Positive and Negative Impacts of the Internet – The Internet has become a part of people’s lives. In this increasingly sophisticated era, everything can be found on the internet. Although not everything can be done via the internet, there are also many things that at first could only be found in person, now they can be found via the internet.
Using the internet can be said to be part of daily activities, especially during a pandemic like this. Many jobs, schools, colleges, and access to public places are diverted through social media, which means the need for internet.
This is the result of the development of the times which have impacts, namely negative impacts and positive impacts. Even though we sometimes don’t realize it, we as internet users must have experienced things that are beneficial or vice versa, which feel detrimental to us from using the internet.
Positive Impact of the Internet
1. Easy in communication
The internet is able to connect one area to another, even though the distance is very far. This is one advantage to be had from the internet. Through the internet, we can communicate with people from different cities, islands, and even countries.
Various internet facilities, such as email, SMS, chat, and many more can connect us with people who are far away from us just by using the internet. Learn how in the book Practical Guide: Using Internet Facilities.
2. Easy to find information
Almost all information can be found on the internet. This will make it easier for workers to work and students to study. Information packaged on the internet also varies, ranging from writing, photos, to videos. All can be searched and used according to their respective interests.
3. Easy business transactions
In this digital era, many jobs are transferred via the internet, one of which is business. Currently many businesses from various fields that run through the internet. Therefore, business transactions will be easier and more profitable for entrepreneurs and business people .
Especially if you are an SME businessman who is currently still confused about marketing their products. Through the internet, you can carry out various effective promotional methods according to the products you offer. Learn how to in the book Becoming BOS for Internet-literate SME Products.
4. Unlimited communication
Apart from not knowing distance, communicating via the internet also knows no time. There are no special restrictions in communicating using the internet. It will be very useful for people always need to communicate.
5. Easy to work remotely
The trend of working remotely is actually not only due to this pandemic, previously there was a lot of work that could be done remotely, or there was no need to come to the office. This is all the sophistication of the internet, the internet makes it easier for workers to work with remote systems .
6. Many public services, including government services
Previously, public services could only be enjoyed when visiting in person. But now it is much different. We can enjoy public services online, including services provided by the government.
An example is the service regarding the city of Jakarta in the Jaki application. In the application, we can find a lot of information. In addition, we can also make reports regarding violations committed by someone.
7. Lots of content for entertainment
When you’re feeling tired, what you really need is entertainment. The internet is very helpful in this regard. You can find various kinds of interesting and entertaining content.
For example, like the content on YouTube, you can enjoy all kinds of videos to relieve fatigue. Youtube presents many videos ranging from songs, someone’s vlog videos, information videos, game videos, tips and tricks videos, and other videos that will be very entertaining.
8. Get to know a new culture
Thanks to the presence of the internet, we can get to know new cultures. Seeing the development of other cultures besides Indonesia. But another thing that is no less important is, through the internet people can introduce Indonesian culture to the world.
9. Get the latest information
The internet is the fastest place for information dissemination. Especially the latest information, many special media that disseminate information in the form of the latest news. This information is very useful to see the situation that is around.
10. A place to produce work
Thanks to the presence of the internet, many people are starting to work. If initially they don’t have a place to work, they can produce works via the internet. His works also vary, can be in the form of writing, photos, videos, and others.
11. Make new acquaintances
The internet, which has no time and place limits, allows us to make many new acquaintances. One example is k-pop music fans who come from various countries, for some reason they finally met and were able to form a relationship.
Negative Impact of the Internet
However, with the various positive impacts of the internet, there are also some things that can be detrimental to the development of the internet. Such as the emergence of problems regarding the use of smartphones, online games, and various other things discussed in the book Problems of Internet Use.
Of course there is always a negative impact of something, including the internet. The following are the negative impacts of the internet:
1. Putting personal information at risk
Many applications or sites require users to fill in personal information. If this information is misused, it will naturally harm the owner of the information. This personal information can be used by irresponsible people to benefit themselves.
Various threats such as hacking on the internet can harm our personal information. To overcome this, Sinaumed’s can read the book Internet Hacking Threats and Tricks to Handle It, which are below.
2. Lots of Scams
Online fraud has taken up many cases. Fraud that often occurs is when buying and selling online, often a person feels cheated because he does not get the item according to what he bought, but instead gets another item or even the item doesn’t come at all.
A similar case is the purchase of counterfeit or non-original goods, the seller sets a low price so that customers are tempted to buy the product. Even though the goods he sells are not in accordance with the original goods. Therefore, vigilance and thoroughness are needed if you want to buy goods via the internet, know the shop and the certainty of the goods.
3. Sexual Harassment or Cyber Bullying
Online sexual harassment is an increasing number of cases. Often victims are not aware that they are experiencing sexual harassment or even fall into the perpetrator’s trap in sexual harassment.
Usually, perpetrators of online sexual harassment masquerade as mutual friends or invite acquaintances. Then after that start the conversation to start familiarity with the victim. When they have mutual trust, the perpetrator will lead to acts of sexual harassment, such as asking for vulgar photos and so on.
In addition to such things, sexual harassment can also occur without realizing it. A small example is like someone making an obscene comment on someone’s upload. Usually the victims of sexual harassment are mostly women and children. Therefore, parents must always supervise their children’s activities and women must always increase their vigilance.
4. Many videos or images related to violence
Nowadays, lots of people easily upload or expose an incident. There are various published incidents, one of which is incidents of violence. Although not always abuse or related to physical. There are too many videos or images that smell or lead to violence.
