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Essay on Importance of Internet: Samples for Students

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  • Updated on  
  • Jun 20, 2024

essay on importance of internet

Internet is not just a need or luxury, it has become a household necessity. It was used as a source of entertainment but now it is impossible to work in offices or study without the Internet. When the global pandemic locked everyone in their house, it became an important medium to connect, study and work. Students were able to study without the risk of catching COVID-19 because of the Internet. The importance of the internet is also a common topic in various entrance exams such as SAT , TOEFL , and UPSC . In this blog, you will learn how to write an essay on the importance of the Internet.

This Blog Includes:

Tips to write the perfect essay on internet, sample 1 of essay on the importance of the internet (100 words), sample essay 2 – importance of the internet (150 words), sample essay 3 on use of internet for student (300 words).

internet in media essay

Also Read: Essay on Yoga Day

Also Read: Speech on Yoga Day

Now the task of essay writing may not always be easy, hence candidates must always know a few tips to write the perfect essay. Mentioned below are a few tips for writing the correct essay:

  • Prepare a basic outline to make sure there is continuity and relevance and no break in the structure of the essay
  • Follow a given structure. Begin with an introduction then move on to the body which should be detailed and encapsulate the essence of the topic and finally the conclusion for readers to be able to comprehend the essay in a certain manner
  • Students can also try to include solutions in their conclusion to make the essay insightful and lucrative to read.

Also Read: UPSC Essay Topics

The last few years have witnessed heavy reliance on the Internet. This has been because of multiple advantages that it has to offer – for instance, reducing work stress and changing the face of communication most importantly. If we take the current scenario, we cannot ignore how important the Internet is in our everyday lives. It is now indeed a challenging task to visualize a world without the internet. One may define the internet as a large library composed of stuff like – records, pictures, websites, and pieces of information. Another sector in which the internet has an undeniably important role to play is the field of communication. Without access to the internet, the ability to share thoughts and ideas across the globe would have also been just a dream. 

Also Read: IELTS Essay Topics

With the significant progress in technology, the importance of the internet has only multiplied with time. The dependence on the internet has been because of multiple advantages that it has to offer – for instance, reducing work stress and changing the face of communication most importantly. By employing the correct usage of the internet, we can find various information about the world. The internet hosts Wikipedia, which is considered to be one of the largest best-composed reference books kept up by a vast community of volunteer scholars and editors from all over the world. Through the internet, one may get answers to all their curiosity.

In the education sector too, it plays a major role, especially taking into consideration the pandemic. The Internet during the pandemic provided an easy alternative to replace the traditional education system and offers additional resources for studying, students can take their classes in the comforts of their homes. Through the internet, they can also browse for classes – lectures at no extra cost. The presence of the Internet is slowly replacing the use of traditional newspapers. It offers various recreational advantages as well. It can be correctly said that the internet plays a great role in the enhancement of quality of life.

Also Read: TOEFL Sample Essays

One may correctly define the 21st century as the age of science and technology. However, this has been possible not only by the efforts of the current generation but also by the previous generation. The result of one such advancement in the field of science and technology is the Internet. What is the Internet? So the internet can be called a connected group of networks that enable electronic communication. It is considered to be the world’s largest communication connecting millions of users.

The dependence on the internet has been because of multiple advantages that it has to offer – for instance, reducing work stress and changing the face of communication most importantly. Given the current scenario, the Internet has become a massive part of our daily lives, and it is now a challenging task to imagine the world without the Internet. The importance of the Internet in the field of communication definitely cannot be ignored.

Without access to the internet, the ability to share thoughts and ideas across the globe would have been just a dream. Today we can talk to people all over the globe only because of services like email, messenger, etc that are heavily reliant on the internet. Without the internet, it would be hard to imagine how large the world would be. The advent of the internet has made the task of building global friendships very easy.

The youth is mainly attracted by entertainment services. Streaming platforms like Amazon , Netflix, and YouTube have also gained immense popularity among internet users over the past few years. The presence of the Internet is slowly replacing the use of traditional newspapers among people too. 

In addition to these, it has various recreational advantages to offer as well. For instance, people can search for fun videos to watch and play games online with friends and other people all over the globe. Hence, we can say the internet holds immense importance in today’s era. Internet technology has indeed changed the dynamics of how we communicate, respond or entertain ourselves. Its importance in everyday life is never-ending. It can be correctly said that the internet plays a great role in the enhancement of quality of life. In the future too, we will see further changes in technology .

Also Read: SAT to Drop Optional Essays and Subject Tests from the Exam

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The internet provides us with facts and data, as well as information and knowledge, to aid in our personal, social, and economic development. The internet has various applications; nevertheless, how we utilize it in our daily lives is determined by our particular needs and ambitions.

Here are five uses of the internet: email; sharing of files; watching movies and listening to songs; research purposes; and education.

The Internet has also altered our interactions with our families, friends, and life partners. Everyone is now connected to everyone else in a more simplified, accessible, and immediate manner; we can conduct part of our personal relationships using our laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

This was all about an essay on importance of Internet. The skill of writing an essay comes in handy when appearing for standardized language tests. Thinking of taking one soon? Leverage Live provides the best online test prep for the same. Register today to know more!

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Nikita Puri

Nikita is a creative writer and editor, who is always ready to learn new skills. She has great knowledge about study abroad universities, researching and writing blogs about them. Being a perfectionist, she has a habit of keeping her tasks complete on time before the OCD hits her. When Nikita is not busy working, you can find her eating while binge-watching The office. Also, she breathes music. She has done her bachelor's from Delhi University and her master's from Jamia Millia Islamia.

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The Impact of the Internet on Society: A Global Perspective

  • Manuel Castells archive page

Provided by BBVA

The Internet is the decisive technology of the Information Age, and with the explosion of wireless communication in the early twenty-first century, we can say that humankind is now almost entirely connected, albeit with great levels of inequality in bandwidth, efficiency, and price.

People, companies, and institutions feel the depth of this technological change, but the speed and scope of the transformation has triggered all manner of utopian and dystopian perceptions that, when examined closely through methodologically rigorous empirical research, turn out not to be accurate. For instance, media often report that intense use of the Internet increases the risk of isolation, alienation, and withdrawal from society, but available evidence shows that the Internet neither isolates people nor reduces their sociability; it actually increases sociability, civic engagement, and the intensity of family and friendship relationships, in all cultures.

Our current “network society” is a product of the digital revolution and some major sociocultural changes. One of these is the rise of the “Me-centered society,” marked by an increased focus on individual growth and a decline in community understood in terms of space, work, family, and ascription in general. But individuation does not mean isolation, or the end of community. Instead, social relationships are being reconstructed on the basis of individual interests, values, and projects. Community is formed through individuals’ quests for like-minded people in a process that combines online interaction with offline interaction, cyberspace, and the local space.

View other articles provided by BBVA OpenMind:

• the way of the dodo.

• A Revolution in Business • Banking, Information, and Technology: Toward Knowledge Banking • Cyber Attacks

Globally, time spent on social networking sites surpassed time spent on e-mail in November 2007, and the number of social networking users surpassed the number of e-mail users in July 2009. Today, social networking sites are the preferred platforms for all kinds of activities, both business and personal, and sociability has dramatically increased — but it is a different kind of sociability. Most Facebook users visit the site daily, and they connect on multiple dimensions, but only on the dimensions they choose. The virtual life is becoming more social than the physical life, but it is less a virtual reality than a real virtuality, facilitating real-life work and urban living.

internet in media essay

Because people are increasingly at ease in the Web’s multidimensionality, marketers, government, and civil society are migrating massively to the networks people construct by themselves and for themselves. At root, social-networking entrepreneurs are really selling spaces in which people can freely and autonomously construct their lives. Sites that attempt to impede free communication are soon abandoned by many users in favor of friendlier and less restricted spaces.

Perhaps the most telling expression of this new freedom is the Internet’s transformation of sociopolitical practices. Messages no longer flow solely from the few to the many, with little interactivity. Now, messages also flow from the many to the many, multimodally and interactively. By disintermediating government and corporate control of communication, horizontal communication networks have created a new landscape of social and political change.

Networked social movements have been particularly active since 2010, notably in the Arab revolutions against dictatorships and the protests against the management of the financial crisis. Online and particularly wireless communication has helped social movements pose more of a challenge to state power.

The Internet and the Web constitute the technological infrastructure of the global network society, and the understanding of their logic is a key field of research. It is only scholarly research that will enable us to cut through the myths surrounding this digital communication technology that is already a second skin for young people, yet continues to feed the fears and the fantasies of those who are still in charge of a society that they barely understand.

Read the full article here.

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1.3 The Evolution of Media

Learning objectives.

  • Identify four roles the media performs in our society.
  • Recognize events that affected the adoption of mass media.
  • Explain how different technological transitions have shaped media industries.

In 2010, Americans could turn on their television and find 24-hour news channels as well as music videos, nature documentaries, and reality shows about everything from hoarders to fashion models. That’s not to mention movies available on demand from cable providers or television and video available online for streaming or downloading. Half of U.S. households receive a daily newspaper, and the average person holds 1.9 magazine subscriptions (State of the Media, 2004) (Bilton, 2007). A University of California, San Diego study claimed that U.S. households consumed a total of approximately 3.6 zettabytes of information in 2008—the digital equivalent of a 7-foot high stack of books covering the entire United States—a 350 percent increase since 1980 (Ramsey, 2009). Americans are exposed to media in taxicabs and buses, in classrooms and doctors’ offices, on highways, and in airplanes. We can begin to orient ourselves in the information cloud through parsing what roles the media fills in society, examining its history in society, and looking at the way technological innovations have helped bring us to where we are today.

What Does Media Do for Us?

Media fulfills several basic roles in our society. One obvious role is entertainment. Media can act as a springboard for our imaginations, a source of fantasy, and an outlet for escapism. In the 19th century, Victorian readers disillusioned by the grimness of the Industrial Revolution found themselves drawn into fantastic worlds of fairies and other fictitious beings. In the first decade of the 21st century, American television viewers could peek in on a conflicted Texas high school football team in Friday Night Lights ; the violence-plagued drug trade in Baltimore in The Wire ; a 1960s-Manhattan ad agency in Mad Men ; or the last surviving band of humans in a distant, miserable future in Battlestar Galactica . Through bringing us stories of all kinds, media has the power to take us away from ourselves.

Media can also provide information and education. Information can come in many forms, and it may sometimes be difficult to separate from entertainment. Today, newspapers and news-oriented television and radio programs make available stories from across the globe, allowing readers or viewers in London to access voices and videos from Baghdad, Tokyo, or Buenos Aires. Books and magazines provide a more in-depth look at a wide range of subjects. The free online encyclopedia Wikipedia has articles on topics from presidential nicknames to child prodigies to tongue twisters in various languages. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has posted free lecture notes, exams, and audio and video recordings of classes on its OpenCourseWare website, allowing anyone with an Internet connection access to world-class professors.

Another useful aspect of media is its ability to act as a public forum for the discussion of important issues. In newspapers or other periodicals, letters to the editor allow readers to respond to journalists or to voice their opinions on the issues of the day. These letters were an important part of U.S. newspapers even when the nation was a British colony, and they have served as a means of public discourse ever since. The Internet is a fundamentally democratic medium that allows everyone who can get online the ability to express their opinions through, for example, blogging or podcasting—though whether anyone will hear is another question.

Similarly, media can be used to monitor government, business, and other institutions. Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle exposed the miserable conditions in the turn-of-the-century meatpacking industry; and in the early 1970s, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered evidence of the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover-up, which eventually led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. But purveyors of mass media may be beholden to particular agendas because of political slant, advertising funds, or ideological bias, thus constraining their ability to act as a watchdog. The following are some of these agendas:

  • Entertaining and providing an outlet for the imagination
  • Educating and informing
  • Serving as a public forum for the discussion of important issues
  • Acting as a watchdog for government, business, and other institutions

It’s important to remember, though, that not all media are created equal. While some forms of mass communication are better suited to entertainment, others make more sense as a venue for spreading information. In terms of print media, books are durable and able to contain lots of information, but are relatively slow and expensive to produce; in contrast, newspapers are comparatively cheaper and quicker to create, making them a better medium for the quick turnover of daily news. Television provides vastly more visual information than radio and is more dynamic than a static printed page; it can also be used to broadcast live events to a nationwide audience, as in the annual State of the Union address given by the U.S. president. However, it is also a one-way medium—that is, it allows for very little direct person-to-person communication. In contrast, the Internet encourages public discussion of issues and allows nearly everyone who wants a voice to have one. However, the Internet is also largely unmoderated. Users may have to wade through thousands of inane comments or misinformed amateur opinions to find quality information.

