THE
IMPACT OF THE INTERNET ON OUR DAILY LIFE
by Markus Temmel, Martina Theuermann, Eva Ukowitz, Tanja Vogrin
There is a big
influence of technique on our daily life. Electronic devices, multimedia and
computers are things we have to deal with everyday.
Especially the
Internet is becoming more and more important for nearly everybody as it is one
of the newest and most forward-looking media and surely “the” medium of the
future.
Therefore we
thought that it would be necessary to think about some good and bad aspects of
how this medium influences us, what impacts it has on our social behaviour and
what the future will look like.
The Internet
changed our life enormously, there is no doubt about that. There are many
advantages of the Internet that show you the importance of this new medium.
What I want to say is that Internet changed our life in a positive way.
First we have to
make a differentiation concerning the usage. You can use the Internet at home
for personal or you at work for professional usage. Let’s come to the first. To
spend a part of our day on the Internet is for many people quite normal. They
use this kind of medium to get information about all kinds topics. Maybe some
of them are interested in chatting, probably they are members of a community.
Whatever you are looking for, you will find it. Even if you want to have very
specific information, you will find it in a short time. Normally, you often
have to send a letter, than you have to wait for the reception of the reply, or
you have to make some telephone calls and so on. In any case, the traditional
way is the longer one. To put your own information on the Internet is also
possible. Create your own homepage, tell other users about your interests, what
you want, that’s no problem at all.
As we all know,
software costs a lot, if you buy it legal. Free software, free music is
available on the Internet. You just have to download the program, the mp3-file
or whatever and that’s it. Why do you want to pay more as you need to? Special
websites are created just to give you the newest programs, or to tell you where
you can get it from. Napster might actually be the most famous one.
The computer is a
fix part of every modern office and the greatest part has also an access to the
Internet. Companies already present their products, their services on the
Internet and so they get more flexible.
The next advantage
I want to mention is the faster development. Many universities and research
institutions are also linked. They are able to exchange experiences, novelties
and often they start new projects together. If they are linked, they can save
time and money.
Especially at the
business sector knowledge is power. If you are the leader of a product, of a
technology or just of an idea you are able to make a lot of money. To get into
this position, the Internet can play an essential part. Companies all over the
world are online. If you want, it is no problem for you to exchange
experiences, you will hear new things, you will see some facts from another
point of view. For this reason you will find new solutions, new ways to go, so
take this chance!
“Learning by
doing”, everybody knows this phrase and its still an essential part concerning
the Internet. Children also use the Internet, most of the time they will “play”
over the Internet, but they learn to work with the computer. There is only one
way to learn something, you have to do it. Even it’s the first contact with the
computer, after a few minutes the person will know that the computer-mouse is
no animal running on the monitor. He or she learns to write on the keyboard, to
navigate, to open and close programs, to save data... within hours. Try to do
that on a normal computer course for beginners, you will need more time and the
most important fact, it’s not as funny as surfing on the Internet and so they
participants are less motivated.
Let’s change over
to another positive effect of the Internet.
In any case,
everybody’s private situation is different. For many women their own children
are the main reason for staying at home. Nowadays this won’t be a problem any
more, you can do work on your computer at home, called tele-working. Also men
take this opportunity to work at home. What are the consequences, the
advantages of tele-working? Sure, if you have a family, you can spend more time
at home, probably you can spend more time with your children. Next is, that you
can organize every day in the way you want to. Meetings at the company are
reduced to a minimum. Tele-working is also an advantage for the owner of the
company. Official studies substantiate that people who work at home are more
motivated than their colleagues at the office. .
You see, the
Internet is really a very positive medium. Use the Internet and discover the
advantages of this new, forward-looking medium!
Markus Temmel
Another advantage
of the internet is that you can join a community.
You can create new
social contacts all over the world, which you could not do so easy without the
internet.
Such communities
can also help people who can not go out to find friends in the real life
because they are disabled. Therefore they can chat with other people via the
internet. Sometimes it is also easier for people, who are afraid to look into
the other’s face while talking, to chat with a person that they do not know.
There is something between them which makes it easier for them to communicate.
It also does not matter if you have a terrible appearance because you can
pretend to be whatever you want. You can also change your gender and your age to
talk about topics which you do not normally do.
However, there are
no time and place limitations and there are no boundaries, both geographical
and political. You can chat with people in Australia and you have freedom of
your mind in a way.
Moreover the
internet is much cheaper than the real life, e.g. phoning a friend in Australia
costs more than to chat with him.