Often circulating on social media videos or photos of someone being abused or bullied. If this continues to be allowed, this can be a bad example, especially for children. Especially if children don’t have enough knowledge, they can imitate things like that.
5. Anti-social
The internet is a cool thing, one can use the internet for hours without stopping. Therefore, many children spend more time in their rooms and play on the internet than going out and doing social activities with their peers.
This is one of the bad effects of the internet. Someone who only sticks to the internet and doesn’t interact directly is not a good thing.
6. A lot of false information
The large number of people who can upload information on the internet makes a lot of information available. However, the information that is available is not always correct and accurate, there are lots of irresponsible individuals spreading false information or hoaxes.
False information does not only spread on social media such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and others. There is a lot of false information that spreads through whatsapp messages, especially through group to group.
7. Plagiarism
Creating a work and then publishing it via the internet is an effective way to introduce and promote the work. But this often has an unfair impact on the creation of works. Many people who are not responsible for plagiarizing or plagiarizing other people’s works, then label themselves on that work.
This is a big loss, for people who use the internet as a place to introduce their work. Even though there are laws regarding copyright and plagiarism, there are still many plagiarism cases.
8. Crime
One crime that is quite common is the transfer of money in m-banking or electronic money that is connected to a cell phone. Cases like this usually begin with sending an OTP code and verifying something.
The perpetrator will call the victim and pose as an agent, or someone who pretends to work for a company related to the crime. If the victim believes it and provides the OTP code, it will make it easier for the perpetrator to carry out the action, namely diverting the victim’s money. Similar cases have also been carried out by unscrupulous online taxi drivers.
9. Pornographic content
It is common knowledge that pornographic content is spread on the internet. Even though there has been a blocking action from the government, pornographic content still lurk on the internet. There are also many applications that support opening pornographic content.
Apart from relying on the government, there must be education as well as self-intention to stay away from pornography so as not to damage oneself and others.
10. Internet addiction
Something that is done in excess is not good, including playing the internet. Usually cases like this are experienced by children because of playing games. In addition, there are many cases where parents rely on the internet to raise their children. Like when a child is fussy, parents will show entertaining shows on the internet. If the way is effective, then it will become a habit.
If you are used to the internet and use it excessively since you were a child, it is very likely that it will lead to internet addiction. This is certainly not good from a psychological or physical perspective.
11. Not sensitive to surroundings
People who play too much on the internet sometimes don’t pay attention to their surroundings, because they only focus on staring at the internet. This will make him insensitive to the situation and only pay attention to what is in front of him, namely the internet.
12. Health Problems
When you play on the internet for too long, you have to stare at a cellphone or laptop screen for too long, it will affect your eyes. If this is done continuously, it will have a bad impact on vision.
Another case that often occurs is excessive use of the internet causing insomnia, sleep hours will be messy and health will be disturbed. Another thing that can happen is, when you are busy playing the internet you can sometimes forget to do other things like eat. This will also affect the health of the body.
How to Anticipate Negative Impacts of the Internet
1. Early Education
The many negative impacts of using the internet often greatly affect the activities of daily life. This has an impact on many people and knows no age, both children and adults. Early education is a form of prevention to overcome the negative effects of internet use.
Education from an early age does not mean it has to be done under parental guidance, because this also applies to adults in overcoming the negative effects of internet use. This method can be done in various ways and can be done by getting education from anywhere.
2. Parental Control
Parental supervision is one way to prevent the negative effects of internet use. This is usually done to show children, because the negative effects of internet use are more often felt by children.
Children who should still not be at the age of wisdom in digesting whatever they receive. Parental supervision must be carried out regularly at all times, this is to further ensure that children get age-appropriate information.
3. Filter All Information Received
As time goes by, technology continues to develop, therefore the information circulating on the internet is also more and more diverse. Indirectly there will be more information that must be filtered to be accepted.
Information filtering is carried out to prevent unwanted negative information from entering and other negative impacts.
4. Don’t Easily Trust Strangers
In an internet-based virtual world, there are many activities that take place at any time without stopping. Then there is also a lot of communication that takes place between individuals. Today, there are often many people who want to do anything to benefit from the internet world itself.
However, this also causes casualties that will impact his life. Activities such as fraud, harassment, and other negative things impact various aspects of the lives of those who experience them. Therefore it is important for the whole community to remain vigilant and not easily trust strangers on the internet.
5. Limit Internet Use
Restricting internet use is one effective way to prevent the negative effects of internet use. Even though in today’s modern world, the internet is one of the bases for all human activities, limiting internet use is an important thing. One of the impacts that can be prevented is the emergence of a sense of addiction and dependence on the internet itself.
Addiction and dependence on the internet can have many other effects. Indirectly, a lot of information will be received, and over time there will be a feeling of not caring about filtering information that allows unnecessary negative information to enter.
Also read articles related to “Positive and Negative Impacts of the Internet”:
- Mispronounced Words on the Internet
- What is Online?
- How to get money from the internet
- How to Create Emails in Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft
- Most Popular Social Media
Examples of Useful Sites
- Noisli
- Geacorn.com
- Getnotify.com
- Web-capture.net
- Internet Archives
- SoundPacks. com
- Snappa
- Google Scholar
- WebOas.is
- Archipelago Rhythm
- World.time.com
- PicaPic.com
- PrintWhatYouLike.com
- Oldversion.com
- Discuvver.com
- Mental Thread
- AirConsole
- Pricetrack
- Keybr
- GuruShots
- Fitday
- ETC
Author: Wida Kurniasih
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