The 1960s media theorist Marshall McLuhan took these ideas one step further, famously coining the phrase “ the medium is the message (McLuhan, 1964).” By this, McLuhan meant that every medium delivers information in a different way and that content is fundamentally shaped by the medium of transmission. For example, although television news has the advantage of offering video and live coverage, making a story come alive more vividly, it is also a faster-paced medium. That means more stories get covered in less depth. A story told on television will probably be flashier, less in-depth, and with less context than the same story covered in a monthly magazine; therefore, people who get the majority of their news from television may have a particular view of the world shaped not by the content of what they watch but its medium . Or, as computer scientist Alan Kay put it, “Each medium has a special way of representing ideas that emphasize particular ways of thinking and de-emphasize others (Kay, 1994).” Kay was writing in 1994, when the Internet was just transitioning from an academic research network to an open public system. A decade and a half later, with the Internet firmly ensconced in our daily lives, McLuhan’s intellectual descendants are the media analysts who claim that the Internet is making us better at associative thinking, or more democratic, or shallower. But McLuhan’s claims don’t leave much space for individual autonomy or resistance. In an essay about television’s effects on contemporary fiction, writer David Foster Wallace scoffed at the “reactionaries who regard TV as some malignancy visited on an innocent populace, sapping IQs and compromising SAT scores while we all sit there on ever fatter bottoms with little mesmerized spirals revolving in our eyes…. Treating television as evil is just as reductive and silly as treating it like a toaster with pictures (Wallace, 1997).” Nonetheless, media messages and technologies affect us in countless ways, some of which probably won’t be sorted out until long in the future.

A Brief History of Mass Media and Culture

Until Johannes Gutenberg’s 15th-century invention of the movable type printing press, books were painstakingly handwritten and no two copies were exactly the same. The printing press made the mass production of print media possible. Not only was it much cheaper to produce written material, but new transportation technologies also made it easier for texts to reach a wide audience. It’s hard to overstate the importance of Gutenberg’s invention, which helped usher in massive cultural movements like the European Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation. In 1810, another German printer, Friedrich Koenig, pushed media production even further when he essentially hooked the steam engine up to a printing press, enabling the industrialization of printed media. In 1800, a hand-operated printing press could produce about 480 pages per hour; Koenig’s machine more than doubled this rate. (By the 1930s, many printing presses could publish 3,000 pages an hour.)

This increased efficiency went hand in hand with the rise of the daily newspaper. The newspaper was the perfect medium for the increasingly urbanized Americans of the 19th century, who could no longer get their local news merely through gossip and word of mouth. These Americans were living in unfamiliar territory, and newspapers and other media helped them negotiate the rapidly changing world. The Industrial Revolution meant that some people had more leisure time and more money, and media helped them figure out how to spend both. Media theorist Benedict Anderson has argued that newspapers also helped forge a sense of national identity by treating readers across the country as part of one unified community (Anderson, 1991).

In the 1830s, the major daily newspapers faced a new threat from the rise of penny papers, which were low-priced broadsheets that served as a cheaper, more sensational daily news source. They favored news of murder and adventure over the dry political news of the day. While newspapers catered to a wealthier, more educated audience, the penny press attempted to reach a wide swath of readers through cheap prices and entertaining (often scandalous) stories. The penny press can be seen as the forerunner to today’s gossip-hungry tabloids.

1.3.0

The penny press appealed to readers’ desires for lurid tales of murder and scandal.

Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

In the early decades of the 20th century, the first major nonprint form of mass media—radio—exploded in popularity. Radios, which were less expensive than telephones and widely available by the 1920s, had the unprecedented ability of allowing huge numbers of people to listen to the same event at the same time. In 1924, Calvin Coolidge’s preelection speech reached more than 20 million people. Radio was a boon for advertisers, who now had access to a large and captive audience. An early advertising consultant claimed that the early days of radio were “a glorious opportunity for the advertising man to spread his sales propaganda” because of “a countless audience, sympathetic, pleasure seeking, enthusiastic, curious, interested, approachable in the privacy of their homes (Briggs & Burke, 2005).” The reach of radio also meant that the medium was able to downplay regional differences and encourage a unified sense of the American lifestyle—a lifestyle that was increasingly driven and defined by consumer purchases. “Americans in the 1920s were the first to wear ready-made, exact-size clothing…to play electric phonographs, to use electric vacuum cleaners, to listen to commercial radio broadcasts, and to drink fresh orange juice year round (Mintz, 2007).” This boom in consumerism put its stamp on the 1920s and also helped contribute to the Great Depression of the 1930s (Library of Congress). The consumerist impulse drove production to unprecedented levels, but when the Depression began and consumer demand dropped dramatically, the surplus of production helped further deepen the economic crisis, as more goods were being produced than could be sold.

The post–World War II era in the United States was marked by prosperity, and by the introduction of a seductive new form of mass communication: television. In 1946, about 17,000 televisions existed in the United States; within 7 years, two-thirds of American households owned at least one set. As the United States’ gross national product (GNP) doubled in the 1950s, and again in the 1960s, the American home became firmly ensconced as a consumer unit; along with a television, the typical U.S. household owned a car and a house in the suburbs, all of which contributed to the nation’s thriving consumer-based economy (Briggs & Burke, 2005). Broadcast television was the dominant form of mass media, and the three major networks controlled more than 90 percent of the news programs, live events, and sitcoms viewed by Americans. Some social critics argued that television was fostering a homogenous, conformist culture by reinforcing ideas about what “normal” American life looked like. But television also contributed to the counterculture of the 1960s. The Vietnam War was the nation’s first televised military conflict, and nightly images of war footage and war protesters helped intensify the nation’s internal conflicts.

Broadcast technology, including radio and television, had such a hold on the American imagination that newspapers and other print media found themselves having to adapt to the new media landscape. Print media was more durable and easily archived, and it allowed users more flexibility in terms of time—once a person had purchased a magazine, he or she could read it whenever and wherever. Broadcast media, in contrast, usually aired programs on a fixed schedule, which allowed it to both provide a sense of immediacy and fleetingness. Until the advent of digital video recorders in the late 1990s, it was impossible to pause and rewind a live television broadcast.

The media world faced drastic changes once again in the 1980s and 1990s with the spread of cable television. During the early decades of television, viewers had a limited number of channels to choose from—one reason for the charges of homogeneity. In 1975, the three major networks accounted for 93 percent of all television viewing. By 2004, however, this share had dropped to 28.4 percent of total viewing, thanks to the spread of cable television. Cable providers allowed viewers a wide menu of choices, including channels specifically tailored to people who wanted to watch only golf, classic films, sermons, or videos of sharks. Still, until the mid-1990s, television was dominated by the three large networks. The Telecommunications Act of 1996, an attempt to foster competition by deregulating the industry, actually resulted in many mergers and buyouts that left most of the control of the broadcast spectrum in the hands of a few large corporations. In 2003, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) loosened regulation even further, allowing a single company to own 45 percent of a single market (up from 25 percent in 1982).

Technological Transitions Shape Media Industries

New media technologies both spring from and cause social changes. For this reason, it can be difficult to neatly sort the evolution of media into clear causes and effects. Did radio fuel the consumerist boom of the 1920s, or did the radio become wildly popular because it appealed to a society that was already exploring consumerist tendencies? Probably a little bit of both. Technological innovations such as the steam engine, electricity, wireless communication, and the Internet have all had lasting and significant effects on American culture. As media historians Asa Briggs and Peter Burke note, every crucial invention came with “a change in historical perspectives.” Electricity altered the way people thought about time because work and play were no longer dependent on the daily rhythms of sunrise and sunset; wireless communication collapsed distance; the Internet revolutionized the way we store and retrieve information.

image

The transatlantic telegraph cable made nearly instantaneous communication between the United States and Europe possible for the first time in 1858.

Amber Case – 1858 trans-Atlantic telegraph cable route – CC BY-NC 2.0.

The contemporary media age can trace its origins back to the electrical telegraph, patented in the United States by Samuel Morse in 1837. Thanks to the telegraph, communication was no longer linked to the physical transportation of messages; it didn’t matter whether a message needed to travel 5 or 500 miles. Suddenly, information from distant places was nearly as accessible as local news, as telegraph lines began to stretch across the globe, making their own kind of World Wide Web. In this way, the telegraph acted as the precursor to much of the technology that followed, including the telephone, radio, television, and Internet. When the first transatlantic cable was laid in 1858, allowing nearly instantaneous communication from the United States to Europe, the London Times described it as “the greatest discovery since that of Columbus, a vast enlargement…given to the sphere of human activity.”

Not long afterward, wireless communication (which eventually led to the development of radio, television, and other broadcast media) emerged as an extension of telegraph technology. Although many 19th-century inventors, including Nikola Tesla, were involved in early wireless experiments, it was Italian-born Guglielmo Marconi who is recognized as the developer of the first practical wireless radio system. Many people were fascinated by this new invention. Early radio was used for military communication, but soon the technology entered the home. The burgeoning interest in radio inspired hundreds of applications for broadcasting licenses from newspapers and other news outlets, retail stores, schools, and even cities. In the 1920s, large media networks—including the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS)—were launched, and they soon began to dominate the airwaves. In 1926, they owned 6.4 percent of U.S. broadcasting stations; by 1931, that number had risen to 30 percent.

1.3 collage 0

Gone With the Wind defeated The Wizard of Oz to become the first color film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1939.

Wikimedia Commons – public domain; Wikimedia Commons – public domain.

In addition to the breakthroughs in audio broadcasting, inventors in the 1800s made significant advances in visual media. The 19th-century development of photographic technologies would lead to the later innovations of cinema and television. As with wireless technology, several inventors independently created a form of photography at the same time, among them the French inventors Joseph Niépce and Louis Daguerre and the British scientist William Henry Fox Talbot. In the United States, George Eastman developed the Kodak camera in 1888, anticipating that Americans would welcome an inexpensive, easy-to-use camera into their homes as they had with the radio and telephone. Moving pictures were first seen around the turn of the century, with the first U.S. projection-hall opening in Pittsburgh in 1905. By the 1920s, Hollywood had already created its first stars, most notably Charlie Chaplin; by the end of the 1930s, Americans were watching color films with full sound, including Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz .

Television—which consists of an image being converted to electrical impulses, transmitted through wires or radio waves, and then reconverted into images—existed before World War II, but gained mainstream popularity in the 1950s. In 1947, there were 178,000 television sets made in the United States; 5 years later, 15 million were made. Radio, cinema, and live theater declined because the new medium allowed viewers to be entertained with sound and moving pictures in their homes. In the United States, competing commercial stations (including the radio powerhouses of CBS and NBC) meant that commercial-driven programming dominated. In Great Britain, the government managed broadcasting through the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Funding was driven by licensing fees instead of advertisements. In contrast to the U.S. system, the BBC strictly regulated the length and character of commercials that could be aired. However, U.S. television (and its increasingly powerful networks) still dominated. By the beginning of 1955, there were around 36 million television sets in the United States, but only 4.8 million in all of Europe. Important national events, broadcast live for the first time, were an impetus for consumers to buy sets so they could witness the spectacle; both England and Japan saw a boom in sales before important royal weddings in the 1950s.

1.3.3

In the 1960s, the concept of a useful portable computer was still a dream; huge mainframes were required to run a basic operating system.

In 1969, management consultant Peter Drucker predicted that the next major technological innovation would be an electronic appliance that would revolutionize the way people lived just as thoroughly as Thomas Edison’s light bulb had. This appliance would sell for less than a television set and be “capable of being plugged in wherever there is electricity and giving immediate access to all the information needed for school work from first grade through college.” Although Drucker may have underestimated the cost of this hypothetical machine, he was prescient about the effect these machines—personal computers—and the Internet would have on education, social relationships, and the culture at large. The inventions of random access memory (RAM) chips and microprocessors in the 1970s were important steps to the Internet age. As Briggs and Burke note, these advances meant that “hundreds of thousands of components could be carried on a microprocessor.” The reduction of many different kinds of content to digitally stored information meant that “print, film, recording, radio and television and all forms of telecommunications [were] now being thought of increasingly as part of one complex.” This process, also known as convergence, is a force that’s affecting media today.

Key Takeaways

Media fulfills several roles in society, including the following:

  • entertaining and providing an outlet for the imagination,
  • educating and informing,
  • serving as a public forum for the discussion of important issues, and
  • acting as a watchdog for government, business, and other institutions.
  • Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press enabled the mass production of media, which was then industrialized by Friedrich Koenig in the early 1800s. These innovations led to the daily newspaper, which united the urbanized, industrialized populations of the 19th century.
  • In the 20th century, radio allowed advertisers to reach a mass audience and helped spur the consumerism of the 1920s—and the Great Depression of the 1930s. After World War II, television boomed in the United States and abroad, though its concentration in the hands of three major networks led to accusations of homogenization. The spread of cable and subsequent deregulation in the 1980s and 1990s led to more channels, but not necessarily to more diverse ownership.
  • Transitions from one technology to another have greatly affected the media industry, although it is difficult to say whether technology caused a cultural shift or resulted from it. The ability to make technology small and affordable enough to fit into the home is an important aspect of the popularization of new technologies.

Choose two different types of mass communication—radio shows, television broadcasts, Internet sites, newspaper advertisements, and so on—from two different kinds of media. Make a list of what role(s) each one fills, keeping in mind that much of what we see, hear, or read in the mass media has more than one aspect. Then, answer the following questions. Each response should be a minimum of one paragraph.

  • To which of the four roles media plays in society do your selections correspond? Why did the creators of these particular messages present them in these particular ways and in these particular mediums?
  • What events have shaped the adoption of the two kinds of media you selected?
  • How have technological transitions shaped the industries involved in the two kinds of media you have selected?

