F08 L07 Group 2

Authors
L07 Group 2: Internet or Internot? Shamus Hardie Elizaveta Kaplunova Howard Kong Stephen Lindstrom

Project Details
Technology: The Internet Issue: Communication Through the Internet

Project Statement
With the invention of the internet comes the dawn of a new era in communication. No longer are people dependent on expensive telephone calls to talk to relatives half-a-world away. No longer are individuals forced to wait for months to receive letters from friends and family who may be on the other side of the planet. With the invention of the internet, a network that connects computers all around the world, those that have access could send messages, deliver letters, and communicate with others anywhere on the globe instantaneously.

However, with the presence of the internet invading many aspects of our everyday lives, including school, work, and recreation, trends show that society has developed a dependence on the internet to fulfill its everyday needs. Often coined 'Internet Addiction', studies show that people are spending more and more time interacting with others online than face-to-face. Also, many individuals are spending long periods of time a day on the internet, which is physically unhealthy.

Through the use of secondary research, our team will address the pros and cons of communication through the internet and produce a possible solution to this issue,

Argument
Though communication through the internet has proven to be convenient, affordable, and effective, it has proven to have its pitfalls as well. Negative aspects include internet addiction, deteriorating face-to-face communication, dependency on the internet to meet our everyday needs, and overuse of the computer on a daily basis which is leading to negative health impacts. This leads us to the argument: Is internet communication beneficial to society, or is it leading to the degeneration of face-to-face communication? We will go into depth about these issues and ultimately prove that the internet is a powerful tool that should be utilized, as long as it is used in moderation.

Pros and Cons
To identify the pros and cons of internet communication, we will study the primary applications accessed by users to communicate over the medium of the internet and discuss the positive and negative aspects of each. They include online blogs and recreational sites, messenger programs, e-mail, and social networking services.

Blogs and Recreation Sites
A popular means of recreation in 2008 is the use of video blog sites such as YouTube. These sites are used easily post videos created by users for other users to view. Videos range from blogs to 'how-to' tutorial videos, to videos created simply for amusement.

Pros - Through the use of sites such as YouTube, users have been able to express themselves by posting videos and video blogs relating to their lifestyle. Informative videos have also allowed viewers to acquire new skills simply from watching a poster's tutorial videos. Videos posted on YouTube have also been essential in distributing media that is beneficial to users such as music videos and movie trailers. The majority of users who use video blog sites do so for pure entertainment purposes, including but not limited to listening to music, viewing video blogs, watching magic tricks, science experiments, daring feats, and seeing the lives of others.

Cons - Though YouTube allows users to post their opinions through videos, this also enables users to post hate videos and videos 'bashing' or insulting other users. Since the internet connects many people around the globe, it gives certain individuals a sense of security knowing they are free to offend people over the internet because they cannot be reprimanded for their actions. This leads to a degeneration of morals in society and steps must be taken to advert negative impacts on users who start to think that this is acceptable. Many users are also spending all of their time using online recreation sites and this is a physically unhealthy practice. Copyright infringement is also an issue since users are free to post copyrighted content such as movies and songs from albums that aren't available to the general public.

E-mail
E-mail is a form of sending both text-typed messages as well as files attached to them. The basic form of e-mail is a simple, short message such as, “Hi, how are you?” It could also be much longer or even shorter.

Pros - The main point of e-mail is being able to attach other documents as well. The most common document sent is text documents. Sending documents as e-mail is more convenient than simply typing your message into an e-mail. For example, text documents can be much longer than e-mails and can also be more easily edited as well as saved and worked on later. More complicated documents can also be sent through e-mail such as slide shows, pictures and even videos. Easily the most convenient of all of e-mail’s features is that many companies offer free, e-mail accounts that can be used to send messages great distances both faster and cheaper than postal service or fax machines. Sending electronic messages with e-mail is so quick and easy that it is one of the most used systems on the internet.

Cons - Though e-mail is indeed very convenient, the downfall is that both participants require internet in order to interact. The convenience of e-mail also makes it possible for chain letters and advertising/web spam by large corporations to be mass distributed to several e-mail users, leading to a diluted presence of useful information. One cannot send physical objects through e-mail, only electronic files on the computer. Most importantly, e-mail is not as personal as writing a letter by hand.

Social Networking Services
Social Networking Services(SNS) have become increasingly popular recently with the global success of the website Facebook. A SNS can be defined as an online community where users can interact with other users and generally have a profile where they can display personal info, blogs, and posted pictures, videos, etc. INCOMPLETE