The internet has been an elixir of life in terms of modern communication methods since it has revolutionized how long-distance communications works and significantly reduced the cost and increased the quality of service. Plus the infinite number of applications the internet possesses is a feat of its own. Majorly, the internet has become cost-effective in modern times even for higher speeds. Click here for more information. Thus, increasing its user base and footprint among the masses. Especially in the pandemic, the whole infrastructure of the world has become internet-dependent with activities like work from home and online classes being conducted online. Apart from all the pros, the internet is a powerful tool that comes with its fair share of downsides as well, Learn more here about internet statistics here, which have increased in number and intensity over time, and might throw a normal user in a dilemma today. Here we are going to discuss some of these dilemmas a normal internet user might face in the modern world.
The Dilemmas of The Internet in the Modern World
The influence internet has on our society can’t be undermined in any way shape or form, and no one can deny the countless benefits the internet has graced us with. The internet is a very powerful tool and with great power comes great responsibility, and this is also a fact that many entities often ignore this responsibility. Due to this malicious nature, the internet sometimes becomes a tool that causes harm in many ways, and it all depends on how one uses it. Here we are going to discuss some dilemmas that the internet faces in the modern world, which has left a bad stigma on its popularity.
Security Concerns
One of the biggest dilemmas the internet faces today is that it isn’t completely safe. There was a time when there were not many users and the internet was mostly used for work-related purposes, but once it grew in size and the applications of the internet expanded, this led to an influx of people using the internet for various means, and this number has reached around 4.66 billion today, which is almost half the population. The unfortunate thing is that not everyone who’s present on the internet is there with good motives as we see through the rise in cybercrimes, and there are many different types of them now. People are getting robbed of their money, identity, and important data all over the internet. Although there have been efforts to counter this, nothing has been fully successful, and this security dilemma is still hovering over the internet to this day.
Immoral Content
The internet has a plethora of data and information to be utilized by any regular user. This data is available in different forms, which include text, audio, and video. One more thing is that all this information and data reserve is available to everyone no matter the location, age, or gender of the user. This has been a huge benefit since the internet doesn’t discriminate against its user, but has created another dilemma as there is plenty of immoral content that is also available on the internet for anyone to access. Most of this content has a violent and adult nature, something which should be avoided by the younger audience as it can negatively influence their mind.
However, the internet has become a very crucial tool for young people today as most of their educational and learning activities are also carried on the internet and they can’t be restricted to use it. Although some checks and restrictions can be applied on the device or on the ISP end that can prevent users to access such websites, none of them work perfectly and are quite easy to bypass.
Advertiser-Oriented Environment
There was a time when internet applications were there to serve the user. There were many free apps and platforms that users could use for various communication, work, entertainment, and educational purposes. This included many social media platforms, video streaming websites, and educational resources that were free for everyone to use. However, many consumers realized it too late that nothing is free in this world and users were paying with their identity and web history to these websites in order to use these so-called “free platforms” and in turn, this information was being sold to advertisers in the name of personalized ad campaigns.
This was even proven during the congress hearing of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, who testified that sensitive and personal information of users was being collected by the famous social networking app, Facebook, for advertising purposes. The kind of personal information even he was uncomfortable to share about himself. This was followed by laws being made that forced websites to share with users the kind of data they are going to collect. However, the sad thing is that it is still very prevalent and the only difference is that users now know that their information is being tracked but are forced to accept these terms to use these platforms due to various communicational, work, and educational related needs.
Fake News and Manipulation
The biggest advantage of the internet is that it has given the power to the voices of the weak. Everyone can get their word across the world through the internet without the fear of censorship and discrimination of caste, creed, color, or gender. This is why we have seen powerful movements like Black Lives Matter, which only started through a video posted on the internet. However, as powerful as the internet has become, it has stirred a controversy of fake news and manipulation as well since everyone can post anything on the internet in the name of news.
Many political parties, cults, and even groups like flat earth theorists are using the internet to propagate their own agenda through social media and fake news. A major example of this can be seen in the form of Russian involvement in the US elections of 2016 in which the alleged Russian hackers played a major part in turning the tide of the results in favor of ex-US president Donald Trump through manipulation and spreading fake news against Hilary Clinton in the public. The most unfortunate part is that the internet is the major source of news for many and it’s very difficult nowadays to verify every news that is posted on the internet, which has created a sense of mass hysteria in the public.
Increasing Costs and Poor Quality of Service
The internet has become a necessity today since it’s so deeply integrated into our current society that without it the survival seems difficult. People now use the internet in most of their communications, work-related tasks, and educational activities. This dependence has increased even more during the current pandemic where people are working from home and taking online classes all over the internet and without it, all these activities are not possible. The internet providers have also sensed this and on the surface, it seems like they give discounts to the public but in the long run, they sign contracts with users so that they can’t change providers and these discounts usually last for a year or two after which prices jump significantly and the user is trapped with that provider.
In other cases, the quality of services degrade over time and the cherry on top is that big providers have created a monopoly where there is only one major provider in an area, so even if a user finally decides to terminate their contract and pay a heavy termination fee, they don’t have any other major provider that can provide them with adequate internet speed and data.
Summing Up
The internet is a very powerful and most beneficial tool for the public, but it has to be acknowledged as a dual-edged sword whose impact depends on the wielder. The sad part is that most of the time the internet is being used negatively in the modern world and this has relatively hampered its image for general users. The sadder part is that we can’t just do away with the internet as it is the main component in our most day-to-day tasks, so most of the public has to face these dilemmas of using the internet in the modern world on daily basis.
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