Anderson, Benedict Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism , (London: Verso, 1991).

Bilton, Jim. “The Loyalty Challenge: How Magazine Subscriptions Work,” In Circulation , January/February 2007.

Briggs and Burke, Social History of the Media .

Briggs, Asa and Peter Burke, A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet (Malden, MA: Polity Press, 2005).

Kay, Alan. “The Infobahn Is Not the Answer,” Wired , May 1994.

Library of Congress, “Radio: A Consumer Product and a Producer of Consumption,” Coolidge-Consumerism Collection, http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/ammem/amrlhtml/inradio.html .

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man , (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964).

Mintz, Steven “The Jazz Age: The American 1920s: The Formation of Modern American Mass Culture,” Digital History , 2007, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?hhid=454 .

Ramsey, Doug. “UC San Diego Experts Calculate How Much Information Americans Consume” UC San Diego News Center, December 9, 2009, http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/general/12-09Information.asp .

State of the Media, project for Excellence in Journalism, The State of the News Media 2004 , http://www.stateofthemedia.org/2004/ .

Wallace, David Foster “E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction,” in A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again (New York: Little Brown, 1997).

Understanding Media and Culture Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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On the Internet, We’re Always Famous

A person with very large and furry ears looking at their phone while abstract shapes surrounds them.

The fennec fox is the smallest fox on earth and cute as a button. It has mischievous dark eyes, a small black nose, and impish six-inch ears—each several times larger than its head. The fennec is native to the Sahara, where its comically oversized auricles play two key roles: they keep the fox cool in the baking sun (blood runs through the ears, releases heat, and circulates back through the body, now cooler), and they give the fox astoundingly good hearing, allowing it to pick up the comings and goings of the insects and reptiles it hunts for food.

The children’s section of the Bronx Zoo features a human-sized pair of fennec-fox ears that give an approximation of the fox’s hearing. Generations of New Yorkers have pictures of themselves with their chins resting on a bar between the two enormous, sculptural ears, taking in the sounds around them. I first encountered the ears as a kid, in the eighties. In my memory, inhabiting the fox’s hearing is disquieting. The exhibit is not in the middle of the Sahara on a moonlit night. The soundscape is not deathly quiet, dusted by the echoes of a lizard whooshing through the sand. The effect is instant sensory overload. You suddenly hear everything at once—snippets of conversation, shrieks, footsteps—all of it too much and too loud.

Imagine, for a moment, you find yourself equipped with fennec-fox-level hearing at a work function or a cocktail party. It’s hard to focus amid the cacophony, but with some effort you can eavesdrop on each and every conversation. At first you are thrilled, because it is thrilling to peer into the private world of another person. Anyone who has ever snuck a peek at a diary or spent a day in the archives sifting through personal papers knows that. Humans, as a rule, crave getting up in people’s business.

But something starts to happen. First, you hear something slightly titillating, a bit of gossip you didn’t know. A couple has separated, someone says. “They’ve been keeping it secret. But now Angie’s dating Charles’s ex!” Then you hear something wildly wrong. “The F.D.A. hasn’t approved it, but also there’s a whole thing with fertility. I read about a woman who had a miscarriage the day after the shot.” And then something offensive, and you feel a desire to speak up and offer a correction or objection before remembering that they have no idea you’re listening. They’re not talking to you.

Then, inevitably, you hear someone say something about you. Someone thinks it’s weird that you’re always five minutes late for the staff meeting, or wonders if you’re working on that new project that Brian started doing on the side, or what the deal is with that half-dollar-sized spot of gray hair on the back of your head. Injury? Some kind of condition?

Suddenly—and I speak from a certain kind of experience on this, so stay with me—the thrill curdles. If you overhear something nice about you, you feel a brief warm glow, but anything else will ball your stomach into knots. The knowledge is taboo; the power to hear, permanently cursed.

It would be better at this point to get rid of the fennec ears. Normal human socializing is impossible with them. But even if you leave the room, you can’t unhear what you’ve heard.

This is what the Internet has become.

It seems distant now, but once upon a time the Internet was going to save us from the menace of TV. Since the late fifties, TV has had a special role, both as the country’s dominant medium, in audience and influence, and as a bête noire for a certain strain of American intellectuals, who view it as the root of all evil. In “ Amusing Ourselves to Death ,” from 1985, Neil Postman argues that, for its first hundred and fifty years, the U.S. was a culture of readers and writers, and that the print medium—in the form of pamphlets, broadsheets, newspapers, and written speeches and sermons—structured not only public discourse but also modes of thought and the institutions of democracy itself. According to Postman, TV destroyed all that, replacing our written culture with a culture of images that was, in a very literal sense, meaningless. “Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other,” he writes. “They do not exchange ideas; they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions; they argue with good looks, celebrities and commercials.”

This revulsion against the tyranny of TV seemed particularly acute in the early years of the George W. Bush Administration. In 2007, George Saunders wrote an essay about the bleating idiocy of American mass media in the era after 9/11 and the run-up to the Iraq War. In it, he offers a thought experiment that has stuck with me. Imagine, he says, being at a party, with the normal give and take of conversation between generally genial, informed people. And then “a guy walks in with a megaphone. He’s not the smartest person at the party, or the most experienced, or the most articulate. But he’s got that megaphone.”

The man begins to offer his opinions and soon creates his own conversational gravity: everyone is reacting to whatever he’s saying. This, Saunders contends, quickly ruins the party. And if you have a particularly empty-minded Megaphone Guy, you get a discourse that’s not just stupid but that makes everyone in the room stupider as well:

Let’s say he hasn’t carefully considered the things he’s saying. He’s basically just blurting things out. And even with the megaphone, he has to shout a little to be heard, which limits the complexity of what he can say. Because he feels he has to be entertaining, he jumps from topic to topic, favoring the conceptual-general (“We’re eating more cheese cubes—and loving it!”), the anxiety- or controversy-provoking (“Wine running out due to shadowy conspiracy?”), the gossipy (“Quickie rumored in south bathroom!”), and the trivial (“Which quadrant of the party room do YOU prefer?”).

Yes, he wrote that in 2007, and yes, the degree to which it anticipates the brain-goring stupidity of Donald Trump ’s pronouncements is uncanny. Trump is the brain-dead megaphone made real: the dumbest, most obnoxious guy in the entire room given the biggest platform. And our national experiment with putting a D-level cable-news pundit in charge of the nuclear arsenal went about as horribly as Saunders might have predicted.

But Saunders’s critique runs deeper than the insidious triviality and loudness of major TV news, both before and after 9/11. He’s making the case that forms of discourse actually shape our conceptual architecture, that the sophistication of our thinking is determined to a large degree by the sophistication of the language we hear used to describe our world.

This is, of course, not a new contention: the idea that dumb media make us all dumber echoes from the very first critiques of newspapers, pamphlets, and the tabloid press in America, in the late eighteenth century, to the 1961 speech by then Federal Communications Commission Chair Newt Minow, in which he told the National Broadcasters of America that, basically, their product sucked and that TV amounted to a “ vast wasteland .”

I thought, and many of us thought, that the Internet was going to solve this problem. The rise of the liberal blogs, during the run-up to Barack Obama’s election, brought us the headiest days of Internet Discourse Triumphalism. We were going to remake the world through radically democratized global conversations.

That’s not what happened. To oversimplify, here’s where we ended up. The Internet really did bring new voices into a national discourse that, for too long, had been controlled by far too narrow a group. But it did not return our democratic culture and modes of thinking to pre-TV logocentrism. The brief renaissance of long blog arguments was short-lived (and, honestly, it was a bit insufferable while it was happening). The writing got shorter and the images and video more plentiful until the Internet birthed a new form of discourse that was a combination of word and image: meme culture. A meme can be clever, even revelatory, but it is not discourse in the mode that Postman pined for.

As for the guy with the megaphone prattling on about the cheese cubes? Well, rather than take that one dumb guy’s megaphone away, we added a bunch of megaphones to the party. And guess what: that didn’t much improve things! Everyone had to shout to be heard, and the conversation morphed into a game of telephone, of everyone shouting variations of the same snippets of language, phrases, slogans—an endless, aural hall of mirrors. The effect is so disorienting that after a long period of scrolling through social media you’re likely to feel a profound sense of vertigo.

Not only that: the people screaming the loudest still get the most attention, partly because they stand out against the backdrop of a pendulating wall of sound that is now the room tone of our collective mental lives. Suffice it to say: the end result was not really a better party, nor the conversation of equals that many of us had hoped for.

Which, I think, brings us back to the fox ears.

The most radical change to our shared social lives isn’t who gets to speak, it’s what we can hear. True, everyone has access to their own little megaphone, and there is endless debate about whether that’s good or bad, but the vast majority of people aren’t reaching a huge audience. And yet at any single moment just about anyone with a smartphone has the ability to surveil millions of people across the globe.

The ability to surveil was, for years, almost exclusively the province of governments. In the legal tradition of the U.S., it was seen as an awesome power, one that was subject to constraints, such as warrants and due process (though often those constraints were more honored in the breach). And not only that, freedom from ubiquitous surveillance, we were taught in the West, was a defining feature of Free Society. In totalitarian states, someone or something was always listening, and the weight of that bore down on every moment of one’s life, suffocating the soul.

Well, guess what? We have now all been granted a power once reserved for totalitarian governments. A not particularly industrious fourteen-year-old can learn more about a person in a shorter amount of time than a team of K.G.B. agents could have done sixty years ago. The teen could see who you know, where you’ve been, which TV shows you like and don’t like; the gossip that you pass along and your political opinions and bad jokes and feuds; your pets’ names, your cousins’ faces, and your crushes and their favorite haunts. With a bit more work, that teen could get your home address and your current employer. But it’s the ability to access the texture of everyday life that makes this power so awesome. It’s possible to get inside the head of just about anyone who has a presence on the social Web, because chances are they are broadcasting their emotional states in real time to the entire world.

So total is the public presence of our private lives that even those whose jobs depend on total privacy cannot escape its reach. The open-source intelligence outfit Bellingcat has used this fact to track down a wide array of global malefactors, including the two Russian agents who appear to have poisoned a Russian defector in the U.K., Sergei Skripal, with a nerve agent, in 2018. Bellingcat was able to identify both men through data it purchased on the gray market, obtaining their aliases and photos of each. But the breakthrough came when it was discovered that one suspect had attended the wedding of the daughter of their G.R.U. unit’s commander. In a video—posted on Instagram, of course—the commander walks his daughter down the aisle on a lovely dock, to the sounds of a bossa nova cover of “Every Breath You Take.”

The young couple didn’t just post clips of their wedding (which was gorgeous, by the way) to Instagram. They also uploaded a highly stylized video, set to upbeat music, that shows them in bathrobes getting ready for the ceremony as well as the big moments of the wedding itself. To establish the suspect’s attendance at the ceremony, Bellingcat scanned other posted snapshots of the wedding and compared them with images in the video. Sure enough, the identity of the man in question, Anatoliy Chepiga, matched that of the alias he’d used to travel to the U.K. for the attempted murder.

Bellingcat published its findings, and, presumably, a whole host of Russian military and intelligence officials—maybe all the way up the chain to Vladimir Putin—realized that the utterly innocuous social media posts of a happy young couple had tripped off the identification of someone indicted for attempted murder and wanted by the British authorities.

This is an extreme example of a common phenomenon. Someone happens upon a social-media artifact of a person with a tiny number of followers and sends it shooting like a firework into the Internet, where it very briefly burns white-hot in infamy. There are some who find the sudden attention thrilling and addictive: this will be their first taste of a peculiar experience they then crave and chase. And there are others, like our newlyweds, who very much do not want the attention. They belatedly try to delete the post or make it “private,” but by then it’s too late for privacy. A message they intended for friends and family, people they have relationships with, ended up in the hands of strangers, people who don’t know them at all.

Never before in history have so many people been under the gaze of so many strangers. Humans evolved in small groups, defined by kinship: those we knew, knew us. And our imaginative capabilities allowed us to know strangers—kings and queens, heroes of legend, gods above—all manner of at least partly mythic personalities to whom we may have felt as intimately close to as kin. For the vast majority of our species’ history, those were the two principal categories of human relations: kin and gods. Those we know who know us, grounded in mutual social interaction, and those we know who don’t know us, grounded in our imaginative powers.

But now consider a third category: people we don’t know and who somehow know us . They pop up in mentions, comments, and replies; on subreddits, message boards, or dating apps. Most times, it doesn’t even seem noteworthy: you look down at your phone and there’s a notification that someone you don’t know has liked a post. You might feel a little squirt of endorphin in the brain, an extremely faint sense of achievement. Yet each instance of it represents something new as a common human experience, for their attention renders us tiny gods. The Era of Mass Fame is upon us.

If we define fame as being known to many people one doesn’t know, then it is an experience as old as human civilization. Stretching back to the first written epic, Gilgamesh (whose protagonist was, in fact, an actual king), history, particularly as it is traditionally taught, is composed almost entirely of the exploits of the famous: Nefertiti, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Muhammad, and Joan of Arc.

