Impact of the Internet Personally and Professionally

The Internet is here to stay. People who have benefitted from its use are suddenly faced with the vast personal and professional opportunities in the magnitude never before experienced since the invention of the computer. The beneficial, as well as the malevolent effects, have impacted every one of all ages, gender, profession, economic status, nationalities and even faith. Indeed, the Internet will continue to affect, in more ways than one, the lives of this generation and onto the next and more extensively than ever before.

Personal Impact of the Internet From classroom study and instructional materials, to online news and public affairs programs and interactive games and electronic commerce – these are among the daily doses of Internet materials that now form part of the lives and routines of almost every one across the globe. No longer is the world far and wide because the Internet has made everything within the grasp of an Internet citizen (a Netizen) or an Internet buff with just the push and press of a few computer keys.

An initial experience on the wonders of the Internet begins with a parent seeing one’s baby born a thousand miles away from work and clearly and vividly seen video streaming on the desktop through the webcam, as if the newborn were just behind the room. With online and real time broadcast on broadband complete with sounds and background color graphics, the baby is welcomed by every relative joining the teleconference inside the nursery. Growing up in the grade and high school, the Internet once again shapes and reshapes one’s learning processes through colorful, animated displays in various websites emanating halfway around the world.

Children come to know everything interactive with old TV cartoon characters coming more alive and on 3D on the Net. Solving math problems has never been easy with all those graphics accentuating the learning models and illustrating a more enhanced, student-friendly approach to the answers. Understanding complex lessons and theories in science have become interesting journeys towards real learning. English and language video puzzles similarly seen and used by millions of school children around the globe is likewise enjoyed by rural children in the farthest corner of the earth.

The Internet has extensively revolutionized media and desktop publishing. Being news buffs no longer require us to subscribe to newspapers and magazines. The Internet includes videos as well. For those inclined to music and the arts, the Internet contains thousands of portals with all the art works and music MP3s available for download or playback. Thus, the Internet supplies entertainment on demand. Distance no longer haunts families in geographical divides. The electronic mail and Yahoo! Messenger and Skype help bridge such distance complete with webcam and voice prompts.

Thus, there is no limit to one’s imagination on what can be seen, read and heard on the Net. Virtually a huge database of knowledge useful to anyone, the Internet is everyone’s university (Peters 1992). Professional Impact of the Internet Beyond the personal domain, the use of the Internet extends to one’s professional life. Back in school, he is oriented as an interdisciplinary business student and gets a more advanced exposure on the Net. He learns to operate an intranet and extranet, the hard and soft of all wares and completes an eCommerce degree after mastering the architecture and infrastructure of the Internet.

Being an Internet techie allows him to rub elbows with people of all races around the world and expands his friendship without borders. He becomes a man of the world and undergoes a cross-cultural personality metamorphosis. Thanks to the influences of chat mates from every corner of every conceivable country in every continent. The Colorful World of the Internet After years of quality education through Internet-based learning, he starts to deal with his career and gets surprised to find Internet again affecting every facet of his professional life.

Once again, the Internet reappears and assists the young graduate to find a job along JobsDB. com or other Internet-based employment portals. He submits his resume through electronic mail and elicits a reply for online interview on Skype. He dresses up impressively to look good on the webcam. The online interview originates in Singapore halfway around the globe while another interviewer from the same firm based in London awaits the first segment of the live interview before joining the panel interview teleconference.

With confidence and sophisticated poise, he passes both and gets a green light to start in a few days as Marketing Research Assistant. His job requires him to actively interact with the IT department for his online database for market studies and researches. He gathers field reports online from his marketing subjects scattered around the region, and consolidates them with the online accounting information system handled by the company accountant based in Geneva. He submits his research reports and completed work online to the Caribbean head office of his employer.

He later realizes that he spends roughly three fourths of his professional time on the Internet (Kaplan & Norton 2004). Conclusion As a fulfilled professional, he does not begin and end his day without the Internet getting in between his tasks. The knowledge age is here and without the presence of Internet technology, life for him would start to get bored. In an unconnected world, how will he ever get in touch with his family? Without Internet and the enormous data available to him, how will he effectively function as a Market Researcher?

And without Internet, the instant messaging and voice system, video conferencing and file transfers, how will the life of a professional look like? As a human being used to the Internet, how will a world now look like without Internet?

Works Cited

Cam, Tom, The Importance of Internet to your Business, Available at http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/285038/the_importance_of_the_internet_for. html June 25, 2007. Kaplan, Robert S. and David P. Norton, Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets Into Tangible Outcomes, Boston, Harvard Business School Publishing, 2004.

Peters, Tom. Liberation Management: Necessary Disorganization for the Nanosecond Nineties, Fawcett Columbine, Ballantine Books, New York, 1992. Thelen, David, Kidspeak: the Important of the Internet for Teens, Available at http://www. 4teachers. org/kidspeak/thelan/index. shtml, May 12, 2008 Hakim, Toufic & Pamela Prentice, Stephen Baker & John Pauly, The Internet Cultural Phenomenon: A Bonafide Cultural Theme. First Monday, Available at http://www. firstmonday. org/issues/issue4_1/hakim/index. html, May 12, 2008