Advantages and Disadvantages of the Internet
Ten years ago, the Internet was practically unheard of by most people. Today, the Internet is one of the most powerful tools throughout the world. The Internet is a collection of various services and resources. According to Russ Brock, a director and consultant at the Center for Innovation and Inquiry, the Internet’s main components are E-mail and the World Wide Web. “There’s a lot more to the Internet than E-mail, search engines, celerity web sites, up-to-the-second sports scores, and chat rooms full of risqué discussions. The Net also ranks as one of today’s best business tools - if it’s used adroitly”. Almost all households contain the Internet; however, before people connect to the Internet, they need to be aware of its disadvantages and advantages.

Many fear the Internet because of its disadvantages. They claim to not use the Internet because they are afraid of the possible consequences or are simply not interested. People who have yet connected to the Internet claim they are not missing anything. Today’s technological society must realize, it is up to them to protect themselves on the Internet “Half of U.S. adults, or 94 million Americans, aren’t online”.
Children using the Internet has become a big concern. Most parents do not realize the dangers involved when their children log onto the Internet. When children are online, they can easily be lured into something dangerous. When children talk to others online, they do not realize they could actually be talking to a harmful person. As a result, there have been many cases where children have been convinced to meet people they have talked with online. In fact, “stories seem to come out every week: a child or teenager lured into something foolish, dangerous, or even deadly on line” . Cathy Cleaver of the Family Research Council claims that it is against the law for a molester to even attempt to find children online . In addition, children may also receive pornography online by mistake; therefore, causing concern among parents everywhere. Whether surfing the Web, reading newsgroups, or using email, children can be exposed to extremely inappropriate material. Pornographic sites tend to make sure they are the first sites to be listed in any search area; thus, children come across such sites easily. A man from Pearl, Mississippi was arrested in 1996 for downloading pornographic images of children from the Internet. He was charged with 290 counts of child pornography . Some critics say that parents are responsible for their own children on the Internet because there are available services to protect children. To keep children safe, parents and teachers must be aware of the dangers. They must actively guide and guard their children online. Parents should talk to their children about what is online and what might happen online, claims Howard Rheingold, writer of The Virtual Community . There are a number of tools available today that may help keep the Internet environment safer for children. Some companies, such as America Online, try to monitor everything that is said and done on their online service; however, because thousands of chat rooms are available, it is simply impossible for everything to be monitored, claims Tricia Primrose, worker for America Online . In other words, children want to explore things; however, there are people on the Internet that are just too persuasive.

Musicians are also concerned with disadvantages to the Net such as, accessibility and freedom. They are upset because the Internet provides their music online at no charge to consumers. File-sharing services, such as Napster, provides copyrighted songs to all Internet users. The main concern is - the music is free! Musicians feel “they are not getting paid for their work”. Because of Napster, it is almost impossible to close down all file-sharing services; there are too many of them to count . Legal cases have developed across the country with copyright owners declaring that their music is being plagiarized by people on the Internet .

Another major disadvantage of the Internet is privacy. Electronic messages sent over the Internet can be easily snooped and tracked, revealing who is talking to whom and what they are talking about. As people surf the Internet, they are constantly giving information to web sites . People should become aware that the collection, selling, or sharing of the information they provide online increases the chances that their information will fall into the wrong hands. Consequently, they will become a victim of identity theft, one of the worst privacy violations with potentially devastating financial consequences . When giving personal information on the Internet, people should make sure the Web site is protected with a recognizable security symbol. On the other hand, this does not mean they are fully protected because anyone may obtain a user’s information . In other words, “the most common Internet crimes are frauds and con games” .

Today, not only are humans getting viruses, but computers are also. Computers are mainly getting these viruses from the Internet; yet, viruses may also be transmitted through floppy disks. However, people should mainly be concerned about receiving viruses from the Internet. Some of these dangerous viruses destroy the computer’s entire hard drive, meaning that the user can no longer access the computer. Virus protection is highly recommended.

Despite all of the terrible disadvantages of the Internet, there are numerous advantages. In fact, the advantages out weigh the disadvantages. Alcestis Oberg uses elderly people as an example of those who benefit the most from the Internet; a great deal of elders are shut in their homes due to health problems. She also claims the Internet “became one more social avenue in our lives” .

The most common thing the Internet is used for is research. Children and students are among the top people who use the Internet for research. Today, it is almost required that students use the Internet for research. Thirty percent of teachers give assignments requiring research from the Internet. In the classroom, sixty-six percent of teachers use the Internet to teach . The Internet has become one of the biggest sources for research. Almost everyday, research on medical issues becomes easier to locate. Web sites have become available for people to research diseases and talk to doctors online at sites such as, America’s Doctor. During 1998 over 20 million people reported going online to retrieve health information .

Entertainment is another popular reason why many people surf the Internet. Downloading games, going into chat rooms, or just surfing the Web are some of the uses people have discovered. There are numerous games that may be downloaded from the Internet at no charge . Chat rooms are popular because users can meet new and interesting people. In fact, the Internet has been used by people to find life long partners. When people surf the Web, there are numerous things that can be found. Music, hobbies, news and more can be found on the Internet.

Another popular thing to do on the Internet is to check out the news. Almost all local news can be obtained through the Internet. Up to date sports scores are probably the most popular looked at news. Sports scores are updated on the Internet as soon as the game ends. . Weather is also a popular source to look up on the Internet. Using the Internet to get the weather allows people to view weather all over the world. Live radar all over the country and local forecasts are just to name a few of the things that may be obtained for weather information on the Internet.

Shopping online has also become a huge success and is considered a great advantage of the Internet. No matter what people are shopping for, it can be found on the Internet. People do not even have to leave their homes. A few companies have collected millions of dollars using the Internet for selling . Clothing is probably one of the most bought items online. Almost every major clothing store has its on Web site. People can even go grocery shopping online using such sites as Priceline.com. Just one click of the mouse on the items they want to purchase and the items are delivered to their front door . Groceries and clothing are only a few of the items that may be bought on the Internet.

In conclusion, today’s society is in the middle of a technological boom. People can either choose to take advantage of this era, or simply let it pass them by. The Internet is a very powerful tool. It has many advantages; however, people need to be extremely aware of the disadvantages as well.