But as the critic Leo Braudy notes, in his 1987 study, “The Frenzy of Renown,” “As each new medium of fame appears, the human image it conveys is intensified and the number of individuals celebrated expands.” Industrial technology—newspapers and telegraphs, followed by radio, film, and TV—created an ever-larger category of people who might be known by millions the world over: politicians, film stars, singers, authors. This category was orders of magnitude larger than it had been in the pre-industrial age, but still a nearly infinitesimal portion of the population at large.

All that has changed in the past decade. In the same way that electricity went from a luxury enjoyed by the American élite to something just about everyone had, so, too, has fame, or at least being known by strangers, gone from a novelty to a core human experience. The Western intellectual tradition spent millennia maintaining a conceptual boundary between public and private—embedding it in law and politics, norms and etiquette, theorizing and reinscribing it. With the help of a few tech firms, we basically tore it down in about a decade.

That’s not to say the experience of being known, paid attention to, commented on by strangers, is in any sense universal. It’s still foreign to most people, online and off. But now the possibility of it haunts online life, which increasingly is just life. The previous limiting conditions on what’s private and what’s public, on who can know you, have been lifted. In the case of our young Russian lovebirds, one might safely assume that, until Bellingcat started snooping around their wedding videos, they had been spared the experience of the sudden burst of Internet fame. But, like them, just about everyone is always dancing at the edge of that cliff, oblivious or not.

This has been entirely internalized by the generation who’ve come of age with social media. A clever TikTok video can end up with forty million views. With the possibility of this level of exposure so proximate, it’s not surprising that poll after poll over the past decade indicates that fame is increasingly a prime objective of people twenty-five and younger. Fame itself, in the older, more enduring sense of the term, is still elusive, but the possibility of a brush with it functions as a kind of pyramid scheme.

This, perhaps, is the most obviously pernicious part of the expansion of celebrity: ever since there have been famous people, there have been people driven mad by fame. In the modern era, it’s a cliché: the rock star, comedian, or starlet who succumbs to addiction, alienation, depression, and self-destruction under the glare of the spotlight. Being known by strangers, and, even more dangerously, seeking their approval, is an existential trap. And right now, the condition of contemporary life is to shepherd entire generations into this spiritual quicksand.

As I’ve tried to answer the question of why we seek out the likes and replies and approval of strangers, and why this so often drives both ordinary and celebrated people toward breakdowns, I’ve found myself returning to the work of a Russian émigré philosopher named Alexandre Kojève, whose writing I first encountered as an undergraduate. In 1933, Kojève took over the teaching of a seminar on Hegel at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, in Paris. Though Kojève would live his life in relative obscurity, ultimately becoming a civil servant in the French trade ministry and helping to construct the architecture for a common Europe, his seminar on Hegel’s “Phenomenology of Spirit” was almost certainly the most influential philosophy class of the twentieth century. A Who’s Who of Continental thinkers, from Sartre to Lacan, passed through, and Kojève’s grand intellectual synthesis would deeply influence their work.

In his lectures, Kojève takes up Hegel’s famous meditation on the master-slave relationship, recasting it in terms of what Kojève sees as the fundamental human drive: the desire for recognition—to be seen, in other words, as human by other humans. “Man can appear on earth only within a herd,” Kojve writes. “That is why the human reality can only be social.”

Understanding the centrality of the desire for recognition is quite helpful in understanding the power and ubiquity of social media. We have developed a technology that can create a synthetic version of our most fundamental desire. Why did the Russian couple post those wedding photos? Why do any of us post anything? Because we want other humans to see us, to recognize us.

But We Who Post are trapped in the same paradox that Kojève identifies in Hegel’s treatment of the Master and Slave. The Master desires recognition from the Slave, but because he does not recognize the Slave’s humanity, he cannot actually have it. “And this is what is insufficient—what is tragic—in his situation,” Kojève writes. “For he can be satisfied only by recognition from one whom he recognizes as worthy of recognizing him.”

I’ve found that this simple formulation unlocks a lot about our current situation. It articulates the paradox of what we might call not the Master and the Slave but, rather, the Star and the Fan. The Star seeks recognition from the Fan, but the Fan is a stranger, who cannot be known by the Star. Because the Star cannot recognize the Fan, the Fan’s recognition of the Star doesn’t satisfy the core existential desire. There is no way to bridge the inherent asymmetry of the relationship, short of actual friendship and correspondence, but that, of course, cannot be undertaken at the same scale. And so the Star seeks recognition and gets, instead, attention.

The Star and the Fan are prototypes, and the Internet allows us to be both in different contexts. In fact this is the core, transformative innovation of social media, the ability to be both at once. You can interact with strangers, not just view them from afar, and they can interact with you. Those of us who have a degree of fame have experienced the lack of mutuality in these relationships quite acutely: the strangeness of encountering a person who knows you, who sees you, whom you cannot see in the same way.

We are conditioned to care about kin, to take life’s meaning from the relationships with those we know and love. But the psychological experience of fame, like a virus invading a cell, takes all of the mechanisms for human relations and puts them to work seeking more fame. In fact, this fundamental paradox—the pursuit through fame of a thing that fame cannot provide—is more or less the story of Donald Trump’s life: wanting recognition, instead getting attention, and then becoming addicted to attention itself, because he can’t quite understand the difference, even though deep in his psyche there’s a howling vortex that fame can never fill.

This is why famous people as a rule are obsessed with what people say about them and stew and rage and rant about it. I can tell you that a thousand kind words from strangers will bounce off you, while a single harsh criticism will linger. And, if you pay attention, you’ll find all kinds of people—but particularly, quite often, famous people—having public fits on social media, at any time of the day or night. You might find Kevin Durant, one of the greatest basketball players on the planet, possibly in the history of the game—a multimillionaire who is better at the thing he does than almost any other person will ever be at anything—in the D.M.s of some twentysomething fan who’s talking trash about his free-agency decisions. Not just once—routinely! And he’s not the only one at all.

There’s no reason, really, for anyone to care about the inner turmoil of the famous. But I’ve come to believe that, in the Internet age, the psychologically destabilizing experience of fame is coming for everyone. Everyone is losing their minds online because the combination of mass fame and mass surveillance increasingly channels our most basic impulses—toward loving and being loved, caring for and being cared for, getting the people we know to laugh at our jokes—into the project of impressing strangers, a project that cannot, by definition, sate our desires but feels close enough to real human connection that we cannot but pursue it in ever more compulsive ways.

So here we are, our chins pressed into the metal holster between the fennec-fox ears, the constant flitting words and images of strangers entering our sensory system, offering our poor desiring beings an endless temptation—a power we should not have and that cannot make us whole.

An earlier version of this article misspelled Newt Minow’s name and incorrectly described the substance involved in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal.

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Internet Journalism: The Impact of New Media Essay

  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment

The impact of the Internet on journalism is a highly debated topic. This paper examines how the Internet has transformed the field of journalism, both positively and negatively. What are the challenges journalists and news organizations face in the digital age? And what are the potential solutions to address these issues? You’ll discover the answers to these questions and learn why it is essential to reevaluate the role of journalism in the Internet age.

Introduction

Background of journalism, impacts of the internet on journalism, reference list.

“The biggest challenge facing news-media firms today is the changing means of distribution of news through the news media platforms of the Internet and telephony, which deliver news…at a greater pace in more accessible formats and when consumers demand them” Freer (2007 p. 101).

Freer’s words reveal that indeed the internet has an impact journalism based on the way it has swayed people from accessing news through newspapers and or televisions. The entry of the internet has proven a hard nut to crack in terms of maintaining the traditional journalists’ practices.

Today, most of the audiences do not spend their time reading newspapers, watching television, or listening to the radio, as it was the case for the whole of the last century. To the younger generations, the use of social media has changed their perspective on newspapers. Today, people can access information via a variety of news channels. For instance, with the new media platform, which s the internet, one can access several media platforms at the same time through zapping.

The varieties of internet-enabled information gathering and dissemination tools were not in existence until late 2000. For example, blog, RSS feeds, Gmail, podcasts, YouTube, Twitter, HD, Wi-Fi, iPods, Androids’, e-books, and Google news have been born recently with a capacity to bring revolution in the world of journalism. As newspaper readership declines, the use of social media increases. The audience is consuming megabytes of information, which is being steadily supplied by the news media.

According to Bird (2009, p.293), consumers have had an excellent opportunity to access news quickly via their cell phones and or computers. Therefore, with this hint in mind, the paper reveals how the entry of the internet has had significant impacts on journalism. However, it will start by giving a brief background of journalism and a highlight of its link with the internet.

Journalism is an exercise conducted by trained people in the field of collecting information in print, audio, or visual format with a plan to transfer it to people as a way of keeping them up-to-date. Journalists have relied on traditional media since the discovery of the printing press in the 1850s. According to Schudson (2003), people relied on the newspapers and their operations for nearly a century. However, with the coming of the internet Web 2.0, there came web based communities.

Many journalists and people have also learnt how to use such web applications to source for news. The audience has also gained a greater freedom of information access via social networking sites, use of wikis, use of video networking, and through blogs. As such, journalists have had to change from their traditional styles of gathering, packaging, and distributing news to modern internet-based journalism.

In fact, the social media poses the greatest challenge on today’s journalism. According to Deuze (2007), the challenge posed by social media on journalism may be a permanent one. Consumers are tended towards consuming what they want, where, and when they want. The internet has totally changed the face of journalism. The internet has advanced electronic journalism changing it from an information transformation career to information processing one (Schudon, 1995).

Internet journalism has resulted to various impacts. It has altered the function and nature of the media, enabled citizens to contribute to media content, disseminate information, counter news via virtual network, and to participate directly in news production. In fact, Jarvis (2006) refers the internet-based media as networked journalism.

The first impact that the internet on journalism is that it has changed the functions and nature of journalism. This impact has been realized through elimination of the role of gatekeepers. Citizens can now access unfiltered information via the internet.

This case implies that, although the gatekeepers may edit certain information to fit their house rules, eliminate libel, or make it fit a certain space, the audience has other channels of accessing information. This argument means that the internet has opened more spaces for the audience. The era when the gatekeeper would edit contents for the audience has been eliminated by the internet. The internet has entirely changed the nature of journalism in the world today.

Today, journalists from across the world can exchange news information in real time. The internet has promoted information exchange across the globe. Live transmissions that stream via YouTube and Skype form other avenues that journalists have always exploited. The quality and variety of news items have also increased with greater information exchange via the internet. Journalists are also able to control the standards of their work through live comparison with other international media.

The second impact of the internet on journalism is that it has changed journalism from information diffusion to today’s’ information processing function (Schudson, 1995). The internet, which is the most recent media, has changed journalism just as other media platforms changed it.

The internet is unique in that it enhances interactivity and contact with other media. This uniqueness has resulted in significant revolution in journalism and its culture. With the internet, audience and the sources take almost equal roles in the process of information production.

The past era when the media would shoot ideas into the audience’s mind has been overtaken by time. In the past, a journalist with a notebook or a camera was likened to a monkey holding a loaded gun and hence the former magic bullet role of the media. However, according to Bruns (2005), with the wide adoption of the internet, journalists are t compared with gate watchers meaning that their role has been reduced from the active gatekeepers to dormant gate watchers.

They have no ability to limit information flow: they are now watchers or better still witnesses. Journalists and citizens are now information exchangers since both rely on each other for information. Every citizen can communicate his or her opinions about certain news stories via the internet. In the same way, the audience participates in the process of information processing, which was former destined for journalists.

Schudson (1995) affirms that the major relevancy of journalism in this era has been sectored on its ability to professionally process information. With the current information overload from the internet, the quality of such information cannot be trusted. Today, people can upload pictures and news stories that are slanted toward achieving certain ends. To protect themselves from information exploitation, the audiences have to continue counterchecking such information from trusted journalists.

The third impact of the internet on journalism is that audiences have gained the authority to choose the information they want to consume. Bruns (2005) asserts that the internet has broken the information boundaries that existed over the years.

The information world is no longer limited by the geographical space. One can share news from a far continent in real time via the internet. The audiences can also choose what to listen to or watch via the internet, for example, through YouTube. They can also choose when to watch or listen to it through the process of zapping.

The internet has enabled journalists to reach out to their audience 24 hours a day. This accessibility also enables the audiences to give their feedback and or contribute to media content at any time in any day thus allowing free flow of information. Journalism has also benefitted from the impact of the internet. Callers can now e-mail or twit certain corrections of erroneous reports before they are widely disseminated.

For instance, if there is an error of the number of victims to certain accidents, the eyewitness audience can instantly communicate to newsrooms for correction thus playing the role that was initially meant for a journalist before the internet era. The audience can also use the internet to end the correct background sounds, pictures, and images. The audience has the ability to capture still pictures, motion pictures, sounds, and events and transmit them to newsrooms with a click of a button.

The internet has also promoted the currency of information offered to the public. Journalists use the internet to update information constantly. The use of digital broadcasting via the internet enables people to receive constant news update at the comfort of their offices, bedrooms, and even sports thus implying that one does not have to always carry a radio or a television set everywhere he or she goes. People can also receive filtered news information whenever they want it.