From my point of
view the e-mail has replaced the traditional letter. You do not have to buy
stamps anymore and it is much faster and also for free. You can also add files
to your E-mail and that’s why a big data transfer is possible. Therefore you do
not have to send disks with information around the world anymore and you have
your information in a digital way.
Another free
service of the internet is sending SMS. You can save a lot of money if you do
not send it with your mobile phone especially from Austria to America. You also
have the opportunity to register as a user. Then you can use more things, e.g.
sending E-postcards, I-messages (messages between registered users), and lead
an address book.
You can also place
your digital photos in the internet. With a password and a login name your
friends in America can look at your photos without sending them to them.
Another important
part is online gaming. You can play with people from all over the world and
share your knowledge. In my opinion it’s more exiting to play with friends than
playing alone.
Additionally,
another big advantage of the internet is the easy access to information. Online
reference books and dictionaries replace the way to the bookshop or to the
library. It is again cheaper to search for information in the internet than to
buy a book, that is old after one year. In the internet a lot of information is
renewed and up to date. You can also find information which is very new and a
book does not exist yet.
Moreover you can
read the daily newspapers from all over the world, sometimes for free. You do
not have to buy them anymore. In addition, most newspaper sites have an archive
in which you can search for old articles.
However, the
internet is also a big “advertising company”. A lot of enterprises have a
homepage with ads and support opportunities. On some of them you can order
products online. Then you do not have to go to the city anymore. You avoid
waiting in front of the cash because of a long queue.
Moreover, you can
get the newest stock exchange courses because the stock exchange in the
Internet is always the most current one. You also have the ability to tell the
computer to buy shares when the course is down.
Besides you can
learn with the internet. CBTs (Computer Based Training) already exist but you
can also join an internet course with other members.
Furthermore you
can hold videoconferences which means that e.g. your teacher is sitting in his
office in America and teaching you in Austria.
This is very
important in the medical sector because doctors from all over the world can
join an operation. So specialists can give tips and help other doctors to
complete the operation successfully. The patient has not to wait until a
specialist will come from America.
But this is only
available because of the internet 2 which is much faster.
The internet is a
database full of information and offers us a lot of services, sometimes for
free. This makes our life easier and sometimes also cheaper.
All in all I think
that the internet is very useful especially for students.
Martina Theuermann
Clicking on the
Internet-Button is getting more and more thrilling nowadays. Sometimes it is a
real adventure not being sure if you have downloaded a virus or if it is only a
hoax. You even cannot be sure to be alone if you are alone. Is there someone
else working on my computer or is it only me? To have more security you have to
install a firewall, buy anti-virus-programmes and update them regularly. So you
have to spend much money only for preventing a virus-caused breakdown or
hacker-attacks. It is annoying not being sure if the money you have spent will
prevent all those things or if there is already a new virus and a new way
hacking into computers. This is no more an investment into security it is a
steady consumption which will not end. Some people even
have to take up a loan to buy a computer. They are forced to buy one. Otherwise
they maybe would not be able to stay in their job. What will the poor people
do? They will be rarely informed about news and the space between rich and poor
will become bigger and bigger.
Having downloaded
the latest anti-virus-program it will not prevent meeting bad people on the
internet. If you chat with someone you cannot be sure about the truth of
his/her words. Most people cheat emotions, cheat about their appearance, age,
job. That can be funny but if you want to meet someone talking to each other
seriously it can be hard to do so. Is it a man, is it a woman or is it someone
I already know? You never can be sure. Is that something on the other side
already hacking into my computer reading personal information? If you get to a
web site of a bank – is it a real bank or only a faked one? There have to be
some signs which identify an original website reliably. How can I be sure if I
want to buy something on the web and send my credit card-number that nobody
will read it?
Imagine the
following scene: You are surfing through the internet and suddenly – you are
just downloading the latest screensaver of Verona Feldbusch – the whole
internet breaks down. What would you do? Trying to build your own internet?
Worrying about the lack of Verona? Sitting in front of the computer waiting for
hours and looking into a black screen? Seriously, what would happen? I think
most of the people would wait an hour or longer. Some people would stop
existing because they have no real life. They only exist on the internet with
their avatars in the chat rooms. They have given up reality for cyberspace. It
is more practical for them because they do not need to ask someone to meet
someone. The other one is just on the other end. Seriously speaking, I think
people would not be glad about having to get out of their rooms. They feel
uncomfortable about leaving their beloved computer. They do not know what to
do. I think many even do not know any more how a book looks like or a
typewriter. Besides losing our social abilities we are also losing our
every-day-abilities. The computer is a nanny, a dictionary, an information
centre, a job, a shopping centre. Nobody has to know anything about everyday
business because the computer does it for us.
