thrived with lots of people choosing on-line shopping over going to regular shops.

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