Bird (2009) affirms that, through the internet-enabled cell phones, audiences can search the internet for relevant news information. The internet has enabled a continuous flow of information in either dimension: from the sender to the receiver and vice versa. As many outstanding newsrooms turn towards politics, the internet has enabled the audience to access raw information before it is edited to fit certain angles.

This means that the policies and preferences of certain media houses have been interfered with by the entry of the internet. Some journalists and media houses that were turning to the extreme leftist or rightist have now been slowed down. The traditional bureaucracy that controlled the process of news production to favor certain segments has been invalidated.

The internet has totally changed the one-way communication that came with analog journalism. Every day, people are exposed to new technological devices that improve on speed, frequency, and quality and quantity of information that they receive. Through the internet, journalists can now compress large chunks of information into small folders in an attempt to transfer them miles away. Deuze (2007) affirms that today’s audience is no longer passive but a key player in news processing and dissemination.

The fourth impact of internet on journalism is that it has enabled the audience to contribute directly on media content and counter news. With the advent of the internet in journalism, audiences can make active contributions to the content that the journalist airs. Since the internet is a speedy communication media, the audience can communicate to the journalist in real time.

This communication alerts the journalist on happenings in different points of the world. Journalists have also broadened their reach due to their adoption of the internet. Information that journalists relay via the television or radio is thereafter redistributed.

The news is uploaded on the social networks like facebook. From these sites, more audience especially the young generation can access it. This accessibility has resulted to more integrated and quality news. People who do not have time to watch the television during news hours can also access what was covered in their absence via the internet. The new media platform heavily relies on users and gratification theory.

According to this school of thought, the media will give the audiences what they want. The media content that journalists air depends on the taste and preferences of the audience. With the coming of the internet, the trend of information flow is the two-way rather than the traditional one-way. Media audience participates directly in live programs through twitter and YouTube. Most stations have also opened call-ins.

Unlike in the past when journalism was left to a few trained experts, armature journalists have come up with the internet age. Today, armature camera operators can record a live occurrence and send it via the internet to newsrooms. This strategy is another way that journalism has been enriched via the internet. One does not need to call a reporter to record an event. He or she just needs to record and send it via the internet.

Due to this impact of the internet, markets for media business have become fully disjointed. Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004) posit that, as the audience moves to other quicker and free media for information, advertisers have followed them there. This argument implies that a considerable portion of the audience that previously depended on the old media has moved to the internet.

Advertisers therefore have no choice but to follow them. The advertising markets today are using blogs and social network sites for their wares where their target markets are and hence the need for them to move with it. The internet has therefore resulted in radical changes especially in media houses that want to remain competitive in certain regions of the world.

Such media houses have to hire journalists that are familiar and competitive in online journalism business because media mainly drives its profits from advertising. According to Prahalad and Ramaswamy (2004), organizations are now focused on co-creation of products with their consumers. This focus has resulted to their overly use of the internet to source for the tastes and preferences of their customers.

Social network sites and blogs have taken over the role of the traditional media in this case. The internet has resulted in substantial changes in the communication industry. Information consumers can access any information they want at all times. One does not have to wait for one o’clock news to know what happened in another continent. News update internet channels are always on the lookout. However, the relevancy of journalists will remain.

In conclusion, the advent of the internet has thoroughly changed the face of journalism in the world today. Before the year 2000, most internet gadgets like iPods, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, and Google search were not actively used in journalism. With today’s digital age, journalists cannot operate without the internet. In fact, the internet has resulted in various impacts on journalism.

These impacts are, for example, change from information transmission to processing, change in the function and nature of journalism, giving the audiences authority to choose the media information they want to consume, and enabling the audience to contribute directly to media content. Journalists will remain crucial for purposes of professionally processing information since journalists’ approach to news is the only way that the audience can distinguish between quality news and junk information.

Bird, S. (2009). The future of journalism in the digital environment. Journalism, 10 (3), 293-295.

Deuze, M., Bruns, A., & Neuberger, C. (2007). Feedback mechanisms. Management Science, 49 (10), 1407-1424.

Freer, J. (2007). UK regional and local newspapers. In P. Anderson & c G. Wood (Eds.), The future of journalism in the advanced democracies. London: Ashgate.

Jarvis, J. (2006). Networked journalism . Web.

Prahalad, C., & Ramaswamy, V. (2004). Co-creation experiences: The new practice in value creation. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18 (3), 5-14.

Schudson, M., (2003). Sociology of news. New York: Norton.

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  • The Internet and the Pandemic

90% of Americans say the internet has been essential or important to them, many made video calls and 40% used technology in new ways. But while tech was a lifeline for some, others faced struggles

Table of contents.

  • 1. How the internet and technology shaped Americans’ personal experiences amid COVID-19
  • 2. Parents, their children and school during the pandemic
  • 3. Navigating technological challenges
  • 4. The role of technology in COVID-19 vaccine registration
  • Acknowledgments
  • Methodology

internet in media essay

Pew Research Center has a long history of studying technology adoption trends and the impact of digital technology on society. This report focuses on American adults’ experiences with and attitudes about their internet and technology use during the COVID-19 outbreak. For this analysis, we surveyed 4,623 U.S. adults from April 12-18, 2021. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the  ATP’s methodology .

Chapter 1 of this report includes responses to an open-ended question and the overall report includes a number of quotations to help illustrate themes and add nuance to the survey findings. Quotations may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity. The first three themes mentioned in each open-ended response, according to a researcher-developed codebook, were coded into categories for analysis. 

Here are the questions used for this report , along with responses, and its methodology .

Technology has been a lifeline for some during the coronavirus outbreak but some have struggled, too

The  coronavirus  has transformed many aspects of Americans’ lives. It  shut down  schools, businesses and workplaces and forced millions to  stay at home  for extended lengths of time. Public health authorities recommended  limits on social contact  to try to contain the spread of the virus, and these profoundly altered the way many worked, learned, connected with loved ones, carried out basic daily tasks, celebrated and mourned. For some, technology played a role in this transformation.  

Results from a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted April 12-18, 2021, reveal the extent to which people’s use of the internet has changed, their views about how helpful technology has been for them and the struggles some have faced. 

The vast majority of adults (90%) say the internet has been at least important to them personally during the pandemic, the survey finds. The share who say it has been  essential  – 58% – is up slightly from 53% in April 2020. There have also been upticks in the shares who say the internet has been essential in the past year among those with a bachelor’s degree or more formal education, adults under 30, and those 65 and older. 

A large majority of Americans (81%) also say they talked with others via video calls at some point since the pandemic’s onset. And for 40% of Americans, digital tools have taken on new relevance: They report they used technology or the internet in ways that were new or different to them. Some also sought upgrades to their service as the pandemic unfolded: 29% of broadband users did something to improve the speed, reliability or quality of their high-speed internet connection at home since the beginning of the outbreak.

Still, tech use has not been an unmitigated boon for everyone. “ Zoom fatigue ” was widely speculated to be a problem in the pandemic, and some Americans report related experiences in the new survey: 40% of those who have ever talked with others via video calls since the beginning of the pandemic say they have felt worn out or fatigued often or sometimes by the time they spend on them. Moreover,  changes in screen time  occurred for  Americans generally  and for  parents of young children . The survey finds that a third of all adults say they tried to cut back on time spent on their smartphone or the internet at some point during the pandemic. In addition, 72% of parents of children in grades K-12 say their kids are spending more time on screens compared with before the outbreak. 1

For many, digital interactions could only do so much as a stand-in for in-person communication. About two-thirds of Americans (68%) say the interactions they would have had in person, but instead had online or over the phone, have generally been useful – but not a replacement for in-person contact. Another 15% say these tools haven’t been of much use in their interactions. Still, 17% report that these digital interactions have been just as good as in-person contact.

About two-thirds say digital interactions have been useful, but not a replacement for in-person contact

Some types of technology have been more helpful than others for Americans. For example, 44% say text messages or group messaging apps have helped them a lot to stay connected with family and friends, 38% say the same about voice calls and 30% say this about video calls. Smaller shares say social media sites (20%) and email (19%) have helped them in this way.

The survey offers a snapshot of Americans’ lives just over one year into the pandemic as they reflected back on what had happened. It is important to note the findings were gathered in April 2021, just before  all U.S. adults became eligible for coronavirus vaccine s. At the time, some states were  beginning to loosen restrictions  on businesses and social encounters. This survey also was fielded before the delta variant  became prominent  in the United States,  raising concerns  about new and  evolving variants . 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the survey.

Americans’ tech experiences in the pandemic are linked to digital divides, tech readiness 

Some Americans’ experiences with technology haven’t been smooth or easy during the pandemic. The digital divides related to  internet use  and  affordability  were highlighted by the pandemic and also emerged in new ways as life moved online.

For all Americans relying on screens during the pandemic,  connection quality  has been important for school assignments, meetings and virtual social encounters alike. The new survey highlights difficulties for some: Roughly half of those who have a high-speed internet connection at home (48%) say they have problems with the speed, reliability or quality of their home connection often or sometimes. 2

Beyond that, affordability  remained a persistent concern  for a portion of digital tech users as the pandemic continued – about a quarter of home broadband users (26%) and smartphone owners (24%) said in the April 2021 survey that they worried a lot or some about paying their internet and cellphone bills over the next few months. 

From parents of children facing the “ homework gap ” to Americans struggling to  afford home internet , those with lower incomes have been particularly likely to struggle. At the same time, some of those with higher incomes have been affected as well.

60% of broadband users with lower incomes often or sometimes have connection problems, and 46% are worried at least some about paying for broadband

Affordability and connection problems have hit broadband users with lower incomes especially hard. Nearly half of broadband users with lower incomes, and about a quarter of those with midrange incomes, say that as of April they were at least somewhat worried about paying their internet bill over the next few months. 3 And home broadband users with lower incomes are roughly 20 points more likely to say they often or sometimes experience problems with their connection than those with relatively high incomes. Still, 55% of those with lower incomes say the internet has been essential to them personally in the pandemic.

At the same time, Americans’ levels of formal education are associated with their experiences turning to tech during the pandemic. 

Adults with a bachelor’s, advanced degree more likely than others to make daily video calls, use tech in new ways, consider internet essential amid COVID-19

Those with a bachelor’s or advanced degree are about twice as likely as those with a high school diploma or less formal education to have used tech in new or different ways during the pandemic. There is also roughly a 20 percentage point gap between these two groups in the shares who have made video calls about once a day or more often and who say these calls have helped at least a little to stay connected with family and friends. And 71% of those with a bachelor’s degree or more education say the internet has been essential, compared with 45% of those with a high school diploma or less.

More broadly, not all Americans believe they have key tech skills. In this survey, about a quarter of adults (26%) say they usually need someone else’s help to set up or show them how to use a new computer, smartphone or other electronic device. And one-in-ten report they have little to no confidence in their ability to use these types of devices to do the things they need to do online. This report refers to those who say they experience either or both of these issues as having “lower tech readiness.” Some 30% of adults fall in this category. (A full description of how this group was identified can be found in  Chapter 3. )

‘Tech readiness,’ which is tied to people’s confident and independent use of devices, varies by age

These struggles are particularly acute for older adults, some of whom have had to  learn new tech skills  over the course of the pandemic. Roughly two-thirds of adults 75 and older fall into the group having lower tech readiness – that is, they either have little or no confidence in their ability to use their devices, or generally need help setting up and learning how to use new devices. Some 54% of Americans ages 65 to 74 are also in this group. 

Americans with lower tech readiness have had different experiences with technology during the pandemic. While 82% of the Americans with lower tech readiness say the internet has been at least important to them personally during the pandemic, they are less likely than those with higher tech readiness to say the internet has been essential (39% vs. 66%). Some 21% of those with lower tech readiness say digital interactions haven’t been of much use in standing in for in-person contact, compared with 12% of those with higher tech readiness. 

46% of parents with lower incomes whose children faced school closures say their children had at least one problem related to the ‘homework gap’

As school moved online for many families, parents and their children experienced profound changes. Fully 93% of parents with K-12 children at home say these children had some online instruction during the pandemic. Among these parents, 62% report that online learning has gone very or somewhat well, and 70% say it has been very or somewhat easy for them to help their children use technology for online instruction.

Still, 30% of the parents whose children have had online instruction during the pandemic say it has been very or somewhat difficult for them to help their children use technology or the internet for this. 

Remote learning has been widespread during the pandemic, but children from lower-income households have been particularly likely to face ‘homework gap’

The survey also shows that children from households with lower incomes who faced school closures in the pandemic have been especially likely to encounter tech-related obstacles in completing their schoolwork – a phenomenon contributing to the “ homework gap .”

Overall, about a third (34%) of all parents whose children’s schools closed at some point say their children have encountered at least one of the tech-related issues we asked about amid COVID-19: having to do schoolwork on a cellphone, being unable to complete schoolwork because of lack of computer access at home, or having to use public Wi-Fi to finish schoolwork because there was no reliable connection at home. 

This share is higher among parents with lower incomes whose children’s schools closed. Nearly half (46%) say their children have faced at least one of these issues. Some with higher incomes were affected as well – about three-in-ten (31%) of these parents with midrange incomes say their children faced one or more of these issues, as do about one-in-five of these parents with higher household incomes.