Internet user are
becoming younger and younger. For children it is no problem to work with a
computer. They just accept "him" as partner. But what do the older
people do? Some even do not know how to switch the computer on. I know some
people who are afraid of the computer. They think everything they do is wrong
and the computer is breaking down on purpose. For these people the computer is
already too complex. There has to be something like a computer for beginners.
Otherwise there will always be some people who do not want to know how to use
the computer because there is too much to know about it.
There are people
who do not read the paper in the morning any more. They are reading the
e-paper. Even in the morning they are sitting in front of the computer and not
talking to each other while drinking a cup of tea. In the future there will be
more and more e-papers and the newspapers will disappear. Some are beginning to
talk to their computer (Come on, let’s work!) but they are not any more able to
talk to each other. While chatting in the internet you are frequently using
abbreviations, uncompleted sentences and so on. This leads to speaking
disabilities in everyday life.
Eva Ukowitz
One of the most
negative aspects of the impact of the internet on our daily life is, in my
opinion, that it alters the social behaviour, habits and abilities of people.
Especially
children are often badly influenced by the internet.
Therefore I want
to deal with the impact of the internet on the social behaviour of children.
In our times, when
nearly every household has a computer and access to the internet, it is only
clear that also children deal with computers and the internet. They should
learn how to use it, of course.
The world of the
world wide web and virtual space is going to become more important with every
year and everybody should be able to use this tool – even children.
They should know
how to get information, how they can buy something on the web, where they can
meet people online.
They should be
able to use the internet because if they are not, they are going to have great
difficulties with getting on in their lives without knowing how to use the
internet later on. Simply because it is a very powerful media which is going to
be the main medium in the future.
But what I am
worrying about is that children will be very competent experts on using the
internet – but not on how to live in the real world anymore.
The first point I
want to mention is that I don’t consider the internet as a suitable babysitter
or friend for children.
As I have already
said, I think that it is important that children learn how to use the internet
but it is also very important that they learn to have the right attitude
towards the internet.
The internet will
never replace the real world and therefore it is important that children see
that the internet is a great tool if you know how to handle it but it should
not be a replacement for real friends, for a real life. It’s the parents duty
to tell their children so.
Parents should not
just put their children in front of a computer and say “Oh well, that’s the
internet, go on, have some fun and be quiet.” The internet was not made for
children and so it should not be used as a babysitter.
You can never be
sure what the child will get to see when it is online without an adult sitting
next to it. There is so much harmful, offending and simply disgusting material
on the internet, that it is – in my opinion – totally careless when you let
your children surf through the net all by themselves.
By reading the
emails from the discussion group I often heard that if you teach your children
the basics of ethic and just tell them not to look at harmful material then
they can go online and surf through the net alone. I’m not of the same opinion.
Children are children and they are not adults. If you tell them not to look at
– for example – pornographic sites, you can never be sure that they will not.
Children are nosy ones – at least most of them are – and most children will go
and have a look at pornographic materials on the internet. The only way to
provide that children do not see harmful things on the internet is to sit next
to them and supervise them.
I have a little
brother, aged seven and when he wants to go online, then he has to ask my
parents or me to come with him and sit next to him while he’s surfing. Surely,
it doesn’t mean fun when you have to sit next to him and listen to the
Teletubbies talking or see Mickey Mouse bowling but I am far more interested in
hearing and seeing these things than in not being sure what he would see if I
was not sitting next to him.
That’s the one
point why the internet should not be used as a babysitter.
The other point is
that it is – in my opinion – not good for the children to sit in front of the
computer all day.
Children need
friends and they need to play with friends to learn how to behave and how to
interact with others.
Human beings are
not born with any social abilities – we have to learn all of these stuff.
And if children
sit in front of the computer and don’t play with other children – when and
where should they learn how to behave?
Another question
is whether the internet is a useful medium to educate children or not.
Well, in my
opinion it is not.
Even for adults it
is often a problem to say whether an information is right or wrong on the
internet. So when adults are not able to be sure about it – how should children
be?
The risk to learn
wrong things from the internet is very big and so the internet should not be
used to educate the child right from the beginning on.
But: You should
try to tell your children how they can distinguish between “good” and “bad”
information. (Be critically, try to figure out who has written the information,
when was the last update, and so on….) Later on, they will have to get
information for the internet and then they should be able to use it, of course.
But in my opinion
there’s no sense to teach them the basics with the help of the internet before
they have learnt how to distinguish between good and bad information – they are
simply too young to be sure about that.
