Young People and New Media - Essay Example

Earlier, a citizen in a distant area has to travel to pay taxes, bills, etc to the government or to receive revenue documents, birth certificate,s and the like (James Curran, 2005). Internet Protocol (IP) has changed computer technology, portals are created abiding by Internet protocols. Programming has reached a sophisticated stage where programming languages like Java, PHP, Microsoft products like Asp.net, Visual Studio, MS Office were being used to develop websites and portals that have become an interface between service providers and end-users.

Traveling portals offer different discounts for different destinations and allow customers to send their feedback via email (Raab, S., Chandra, W, 2005). Community sites Orkut, Facebook, and blog sites like Blogspot helped the users not only to be in touch with each other but also to express their views on different subjects (James Slevin, 1999). The ICT envisages "Infokiosks" functioning in every nook and corner of human habitats. The citizen can make tax payments or receive government documents through these kiosks.

E-mail service, videophone, and E-commerce will perhaps be a shared service available to those urban citizens, who cannot afford to own their own private Internet connection. Imagine the joy and happiness of an eighty-year-old grandmother when she is able to "meet" her grandson thousands of miles away, through the IP phone service or Internet video service provided by the Infokiosk located across the road from her home in a remote village (Shaun Moores, 1999). In another scenario, of E-commerce, small farmers will be able to get the market information about the availability of stock and the prices in different markets in the neighboring towns.

He will be able to make appropriate decisions as to which market he should take his stock to so that he could sell off the goods quickly and at the best prices. ICT and the Internet have developed a very closely-knit virtual community of global citizens (Morley, D, 2000).