More parents say their screen time rules have become less strict under pandemic than say they’ve become more strict

Prior Center work has documented this “ homework gap ” in other contexts – both  before the coronavirus outbreak  and  near the beginning of the pandemic . In April 2020, for example, parents with lower incomes were particularly likely to think their children would face these struggles amid the outbreak.

Besides issues related to remote schooling, other changes were afoot in families as the pandemic forced many families to shelter in place. For instance, parents’ estimates of their children’s screen time – and family rules around this – changed in some homes. About seven-in-ten parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade (72%) say their children were spending more time on screens as of the April survey compared with before the outbreak. Some 39% of parents with school-age children say they have become less strict about screen time rules during the outbreak. About one-in-five (18%) say they have become more strict, while 43% have kept screen time rules about the same. 

More adults now favor the idea that schools should provide digital technology to all students during the pandemic than did in April 2020

Americans’ tech struggles related to digital divides gained attention from policymakers and news organizations as the pandemic progressed.

On some policy issues, public attitudes changed over the course of the outbreak – for example, views on what K-12 schools should provide to students shifted. Some 49% now say K-12 schools have a responsibility to provide all students with laptop or tablet computers in order to help them complete their schoolwork during the pandemic, up 12 percentage points from a year ago.

Growing shares across political parties say K-12 schools should give all students computers amid COVID-19

The shares of those who say so have increased for both major political parties over the past year: This view shifted 15 points for Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP, and there was a 9-point increase for Democrats and Democratic leaners.

However, when it comes to views of policy solutions for internet access more generally, not much has changed. Some 37% of Americans say that the government has a responsibility to ensure all Americans have high-speed internet access during the outbreak, and the overall share is unchanged from April 2020 – the first time Americans were asked this specific question about the government’s pandemic responsibility to provide internet access. 4

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the government has this responsibility, and within the Republican Party, those with lower incomes are more likely to say this than their counterparts earning more money. 

Video calls and conferencing have been part of everyday life

Americans’ own words provide insight into exactly how their lives changed amid COVID-19. When asked to describe the new or different ways they had used technology, some Americans mention video calls and conferencing facilitating a variety of virtual interactions – including attending events like weddings, family holidays and funerals or transforming where and how they worked. 5 From family calls, shopping for groceries and placing takeout orders online to having telehealth visits with medical professionals or participating in online learning activities, some aspects of life have been virtually transformed: 

“I’ve gone from not even knowing remote programs like Zoom even existed, to using them nearly every day.” – Man, 54

“[I’ve been] h andling … deaths of family and friends remotely, attending and sharing classical music concerts and recitals with other professionals, viewing [my] own church services and Bible classes, shopping. … Basically, [the internet has been] a lifeline.”  – Woman, 69

“I … use Zoom for church youth activities. [I] use Zoom for meetings. I order groceries and takeout food online. We arranged for a ‘digital reception’ for my daughter’s wedding as well as live streaming the event.” – Woman, 44

Among those who have used video calls during the outbreak, 40% feel fatigued or worn out at least sometimes from time spent on these calls

When asked about video calls specifically, half of Americans report they have talked with others in this way at least once a week since the beginning of the outbreak; one-in-five have used these platforms daily. But how often people have experienced this type of digital connectedness varies by age. For example, about a quarter of adults ages 18 to 49 (27%) say they have connected with others on video calls about once a day or more often, compared with 16% of those 50 to 64 and just 7% of those 65 and older. 

Even as video technology became a part of life for users, many  accounts of burnout  surfaced and some speculated that “Zoom fatigue” was setting in as Americans grew weary of this type of screen time. The survey finds that some 40% of those who participated in video calls since the beginning of the pandemic – a third of all Americans – say they feel worn out or fatigued often or sometimes from the time they spend on video calls. About three-quarters of those who have been on these calls several times a day in the pandemic say this.

Fatigue is not limited to frequent users, however: For example, about a third (34%) of those who have made video calls about once a week say they feel worn out at least sometimes.

These are among the main findings from the survey. Other key results include:

Some Americans’ personal lives and social relationships have changed during the pandemic:  Some 36% of Americans say their own personal lives changed in a major way as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Another 47% say their personal lives changed, but only a little bit.   About half (52%) of those who say major change has occurred in their personal lives due to the pandemic also say they have used tech in new ways, compared with about four-in-ten (38%) of those whose personal lives changed a little bit and roughly one-in-five (19%) of those who say their personal lives stayed about the same.

Even as tech helped some to stay connected, a quarter of Americans say they feel less close to close family members now compared with before the pandemic, and about four-in-ten (38%) say the same about friends they know well. Roughly half (53%) say this about casual acquaintances.

The majority of those who tried to sign up for vaccine appointments in the first part of the year went online to do so:  Despite early problems with  vaccine rollout  and  online registration systems , in the April survey tech problems did  not  appear to be major struggles for most adults who had tried to sign up online for COVID-19 vaccines. The survey explored Americans’ experiences getting these vaccine appointments and reveals that in April 57% of adults had tried to sign themselves up and 25% had tried to sign someone else up. Fully 78% of those who tried to sign themselves up and 87% of those who tried to sign others up were online registrants. 

When it comes to difficulties with the online vaccine signup process, 29% of those who had tried to sign up online – 13% of all Americans – say it was very or somewhat difficult to sign themselves up for vaccines at that time. Among five reasons for this that the survey asked about, the most common  major  reason was lack of available appointments, rather than tech-related problems. Adults 65 and older who tried to sign themselves up for the vaccine online were the most likely age group to experience at least some difficulty when they tried to get a vaccine appointment.

Tech struggles and usefulness alike vary by race and ethnicity.  Americans’ experiences also have varied across racial and ethnic groups. For example, Black Americans are more likely than White or Hispanic adults to meet the criteria for having “lower tech readiness.” 6 Among broadband users, Black and Hispanic adults were also more likely than White adults to be worried about paying their bills for their high-speed internet access at home as of April, though the share of Hispanic Americans who say this declined sharply since April 2020. And a majority of Black and Hispanic broadband users say they at least sometimes have experienced problems with their internet connection. 

Still, Black adults and Hispanic adults are more likely than White adults to say various technologies – text messages, voice calls, video calls, social media sites and email – have helped them a lot to stay connected with family and friends amid the pandemic.

Tech has helped some adults under 30 to connect with friends, but tech fatigue also set in for some.  Only about one-in-five adults ages 18 to 29 say they feel closer to friends they know well compared with before the pandemic. This share is twice as high as that among adults 50 and older. Adults under 30 are also more likely than any other age group to say social media sites have helped a lot in staying connected with family and friends (30% say so), and about four-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 say this about video calls. 

Screen time affected some negatively, however. About six-in-ten adults under 30 (57%) who have ever made video calls in the pandemic say they at least sometimes feel worn out or fatigued from spending time on video calls, and about half (49%) of young adults say they have tried to cut back on time spent on the internet or their smartphone.

  • Throughout this report, “parents” refers to those who said they were the parent or guardian of any children who were enrolled in elementary, middle or high school and who lived in their household at the time of the survey. ↩
  • People with a high-speed internet connection at home also are referred to as “home broadband users” or “broadband users” throughout this report. ↩
  • Family incomes are based on 2019 earnings and adjusted for differences in purchasing power by geographic region and for household sizes. Middle income is defined here as two-thirds to double the median annual family income for all panelists on the American Trends Panel. Lower income falls below that range; upper income falls above it. ↩
  • A separate  Center study  also fielded in April 2021 asked Americans what the government is responsible for on a number of topics, but did not mention the coronavirus outbreak. Some 43% of Americans said in that survey that the federal government has a responsibility to provide high-speed internet for all Americans. This was a significant increase from 2019, the last time the Center had asked that more general question, when 28% said the same. ↩
  • Quotations in this report may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity. ↩
  • There were not enough Asian American respondents in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout this report. ↩

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Influence of the Internet on Media

The rise of technology has resulted in strong changes in the media landscape. There are now many new and innovative ways to share information and resources. With the advent of social media, people can now access information more easily than ever (Mann et al., 2016). However, some older media models are becoming less relevant, and traditional journalism practices are being replaced. The mainstream media has been affected by the new frameworks that have been created to access electronic news. Content is now being broadcast across multiple platforms using a new approach. This essay will look into how the technological disruptions in media have resulted in changes in how information is accessed and shared, as well as explore the impact of Social media on consumers, with a particular focus on how it can be used to influence their decisions.

In discussing the influence of the internet on media development, there is a need to learn how media, culture, and technology intersect and influence one another. I will firstly provide a brief overview of the three concepts and their relationship to one another (Steinfeld & Lissitsa, 2021). I will then discuss how each of these concepts has been transformed by the advent of new technologies and how they continue to influence and shape one another in the contemporary age. Media, culture, and technology are all interrelated concepts that have a profound impact on one another. Media refers to the various means of communication, such as television, radio, newspapers, and the internet. Culture is the shared system of beliefs, values, and behaviours that define a group of people.

Technology refers to the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes and includes both tools and techniques. The relationship between media, culture, and technology is complex and dynamic (Viberg & Grönlund, 2015). Media shapes culture by influencing how people think, feel, and behave. Culture, in turn, shapes media by shaping the content that is produced and consumed. Technology also shapes both media and culture by enabling the production and consumption of media content and shaping the way people interact with media and culture. The relationship between media, culture, and technology is constantly evolving, as new technologies emerge and new media forms are developed.

The advent of new technologies has transformed the way in which media, culture, and technology intersect and influence one another. For example, the internet has had a profound impact on all three of these concepts (Bernhard et al., 2015). It has transformed the way in which information is disseminated and consumed, and has created new opportunities for cultural expression. It has also changed the way in which people interact with media and culture, and has made it possible for people to connect in new and different ways. The relationship between media, culture, and technology will continue to evolve in the future as new technologies and media forms emerge. How these concepts intersect and influence one another will also change as this happens.

The internet has drastically changed the way people communicate with each other. It has also had a significant impact on the way Media is consumed. The internet has allowed for a more globalized world, where people from all corners can communicate and share information (Steinfeld & Lissitsa, 2021). This has led to a more open and interconnected world, where people are more aware of what is happening in other parts. The internet has also allowed for a more democratic media landscape, where people can choose what they want to consume and where they want to consume it. This has led to a more fragmented media landscape, where people are exposed to a wider range of viewpoints.

Consequently, the internet has been the most disruptive force in media in the past 20 years. It has allowed for the creation of new forms of media, such as social media and online video platforms. It has also allowed for the democratization of media, as anyone with an internet connection can now be a creator and publisher of content (Mann et al., 2016). The internet has also had a major impact on traditional media, such as print and television. The rise of digital media has led to a decline in print media as readers have migrated to online platforms.

In addition, the popularity of streaming services has led to a decline in television viewership, as people are increasingly watching shows and movies on their computers or mobile devices. The internet has also profoundly impacted the business side of media (Viberg & Grönlund, 2015). The rise of digital media has led to a decline in advertising revenue for traditional media outlets as advertisers have shifted their spending to online platforms. And the popularity of online media has led to the rise of new media companies, such as BuzzFeed and Vice, built around digital content.

The internet has also influenced businesses, which we can illustrate by looking at the potential strong consumer changes. How social media affects consumers has been a topic of great debate and concern for businesses, policymakers and individuals for many years (Bernhard et al., 2015). The concern largely surrounds how social media can be used to manipulate or interfere with the decisions that consumers make. It is important to note that social media’s impact on consumers is not always negative. Social media can also educate and inform consumers about products and services and provide a platform for them to share their experiences.

However, the potential to use social media to manipulate or interfere with consumers’ decisions is of most concern. There are several ways in which social media can be used to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. The most direct way is through advertising. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter provide businesses with a direct way to reach consumers with their marketing messages (Mann et al., 2016). This can be an effective way to promote products and services, but it can also be used to manipulate or interfere with consumers’ decisions. Another way in which social media can be used to influence consumers is through the use of endorsements and recommendations. If a friend or family member recommends a product or service on social media, it is likely to have a significant impact on consumers’ decisions. This is because we tend to trust the recommendations of people we know and respect.

Finally, social media can also create a sense of urgency or scarcity around a product or service. Businesses often offer time-limited deals or exclusive access to products and services (Steinfeld & Lissitsa, 2021). This can be an effective way to encourage consumers to purchase, but it can also be used to manipulate or interfere with their decisions. The impact of Social Media on consumers is a complex and multi-faceted issue. Social media can be used to influence consumers in several different ways. However, it is important to remember that not all of these impacts are necessarily negative. Social media can also educate and inform consumers about products and services and provide a platform for them to share their experiences.

The influence of the internet can also be studied through events like the 2016 US Presidential Election to grasp more on its changes in media development in national campaigns. In the 2016 US Presidential Election, social media played a significant role in communicating messages and engaging voters (Bernhard et al., 2015). Candidates, their campaigns, and outside groups extensively used social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to reach voters. Candidates and campaigns use social media to communicate messages, attack opponents, and mobilize supporters. Outside groups used social media to influence the election by spreading messages and organizing voters.

