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Psychological and Sociological Effects of the Internet

Rough Draft

Thesis statement

Internet use has both sociological and psychological effects on its users. Communication is one of the areas that have experienced much change due to the internet.

History of internet

The internet’s origins can be traced back to extensive research that was commissioned by the government of the United States, mainly in the 1960s to build a fault-tolerant and robust communication through computer networks. However, there are other authoritative sources, which state that the internet history began with the electronic computer development, which took place in the 1950s. These sources state that the initial packet-networking concept originated in numerous computer science laboratories mainly in France, Great Britain, and in the United States.

In addition, in the 1960s, the US Department of Defense awarded various contracts for the development of packet network systems, which included the ARPANET development, which was the first network to utilize the IP (Internet Protocol). These developments have gradually advanced to what is currently referred to as the internet. The science that is associated with the internet involves the linking of billions of interconnected devices, which are able to communicate with each other, as well as sharing information.

During the year 1966, Roberts attended the DARPA in order to develop the computer concepts on a network in a quicker way. This was later published in 1967 where there was a conference where he actually represented the paper which has the concept of computer networks. He then merged his ideas with the RAND group who were presenting their ideas on packet switching for networks in order to secure voice in the military. These ideas were interlinked with each other and they helped to develop the concept on the internet. The ARPANET concept of the internet was then developed from these two ideas. The ARPNET was finally upgraded to 50kbps from the initial 2.4kbps.

Key points

Key point 1: Social networks use has increased across all age brackets.

· Social network sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter have recorded increased use of people from all age brackets.

· Adults use social networking sites to connect with old friends, keep up with their peers, and meet new friends.

Key point 2: Internet use has had a major impact on traditional forms of communication.

· With social networks, face-to-face communications have greatly reduced.

· Shy and introverted people can now communicate well using social networking platforms.

· It is now possible to communicate as an anonymous person.

Key point 3: Communicating through social networks has affected the way people interact.

· A lot of communication is done through social media.

· People make friends online and share information without having ever met physically.

· Personal information is being shared on social networking sites.

Key point 4: Concerns about overuse of the internet, such as overuse of social sites, especially among the young people have been one of the negative effects.

· The young people have become social networking addicts. Some logs in to social sites more than five times each day.

· There are some concerns about loss of productive times, especially by teenagers and you adults who spend about 2 hours daily on social sites.

Key point 5: Internet use affects traditional ways of reading, such as reading books.

· Internet use affects reading books. It is more difficult to concentrate reading a book after continued usage of the internet. People tend to skim more than reading.

· Internet usage affects attention span and it is difficult to pay much attention when reading since internet users are used to skimming through web pages when looking for information.

Key point 6: Excessive use of the internet may hamper a worker’s productivity in the workplace.

· Some workers spend working hours accessing the internet for personal use in social sites.

· Some companies have blocked social sites to ensure their employees do not waste company hours socializing.

· Students are also affected and they spend more time socializing instead of studying.

Key point 7: Excessive internet use leads to addiction, which may interfere with a person/s life.

· Excessive internet use is addictive, and may change a person’s way of life.

· It may change how a person interacts with his close friends.

Key point 8: Internet usage may determine the acts people engage in.

· Some acts, especially among young people, such as drug use, are as a result of content they accessed on the internet that prompted them to try.

· People tend to emulate what they see their idols do, and the internet is the main source of such information.

Examples

Excessive use of the internet may change how you interact with friends. For example, f you spend much time on social media sites like Facebook, you may end up reducing the time you physically socialize with your friends, which is not a good thing.

The internet has changed reading habits since lots of information is now available online. Therefore, people rarely read books, and when they do, they do not concentrate long enough like they used to during the pre-internet era.

Some people get behaviors from the internet by following and copying the people they idolize without giving much thought about the behaviors. For example, the youth like following what their favorite celebrities do even if it is not right. Through this, they may start some behaviors such as taking drugs.