The Pros
Interactions With Loved Ones
We all remember the times when one of our loved ones was leaving our homes to go someplace far away and we hated the fact that we would not be interacting with them for a long time, if ever. There was no way for us to check up on them and vice versa. Thanks to the internet, we do not have to face that situation ever again. In fact, getting in touch with our loved ones is just a button away as many internet-based apps like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp allow you to get in touch with your friends and family instantly. The best part is that these kinds of apps are free. Compare that to the heavy amounts of phone fees you had to pay at PCOs, especially when calling loved ones in another country, and you are sure to be grateful for the internet.
Interactions With Professionals
Thanks to the internet, businesses and even entire economies of nations were saved from going bankrupt. This is because when offices were closed due to the fact that people did not want to be within six feet distance from one another, the internet made remote work or the newly popularized term work from home possible.
Make Money
You can also make money out of the internet by starting your own business. This could be an Etsy business. All you need to do is come up with a product and formulate a website. Besides Etsy businesses, people can make money out of collaborating with one another over the internet as well. Just look at the number of people doing music collaborations over the internet! Another way to make money out of the internet is by tutoring students. While the tutoring market was previously just people in your city, now you can tutor anyone in the world!
Learn New Things
There’s a reason why websites like Khan Academy are so popular. It is because many people from all parts of the world think of the internet as a platform to learn new things. Besides Khan Academy, a lot of kids also use YouTube to learn more stuff related to school and otherwise. This usage happened at a much bigger scale during the coronavirus pandemic when schools were shut down.
Entertainment
Parents in all continents rely on the usage of the internet to calm their hyper kids down. No matter it is a Coco Melon video or a new upbeat song, kids tend to have at least one thing that they really like and would sit down and watch. Needless to say, kids aren’t the only beneficiaries of the global network when it comes to entertainment. People from other age brackets can also use the network of networks to watch their favorite movie or the preferred episode of their best-loved television show. Alternatively, many gamers use the internet to play their favorite online games. For all we know, if the internet wasn’t there, people would kill themselves out of boredom!
Cons
Excessive Social Media Usage
If there was one thing that we, as human beings, should really be caring about, it is the impact social media is having on us. As of now, there are approximately four and a half billion users of social media all over the world. The time that the average user spends on social media is more than two hours. Putting things into perspective, that number is almost half of the free time you have in a day, taking out ten hours for work-related stuff and eight hours for sleep. This is the reason why many intellectuals on the face of this Earth have been cautioning us about excessive usage. The hours we spend on social media are taking the time we used to spend interacting with friends and family in person away from us. This takes a toll on our mental health. Alongside, we do not get time to play sports. This has an adverse effect on our physical health.
Porn
Another big reason why the internet is looked at with a skeptical eye is the widespread usage of pornography, especially amongst the youth of today. Even though many porn sites are mandated not to allow any person underage to visit them, a lot of people under the age of eighteen do end up getting exposed to pornography. Fortunately, internet service providers do allow you to restrict access to porn for your children. Xfinity, just as an example, allows subscribers of Xfinity internet to impose parent control restrictions to stop their kids from watching porn.
Wrapping Up
We are optimistic that this article will help you get a better sense of the advantages and disadvantages of the internet.