Social media had a profound impact on the 2016 US Presidential Election. It allowed candidates and campaigns to reach voters directly without the need for traditional media outlets (Viberg & Grönlund, 2015). It also allowed outside groups to influence the election without spending large amounts on advertising. Finally, social media allowed for a more rapid and effective exchange of information between candidates, their campaigns, and the voters.

The rise of social media has had a profound impact on the way political campaigns are run. In the past, campaigns relied heavily on traditional media outlets, such as television, radio, and print, to reach potential voters (Bernhard et al., 2015). While these outlets are still important, social media has allowed for a more rapid and effective exchange of information between candidates, their campaigns, and the voters. Social media has given campaigns a direct way to communicate with potential voters. In the past, campaigns would have to rely on the news media to reach voters, which could be a hit-or-miss proposition. Social media campaigns can target specific voters and ensure their message is being seen.

Additionally, social media has allowed campaigns to get their message out more quickly and cheaply than traditional media. In the past, it could take days or even weeks for a campaign message to reach voters through traditional channels. With social media, the same message can be sent out instantly to a wide audience (Mann et al., 2016). Finally, social media has made it easier for campaigns to solicit feedback from potential voters. In the past, campaigns would have to wait for surveys or polls to gauge public opinion. With social media, campaigns can get instant feedback on their message and adjust accordingly. Overall, social media has had a profound impact on the way political campaigns are conducted. By allowing for a more rapid and effective exchange of information, social media has made it easier for campaigns to reach and engage with potential voters.

In the past, mainstream media used a one-way communication style in which information was broadcasted to the masses. However, the new network innovation has spurred a shift to a two-way communication style (Steinfeld & Lissitsa, 2021). In this method, media organizations broadcast information and receive viewers’ feedback. This feedback helps to improve the quality of the content and make it more relevant to viewers. The new network innovation has also changed how information is distributed.

Moreover, the new network innovation has made it possible to distribute information through electronic media, such as the Internet and television. This change has enabled media organizations to reach a larger audience (Mann et al., 2016). Nonetheless, the new network innovation has positively impacted mainstream media. It has changed how information is distributed and has made it possible for media organizations to reach a larger audience. With the new technology, media organizations can release their content more controlled way. For example, they can release episodes of a show one at a time or release a new episode every week. This allows people to consume the content in a way that is more convenient for them and allows the media organization to build up hype for their show.

As technology advances, outdoor advertising new media under the Internet environment has become a new favourite of advertisers. Compared with traditional outdoor media, outdoor advertising new media has the advantages of interactivity, rich content, wide coverage and high precision, which can provide users with more accurate and timely information and greatly improve communication efficiency (Bernhard et al., 2015). With the rapid development of the Internet, outdoor advertising new media is gradually entering people’s field of vision, and its application is becoming more extensive.

Nowadays, with the development of the Internet, people are more willing to spend time online than go outside. Outdoor advertising, one of the most common and important forms of marketing, is also influenced by this change in people’s behaviour (Mann et al., 2016). It is generally agreed that outdoor advertising has become increasingly popular. The growth of outdoor advertising is mainly due to two reasons. Firstly, traditional media such as television and newspaper are losing popularity because people have more choices and control over what they want to watch and read.

Secondly, outdoor advertising is more flexible and intimate than other forms of marketing, which can better meet the needs of consumers. However, the popularity of outdoor advertising does not mean that it is not without problems (Steinfeld & Lissitsa, 2021). One of the most serious problems is that outdoor advertising is easy to be ignored by consumers. This is because people are bombarded with so many commercial messages daily that they become immune to most of them. As a result, outdoor advertising has to be more creative and eye-catching to attract people’s

Lastly, outdoor advertising is one of the most effective and widely used marketing communication. It enables firms to contact many people with a highly focused message (Viberg & Grönlund, 2015). Outdoor advertising can be used to promote a variety of products, services, events, and campaigns. It is a versatile and cost-effective marketing tool that can be customized to meet the demands of any company.

Similarly, the past decade has seen a dramatic increase in media mergers and acquisitions (M&A). This is partly due to the media industry’s continued convergence as companies move towards providing integrated platforms that offer a variety of content and services (Bernhard et al., 2015). The Internet has been a major driver of this convergence, as it has allowed for the easy distribution and consumption of media content. This, in reality, refers to the trend of different media platforms coming together and working together to create a more seamless experience for the user. For example, a person might watch a television show, use their laptop to read about the show online, and then use their smartphone to share their thoughts with friends.

This trend has been made possible by the internet’s growth and how it has allowed different platforms to connect. One of the ways this trend has impacted how large media companies conduct their business (Steinfeld & Lissitsa, 2021). In the past, these companies would operate primarily in one area, such as television, movies, or print media. However, with the rise of media convergence, they have had to start expanding their operations to keep up with the competition. This has led to increased mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity among large media companies. A few reasons M&A activity has increased in the media industry.

One reason is that it allows companies to expand their operations into new areas quickly. For example, suppose a company that primarily produces movies decides to acquire a television network. In that case, it can instantly start producing shows for that network (“Research on Enterprise Financial Management Innovation under the Environment of “Internet +” Industry Integration”, 2022). This can be a quicker and easier way to expand than trying to build up a new operation from scratch. Another reason M&A activity has increased in the media industry is that it can help companies save money. When two companies merge, they can often eliminate duplicate positions and departments, leading to significant cost savings.

This is especially important in the current media landscape, where companies are pressured to cut costs to stay profitable. The increased M&A activity in the media industry has had several impacts. One impact is that it has led to a consolidation of the industry. A few years ago, many media companies operated in different areas (Viberg & Grönlund, 2015). However, the recent wave of M&A activity has led to a smaller number of companies with a wider range of operations. This has made it difficult for new companies to enter and compete against established players. Another impact of the increased M&A activity in the media industry is that it has made it more competitive. As mentioned above, the industry’s consolidation has led to fewer companies. This has made it more difficult for companies to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

The most notable example is the acquisition of AOL by Verizon in 2015, which was valued at $4.4 billion. The deal was seen as a way for Verizon to boost its AOL division, which was struggling at the time. The acquisition allowed Verizon to tap into AOL’s vast content and services, including its popular email and instant messaging platforms. The Internet has also made it easier for media companies to reach new audiences and markets (Shen, 2022). This has led to several cross-border M&A deals, such as Comcast’s purchase of the British broadcaster Sky in 2018. The deal was valued at $30 billion and gave Comcast a major foothold in the European media market. The continued convergence of the media industry is likely to lead to more M&A activity in the years to come. The Internet will continue to be a major driving force behind this trend, as it provides a platform for the easy distribution and consumption of media content.

Additionally, from the rise of social media to the proliferation of online news sources, the internet has changed how we consume and create media. For organizations, the internet has been a game-changer in media development (Shen, 2022). With the ability to reach a global audience with just a few clicks, organizations can now disseminate their message to a much wider audience than ever before. Additionally, the internet has made it easier for organizations to gather feedback and input from their constituents, which can be used to improve their media products.

In conclusion, despite the many benefits the internet has brought to media development, organizations face some challenges. One of the biggest challenges is the need to constantly adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the internet (Viberg & Grönlund, 2015). Another challenge is protecting their media products from piracy and unauthorized reproduction. Overall, the internet has had a positive impact on media development. It has made it easier for organizations to reach a wider audience, gather feedback, and create better media products. While some challenges come with operating in the digital age, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

Bernhard, U., Dohle, M., & Vowe, G. (2015). Do Presumed Online Media Effects Influence the Online Activities of Politicians?  Policy &Amp; Internet ,  8 (1), 72-90. https://doi.org/10.1002/poi3.108

Mann, B., Smith, W., & Baker, D. (2016). Schooling Attainment’s Influence on Internet Adoption: Education’s Role in the Cross-National Development of the Mass-Media Knowledge Gap.  FIRE: Forum For International Research In Education ,  3 (3). https://doi.org/10.18275/fire201603031114

Media Education Model Aimed at Efficient Development of Audience’s Skills to Reasonably Confront the False (or Partially False) Information, Contained in Anti-Russian Ukrainian Internet Communication Resources. (2021),  17 (4). https://doi.org/10.13187/me.2021.4.612

Research on Enterprise Financial Management Innovation under the Environment of “Internet +” Industry Integration. (2022). https://doi.org/10.47939/em.v3i2.001

Shen, Z. (2022). Operation Mode and Creation of Film Media Based on the Internet Logic under the Field Theory. Mobile Information Systems, 2022.

Steinfeld, N., & Lissitsa, S. (2021). CONTENT MATTERS, FAKE OR NOT: MEDIA CONTENT INFLUENCE ON PERCEIVED INTERGROUP THREAT.  Air Selected Papers Of Internet Research . https://doi.org/10.5210/spir.v2021i0.12246

Straubhaar, J., LaRose, R., & Davenport, L. (2015). Media now: Understanding media, culture, and technology. Cengage Learning.

Viberg, O., & Grönlund, Å. (2015). Understanding students’ learning practices: challenges for designing and integrating mobile technology into distance education.  Learning, Media And Technology ,  42 (3), 357-377. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2016.1088869

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800 Words Essay On Internet in English for Students

The internet has transformed the world in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. It has revolutionized how we communicate, access information, conduct business, and even how we entertain ourselves. The internet has become an integral part of our daily lives, and it’s hard to imagine a world without it.

At its core, the Internet is a vast network of interconnected computers and servers that allows for the exchange of information and data across the globe. It was originally conceived as a way for researchers and scientists to share information and collaborate on projects, but it has since evolved into a ubiquitous platform that has permeated every aspect of modern life.

One of the most significant impacts of the internet has been on communication. Before the internet, communication was limited by geography and time zones. People had to rely on physical mail, telephone calls, or face-to-face meetings to communicate with one another. The internet has made communication instantaneous and borderless. With the rise of email, instant messaging, video conferencing, and social media platforms, people can communicate with each other from anywhere in the world, at any time.

The internet has also revolutionized the way we access information. In the past, people had to rely on physical libraries, books, and other printed materials to access information. Today, with the internet, a wealth of information is available at our fingertips. From online encyclopedias to news websites, academic journals, and online databases, the internet has made it possible to access information on virtually any topic imaginable.

Another significant impact of the internet has been on the economy and the way we conduct business. The rise of e-commerce has made it possible for businesses to reach a global market and sell their products and services online. Online shopping has become increasingly popular, and many traditional brick-and-mortar stores have had to adapt to this new reality by establishing an online presence.

Furthermore, the internet has enabled the rise of the gig economy, where people can work as freelancers or contractors for multiple clients and projects simultaneously. This has created new opportunities for individuals to earn a living and has allowed businesses to access a global talent pool.

The internet has also had a profound impact on education. Online learning platforms and distance education programs have made it possible for students to access educational resources and attend classes from anywhere in the world. This has opened up new opportunities for people who may not have had access to traditional educational institutions due to geographical or financial constraints.

However, the internet has also brought with it a number of challenges and concerns. One of the biggest concerns is privacy and security. With so much personal information being shared online, there is a risk of data breaches and cyber attacks. Companies and individuals need to be vigilant about protecting their personal information and implementing strong cybersecurity measures.

Another concern is the spread of misinformation and fake news. The internet has made it easier for anyone to publish and share information, regardless of its accuracy or credibility. This has led to the proliferation of fake news and conspiracy theories, which can have serious consequences for individuals and society as a whole.

There is also concern about the impact of the internet on mental health and well-being. The constant exposure to social media and the pressure to curate a perfect online persona can lead to feelings of anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Additionally, the addictive nature of the internet and the constant stream of information can contribute to decreased attention spans and difficulty focusing on tasks.

Despite these challenges, the internet has proven to be an invaluable tool that has transformed the way we live, work, and interact with the world around us. It has opened up new opportunities for communication, education, and economic growth, and has made it possible for people to connect and collaborate in ways that were previously unimaginable.

As we move forward, it is important to address the challenges and concerns surrounding the internet while also embracing its potential for innovation and progress. This may involve implementing stronger cybersecurity measures, promoting digital literacy and critical thinking skills, and encouraging responsible and ethical use of the internet.

In conclusion, the internet has had a profound impact on virtually every aspect of modern life. It has revolutionized communication, education, business, and access to information. While it has brought with it a number of challenges and concerns, the internet has proven to be an invaluable tool that has transformed the way we live and interact with the world around us. As we continue to navigate the digital age, it is important to embrace the opportunities that the internet provides while also addressing its challenges and promoting responsible and ethical use.

Uses of Internet

In the 21st century, the internet has become an indispensable part of our daily lives, revolutionizing the way we connect, learn, work, and entertain ourselves. Its multifaceted uses have permeated every aspect of society, bringing about unprecedented convenience and opportunities.

Communication stands out as one of the internet’s most significant uses. Instant messaging, video calls, and social media platforms have transcended geographical barriers, allowing people to stay connected with friends and family across the globe. The internet has turned the world into a global village, fostering a sense of unity and understanding among diverse cultures.

