Effect of the Internet on Lives of People - Essay Example

Introduction Internet is undoubtedly a remarkable gift from modern technology to the humankind. It has truly made life easier for most people aroundthe world. May it be search for valuable information within seconds, keeping in touch with close friends and relatives located far away, shopping for goods in a matter of clicks, or entertaining oneself with all the enchantment of the World Wide Web, the Internet always works. Most importantly, it is easy to use, access and above all, the fastest medium, which makes most of its users addictive of using it more and more every time. Apparently, such a medium that is becoming ever imperative in the already busy lives of human beings; is also likely to have impacted various aspect of the life of the person using it. As can easily be observed, the excessive that the Internet captures, comes out from none other than other activities people indulge in such as work, social and personal activities etc. This paper investigates into the impact of Internet on the various distinctive aspects of the social and personal lives of people associated with this medium or are involved in using this medium in a modus operandi fashion. Impact Of Internet On The Social And Personal Lives Of People Ever since its evolution, the Internet has transformed every aspect of how people live their lives. It has attracted people with its tremendous ability to provide information and integrate enhanced communication facilities into their lives (Hendersen 39). Internet has probably touched every field and walk of people's lives; whether it is working life, social life, personal relationship, education, communication etc. It has even changed the human perceptions encompassing solitude and loneliness. A person sitting alone at some place with a PC with him cannot today be called as lonely. He is likely to be surrounded with a lot of human companions online. The effects of Internet media on the lives of people are appearing as abounding these days. As people spend more and more time using the Internet, browsing through the web sites and chatting with different people, they are becoming more acquainted with the new world easily accessible to them at all times. It is impacting upon the whole spectrum of human lives, while changing the way people work, interact and entertain themselves with the technology. The most prominent aspect that is being consistently influenced by Internet media is the social lives of people. Bargh and McKenna put this as, "no one today disputes that the Internet is likely to have a significant impact on social life" (575). The social life of human beings is characterized with how people interact with each other, how often they converge to improve the relationships and how much time they denote to each other. Internet is likely to have more than influenced a person's social life, i.e., it has been systematically re-shaping the way a person engages in social activity. This medium involves exotic means of communication, unique ways of human interaction, and different fashion of entertainment and most importantly the activities for the utilization of time. Nie and Erbring emphasize that, "as Internet use grows, Americans report they spend less time with friends and family, shopping in stores or watching television, and more time working for their employers at home; without cutting back their hours in the office" (280). The Internet has undoubtedly revolutionized communication and interaction in the social system. Email, chat rooms, and even websites are allowing more and more techniques to precipitate effective communication between people. Persons living at great distances from each other now conveniently interact with each other in a matter of a few clicks and that too without any restriction of time. Bargh and McKenna illuminate that "rather than being an isolating, personally and socially maladaptive activity, communicating with others over the Internet facilitates the formation of close and meaningful new relationships within a relatively safe environment" (582). This implies for both social and personal relationships between individuals resultant of increased Internet usage. Communication is an important aspect of sociability and the contribution of Internet to this aspect is eminent. As it is a facilitator of improved social and personal relationships between people, it is actively playing its role in forming new relationships and preserving the older ones. While older relationships could easily be cherished through contacting and keeping in touch with each other without any limitations of time and space, the newer ones could be built even more easily on the Internet. One factor contributing to this notion is that while surfing the Internet and interacting and communicating with other people online, one's identity remains completely anonymous. This creates a feeling of security in the minds of people and they get to know each other in a better manner. Bargh and McKenna propound this as, "the relative anonymity of the Internet can also contribute to close relationship formation through reducing the risks inherent in self-disclosure" (582). Despite the preemption of Internet medium in effectuating and facilitating communication between individuals, it is also said to have spoiled the social and physical contact among people. Nie and Erbring mention that, "email use is an additional medium now available for communicating with friends and family, but one can't share a coffee or a beer with somebody on email or give them a hug" (280). Besides alleviating the communication system, the Internet is said to have mitigated the physical social contact with each other people used to have in past. Gone are the days of visiting friends and families so often, because rather than tangible contact, people are increasingly relying on maintaining digital touch. Sending e-cards and emails on various occasions have displaced the notion of meeting people and sharing the happiness and sorrows of other people. Apart from that, the Internet is believed to have influenced the activities that contribute to personal satisfaction. The study conducted by Nie and Hillygus says that, "the heaviest Internet users are predicted to spend 7 minutes less on childcare (17% proportional reduction) and 8 minutes less on errands/shopping (19% proportional reduction)" (13-14). People are increasingly spending more and more time online, doing e-shopping and assimilating the clusters of information available on the world wide web to the extent that has reduced their expending of time and energy on activities such as shopping and even childcare considerably. This illustrates how importantly the Internet is evolving into the lives of people who trade off the time used in net surfing, chatting, e- shopping and emailing with different activities. The time spent on Internet also lead the individuals to truncate the actual time spent on the other personal activities. Reading books offline, for example, constitute as one of the most common leisurely activities people indulge in during free times. However, Internet is gradually displacing the people's spirit of reading offline. Nie and Hillygus also point out that, "Non-users are predicted to spend 21 minutes reading in an average day. In contrast, heavy Internet users are predicted to spend 16 minutes reading (omitting online reading) in an average day" (11). The time people substitute for activities on the Internet costs even more than foregoing important personal and social feeling and 'non-discretionary' activities such as spending time on shopping, childcare, reading, meeting friends and relatives. Rather, excessive use of Internet can lead individuals to drop off their sleeping hours. The study conducted by Nie and Hillygus suggests such a point. They say, "those who use the Internet less than an hour a day sleep about 13 minutes less on average, those who use it for an hour are spending an average of 15 minutes less on sleep, and those who spend more than an hour a day on the Internet spend 26 minutes less on sleep" (7-8). Hence, the impact of Internet is observable in every aspect of people's live. It has transformed what people considered to be most important in the past. The ease of use, less consumption of time and convenient accessibility of the Internet medium have led to a consistently changing the social attitude of people. When things can easily be bought, messages can easily be sent and contacts are conveniently maintained in a matter of a few clicks, it is likely to have a significant impact on an individual's attitude towards life and other people in the society. Conclusion This paper discusses the various prominent effects of Internet in the social lives of people. The notion that the evolution of Internet has led the human beings to forego activities that they considered to be very important in the past can easily be regarded as true here. Although it is true that Internet enhances easy communication and contact among people, yet no one can deny the role of Internet in consistently decaying the true essence of social and personal relationships by making people reliant on digital rather than physical interaction with each other. The above research proves that Internet does have a significant impact on the social and personal lives of people as they need to displace other activities for the sake of expending more time online. This time eventually pops out at the cost of moments that the people can utilize to build and strengthen their personal and social bonds with each other in a manner natural to human beings. It does not at all connote that the Internet is leaving adverse effects on the lives of people; rather it is to say that it is the high time when people realize the impacts the Internet is reaping onto their lives. After all, the Internet as a medium should be used insofar as it facilitates life, and should be controlled at the point where the medium comes to crumble the same. Works Cited Bargh, John and McKenna, Katelyn, The Internet And Social Life, Annual Review Of Psychology, 55 (2004): 573-590 Henderson, Carter, How The Internet Is Changing Our Lives, Futurist, 35(4), (2001): 38-45 Nie, Norman and Erbring, Lutz, Internet And Society: A Preliminary Report, IT & SOCIETY, 1(1), Summer (2002): 275-283 Nie, Norman and Hillygus, Sunshine, Where Does Internet Time Come From: A Reconnaissance, IT & SOCIETY, 1(2), Summer (2002): 1-20 Read More