Reasons for Surfing the Internet - Essay Example

Reasons for Surfing the Internet This essay will explore the phenomenon of surfing the Internet, which is so widespread today. Its main purpose is to provide the reasons why people do spend time doing this activity, and why people seem to enjoy it so much. While a form of addiction to this activity is possible, that area will not be examined in this essay, as it could be seen as a completely different topic. If the popularity of this pastime is to be explained, though, it is necessary to identify the reasons for surfing the Internet and to classify them into broad groups. This would assist any interested party – for example educators, psychologists, marketers – to be able to understand why people spend so much time on the Internet. The reasons for Internet surfing are divided into five main categories in this essay. They are, in order of most importance according to this writer: to socialize; to research and find information; to pass the time though entertainment; to work; or to buy and sell things. Depending on the age group of people being looked at, these reasons may be more or less important, and this aspect of these reasons will also be discussed in this essay. For younger people, the Internet is very important in terms of the opportunities it creates to socialize. People can stay in contact with their friends, follow events in their friends’ and families’ lives, meet new friends and even join communities of similar people, with the same beliefs and ways of thinking (Finn, 2009, website). They also join social networking websites such as Facebook in order to remain current with their social groups. This is the first category of reasons for surfing the Internet according to this essay, but importantly, it does not only apply to younger people: socializing on the Internet also applies to all groups of people, no matter their age. Older people use Facebook and other more business oriented networking sites such as LinkedIn to grow their connections to people in the same industries as theirs, or in the same social circles as theirs. Many families stay in touch via technology such as Skype, when they cannot physically be together. They have conversations across the world, and are able to see each other and communicate more effectively via the Internet. There are also very legitimate sites for people to meet each other for relationships, such as dating sites, or less specifically for emotional relationships, community forum sites, where people who have common characteristics can meet and share ideas in cyberspace. This category of people who use the Internet is therefore wide, and cuts across age, status and nationality groups in society. While there is some danger for people in that they could meet sexual predators or con artists in this way, the Internet still provides a major source for many people of the need to socialize with others. A second category of reasons for Internet surfing is due to the amount of information that can be found on the World Wide Web. From students at schools and universities, to professional people and businesspeople, many people use the Internet to find the information that they need to do what they need to do. Very credible sources of academic knowledge are available on the Internet and more and more universities and schools are advising students to do research in this way. While some sources are not well-substantiated, many academic journals, the best magazines and newspapers, encyclopedias, and textbooks can all be sourced on the Internet. This method of research definitely saves time, and makes it possible for people to keep up to date with knowledge in their fields, complete academic courses and even find out how to repair their cars! Although not strictly Internet surfing, it is even possible for people to publish their research and writing on the World Wide Web. This group of reasons for surfing the Internet is not restricted to age at all. While students are often younger people, it is also true that people completing studies later in their lives or furthering their qualifications are active in doing research on the Internet. Something as simple as finding a house to buy, and researching suburbs and prices can be done; something as complicated as finding the results of the latest medical research can also be possible through this medium. It may even be that surfing for this reason is just to increase general knowledge or to find new areas of interest. In summary, the Internet is an exceptional source from which to find information about just about everything. There are also people across all age, social and economic groups who surf the Internet to pass the time and be entertained – a third important reason for this activity. The Internet stores an incredible amount of music, film, writing and video and many people may surf in order to access these elements. Free video sites such as You Tube are very popular on the Net and music sites, weblogs (blogs), photography sites, e-book sites and writers’ sites draw a great deal of attention. A surfer could spend hours just reading other people’s writing or looking at the pictures someone has posted on sites such as Flickr, for example. One popular reason among younger people for this kind of Internet surfing is the entertainment news websites, providing gossip and up-to-date news on celebrities. Older people view newspaper and news sites, and everyone listens to music on the Net. New films are often previewed, music released, and new books published. Of course, the market for X-rated Internet surfing also exists but will not be examined in detail in this essay. For younger people, perhaps the most important form of entertainment on the Internet is gaming. People find the newest games; play online alone, or with other gamers; and form communities of game players. Competitions are held worldwide and people compete for days in a new game in cyberspace. To sum up this reason: any Internet surfer could be entertained 24-hours a day with what is available out there. A fourth category of reasons for Internet surfing can be defined as work-related. This category could intersect with the category relating to research, since people may have to be completing research in a field in order to complete their own work. For this the Internet could be very useful. Further than this, businesses can check on and assess their competition on the Internet, by surfing international companies’ websites in their industries. This could lead to change and development in their own companies. Current marketing techniques, new advertising techniques, and new products can all be discovered while surfing online. In some companies, people are even employed full-time to assess available marketing on the Internet, and to adapt their companies’ Internet profiles according to that. Websites are assessed to see which company has the most pulling power, and where Internet surfers are most likely to go online, so that a company can attract that potential market, and beat the competition. Surfing can in fact be a full-time job if someone is looking out for specific things on the Net. The final category of reasons for surfing the Internet defined in this essay is when people go online to trade. If someone wants to sell a car, a piece of furniture, their writing or music, their films, or just about anything, the Internet provides numerous sites to help them sell. Sites like e-Bay are very popular both for people looking to sell items and for people who are surfing to find something to purchase. There are, of course, many more “classified” – type websites, and people surf these just to see where they can sell what they have or but what they want. Many if not most of the major retailers have websites on which they sell their goods. From the convenience of buying books online, for delivery to the door, to shopping for daily supplies, the Internet provides a significant marketplace. The reasoning is that the convenience of shopping from home, combined with the possibility of discovering bargains, and the excitement of finding new products not always available in stores means that Internet surfing occurs every day among millions of people. While they may not buy anything, they are still online looking. Surfing to see the latest clothing trends or new cars must occupy many people. Even just surfing to look at the homes available in someone’s own neighborhood could be the motivation for being online. One of the major leisure-time activities nowadays is Internet surfing. For many reasons people find it has become part of their lives to go online often and regularly, just to surf and see what is out there. This essay has categorized these reasons into the five general areas above and proposes that these categories cover the reasons for this phenomenon in an order of importance suggested by the writer. It is certain that the phenomenon of Internet surfing is here to stay, and that the reasons for surfing will continue to be a topic of interest for many. References Finn, R. (2009) “Intent Index” from a press release June 29, 2009, available at www.emarketer.com accessed February 16, 2012 Read More