Education has undergone a remarkable transformation due to the internet. Online courses, tutorials, and educational resources have made learning accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Students can pursue degrees, acquire new skills, and access a wealth of information at their fingertips, democratizing education and breaking down traditional barriers to learning.

The internet has also redefined the way we work. Remote collaboration tools, cloud computing, and virtual offices have become essential components of the modern workplace. This shift has not only increased efficiency but has also opened up new opportunities for freelancers and remote workers, contributing to the rise of the gig economy.

In the realm of information, the internet has become an unparalleled resource. Search engines allow us to access vast amounts of information on any topic imaginable. This democratization of information has empowered individuals, encouraging critical thinking and facilitating informed decision-making.

Entertainment has undergone a digital revolution, with streaming services, online gaming, and social media platforms providing endless avenues for amusement. The internet has not only transformed how we consume content but has also given rise to new forms of artistic expression and creativity.

In conclusion, the internet’s uses are multifaceted and far-reaching, impacting every facet of our lives. From connecting people across the globe to revolutionizing education, work, and entertainment, the internet continues to be a transformative force, shaping the present and influencing the future. As we navigate the digital landscape, it is essential to harness the potential of the internet responsibly, ensuring that it remains a force for positive change in the years to come.

Convenience Due to Internet

The advent of the internet has ushered in an era of unprecedented convenience, transforming the way we live, work, and interact with the world. In our fast-paced lives, the internet has become a cornerstone of efficiency and ease, offering a multitude of conveniences that have reshaped our daily routines.

Communication is perhaps the most obvious and impactful convenience brought about by the internet. Instant messaging, email, and social media platforms have revolutionized the way we connect with others. Whether it’s staying in touch with loved ones, collaborating with colleagues, or reaching out to friends across the globe, the internet has made communication instantaneous and seamless.

The convenience of online shopping has fundamentally altered the retail landscape. With just a few clicks, consumers can browse, compare prices, and purchase a vast array of products from the comfort of their homes. The rise of e-commerce platforms has not only made shopping more convenient but has also introduced the concept of doorstep delivery, saving time and eliminating the need for physical store visits.

Information retrieval has been transformed by the internet’s vast repository of knowledge. Search engines provide instant access to information on any conceivable topic, enabling users to quickly find answers, conduct research, and stay informed. This ease of information retrieval has empowered individuals, making knowledge more accessible than ever before.

The workplace has undergone a paradigm shift with the internet, enabling remote work and flexible schedules. Online collaboration tools, cloud computing, and virtual communication platforms have made it possible for individuals to work from virtually anywhere, reducing the constraints of traditional office settings and commuting.

Entertainment has also become infinitely more convenient through streaming services, online gaming, and digital media platforms. The ability to access a diverse range of content on-demand has given consumers unprecedented control over their entertainment choices, eliminating the need to adhere to fixed schedules or physical media.

In conclusion, the internet has woven a tapestry of convenience into the fabric of our lives. From streamlined communication and effortless online shopping to boundless information access and flexible work arrangements, the conveniences offered by the internet have become integral to our modern existence. As we navigate this digital landscape, the ongoing evolution of internet technologies continues to enhance and redefine the meaning of convenience in our interconnected world.

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Essay On Internet- FAQs

What is internet short essay.

In the modern time, internet has become is one of the most powerful and interesting tools all across the world. The Internet is a network of networks and collection of many services and resources which benefits us in various ways. Using internet we can access World Wide Web from any place.

What is Internet in 150 words?

The internet is the most recent man-made creation that connects the world. The world has narrowed down after the invention of the internet. It has demolished all boundaries, which were the barriers between people and has made everything accessible. The internet is helpful to us in different ways.

What is internet 100 words?

A. The internet, a recent man-made marvel, has brought the world closer. It has shattered all barriers and made everything accessible. The internet serves us in countless ways, from sharing information with people across the world to staying connected with our loved ones.

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The Impact of Social Media in Contemporary Society

How it works

Social media’s gone way beyond just helping folks keep in touch; it’s now a huge force shaping all sorts of parts of our lives. Whether it’s keeping up with friends or making business connections, these platforms are everywhere. This essay looks at why social media matters so much—how it changes the way we talk, share info, and act—and also thinks about some of its downsides.

  • 1 Changing How We Communicate
  • 2 Spreading Information and Learnin
  • 3 Shaping How We Act and What’s Trend
  • 4 Networking and Career Growth
  • 5 Wrapping Up

Changing How We Communicate

One big thing social media’s done is change the way we chat.

Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram let us talk to people all over the world, right away. This kind of connection makes us feel like part of a global community, where we share ideas and stories in real-time. For example, during big events like natural disasters or political stuff, social media helps spread important info fast and get people to help out.

Social media also makes communication more equal. In the old days, only a few big voices got heard. Now, anyone with internet can share their thoughts, which makes conversations more varied and inclusive. This has led to something called citizen journalism, where regular folks report news from their point of view, often highlighting stuff that big media might miss.

Spreading Information and Learnin

Another key role of social media is spreading info. Sites like YouTube, LinkedIn, and Reddit are full of knowledge, from how-to videos to professional advice and academic stuff. This easy access to info has changed how people learn, letting them pick up new skills at their own pace. Schools and pros are using social media more to share resources, do webinars, and reach more people.

But, there’s a catch. The same ease of sharing info can also spread fake news. False info can go viral fast, causing big misunderstandings. It’s super important for people to check the info they find on social media and stick to reliable sources.

Shaping How We Act and What’s Trend

Social media has a big impact on how we act and what’s popular. Trends on TikTok and Instagram can become global hits, influencing what we wear, listen to, and how we live. These platforms are great for creativity, letting people show off their talents and get noticed.

It’s also a strong tool for social movements. Campaigns like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter have gained steam through social media, raising awareness and pushing for change. Activists can reach lots of people, plan events, and gather support more easily than with old-school methods.

However, not all impacts are good. The pressure to look perfect, like the images on social media, can hurt self-esteem and mental health. It’s important to use social media in a balanced way, thinking critically about what we see and share.

Networking and Career Growth

Social media’s also changed the work world. Sites like LinkedIn have made networking easier, letting pros connect, share ideas, and find job opportunities. Employers use these sites to scout and vet candidates, making social media a key tool for career growth.

Plus, social media’s great for personal branding and starting businesses. People can show off their skills, build a following, and create business chances. For instance, influencers use their social media fame to partner with brands, make money from content, and become experts in their fields.

But, using social media for work needs careful handling. Posting unprofessional stuff can damage your rep and job prospects. It’s crucial to keep a professional online presence and use social media smartly to boost your career.

Wrapping Up

To sum up, social media is a big deal in today’s world, affecting how we talk, share info, act, and work. It’s connected people, made communication more democratic, and changed how we learn and do business. But, it’s not all roses. Issues like fake news and the pressure to meet high standards mean we need to use social media thoughtfully. By balancing the good and bad, we can use social media to make positive changes and build a more connected, informed world.

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Opinion: social media key to college student views, priorities, as the first "digital native" generation born after the internet, and the first to do remote learning at scale, gen z is steeped in technology and social media in a way that may influence their politics and expectations..

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NEED FOR INFORMATION

Connecting technology to issues and social change, gen z and the importance of college education, gen z and technology transformation, what it all means.

Jim A. Jorstad

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54 Internet Privacy Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on internet privacy, 🎓 most interesting internet privacy research titles, 💡 simple internet privacy essay ideas.

  • Violating Privacy on the Internet Is Morally Wrong
  • Online Privacy on Social Networking Sites
  • Internet Privacy and Privacy Issues
  • The Internet of Things Privacy Issues in Business: Annotated Bibliography
  • Issues on Internet: Privacy and Freedom of Speech
  • Phorm Fires Privacy Row for Internet Service Providers
  • Regulating Internet Privacy and Related Issues
  • Privacy Protection on the Internet
  • Low Cost Website Protection and Customer Privacy
  • Cyber Surveillance and Privacy of Internet Users
  • Privacy Issues in Social Networks
  • Internet Privacy Policy at the Workplace
  • The Internet and Ethical Debate on Information Privacy
  • Social Media Platforms: The Protection of Personal Information
  • The Evolution of Internet Privacy: From the Early Web to Today
  • The Role of Cookies and Tracking Technologies in Internet Privacy
  • Internet Privacy Laws: GDPR, CCPA, and Other Regulations
  • Purpose of Social Media on Internet Privacy
  • Causes, Consequences, and Prevention of Data Breaches
  • Analysis of Encryption in Protecting Internet Privacy
  • The Ethics of Internet Privacy by Tech Companies
  • The Debate Over Government Surveillance and Internet Privacy
  • Internet Privacy and the Right to Be Forgotten
  • The Role of VPNs in Enhancing Internet Privacy
  • Internet Privacy in the Age of Smart Devices and the Internet of Things
  • The Impact of Big Data on Personal Internet Privacy
  • Anonymous Browsing in Protecting Internet Privacy
  • The Influence of Social Engineering on Internet Privacy Risks
  • Internet Privacy and the Rise of Cybercrime
  • Context of Blockchain Technology in Internet Privacy
  • Children’s Internet Privacy: Challenges and Protections
  • The Action of Data Mining on Internet Privacy
  • The Role of AI in Shaping Internet Privacy
  • The Ethics of Targeted Advertising and Internet Privacy
  • The Balance Between Internet Privacy and National Security
  • Internet Privacy and the Dark Web: Myths and Realities
  • Analysing of User Consent in Internet Privacy
  • Privacy Concerns in Online Banking and E-Commerce
  • Internet Privacy and Digital Identity Theft
  • Repercussion of Cloud Computing on Internet Privacy
  • Internet Privacy and Social Networking Sites: Facebook, Twitter, and Beyond
  • Work of Internet Privacy in Protecting Freedom of Expression
  • Examining the Future of Internet Privacy
  • Impact of Location Tracking on Internet Privacy
  • Internet Privacy in Online Education and Remote Work
  • Privacy Risks in Peer-to-Peer Networks and File Sharing
  • Aspects of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Protecting Privacy
  • The Influence of Globalization on Internet Privacy Standards
  • The Role of Public Awareness Campaigns in Promoting Internet Privacy
  • Understanding Internet Privacy and Digital Footprints
  • The Concept of Cybersecurity in Safeguarding Internet Privacy
  • Internet Privacy Concerns in the Age of Social Media Influencers
  • The Ethical Dilemmas of Internet Privacy in the Digital Age
  • Facial Recognition Technology in Internet Privacy Concerns

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StudyCorgi . "54 Internet Privacy Essay Topics." August 21, 2024. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/internet-privacy-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2024. "54 Internet Privacy Essay Topics." August 21, 2024. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/internet-privacy-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Internet Privacy were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on September 18, 2024 .

Essay on Social Media for School Students and Children

500+ words essay on social media.

Social media is a tool that is becoming quite popular these days because of its user-friendly features. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more are giving people a chance to connect with each other across distances. In other words, the whole world is at our fingertips all thanks to social media. The youth is especially one of the most dominant users of social media. All this makes you wonder that something so powerful and with such a massive reach cannot be all good. Like how there are always two sides to a coin, the same goes for social media. Subsequently, different people have different opinions on this debatable topic. So, in this essay on Social Media, we will see the advantages and disadvantages of social media.

Essay on Social Media

Advantages of Social Media

When we look at the positive aspect of social media, we find numerous advantages. The most important being a great device for education . All the information one requires is just a click away. Students can educate themselves on various topics using social media.

Moreover, live lectures are now possible because of social media. You can attend a lecture happening in America while sitting in India.

Furthermore, as more and more people are distancing themselves from newspapers, they are depending on social media for news. You are always updated on the latest happenings of the world through it. A person becomes more socially aware of the issues of the world.

In addition, it strengthens bonds with your loved ones. Distance is not a barrier anymore because of social media. For instance, you can easily communicate with your friends and relatives overseas.

Most importantly, it also provides a great platform for young budding artists to showcase their talent for free. You can get great opportunities for employment through social media too.

Another advantage definitely benefits companies who wish to promote their brands. Social media has become a hub for advertising and offers you great opportunities for connecting with the customer.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Disadvantages of Social Media

Despite having such unique advantages, social media is considered to be one of the most harmful elements of society. If the use of social media is not monitored, it can lead to grave consequences.

internet in media essay

Thus, the sharing on social media especially by children must be monitored at all times. Next up is the addition of social media which is quite common amongst the youth.

This addiction hampers with the academic performance of a student as they waste their time on social media instead of studying. Social media also creates communal rifts. Fake news is spread with the use of it, which poisons the mind of peace-loving citizens.

In short, surely social media has both advantages and disadvantages. But, it all depends on the user at the end. The youth must particularly create a balance between their academic performances, physical activities, and social media. Excess use of anything is harmful and the same thing applies to social media. Therefore, we must strive to live a satisfying life with the right balance.

internet in media essay

FAQs on Social Media

Q.1 Is social media beneficial? If yes, then how?

A.1 Social media is quite beneficial. Social Media offers information, news, educational material, a platform for talented youth and brands.

Q.2 What is a disadvantage of Social Media?

A.2 Social media invades your privacy. It makes you addicted and causes health problems. It also results in cyberbullying and scams as well as communal hatred.

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