Internet and Communication

Here we had to write an argumentative essay on the topic : The existence of the Internet means that we can now communicate more easily than ever before. This can only be good. Do you agree?

In 1971, the army of the United States of America created one of the most useful technologies of our time.... The Internet. It was first known as the ARPANET ( Advanced Research Project Agency NETwork) and was used for communication between 2 ends of the US. In the very same year, a man named Ray Tomlinson sent the first ever email using this network. Slowly, the ARPANET became bigger, expanding to more offices and homes. Within a couple of years, in the 1980’s, discoveries like emoticons and online chat developed. In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer scientist, wrote the HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), a language that enabled computers to communicate hypertext documents over the internet, thus expanding the network globally.

Thanks to the Internet, communication has become faster and easier than ever before. People from different ‘corners’ of the globe can now talk, as if face-to-face. A quick email or a ‘HRU’ now does it. The internet has helped us to develop, and be open minded to several other cultures. We know what is going on in people’s lives within a short span of time thanks to social networking sites. Contacting someone doesn’t cost us much money, so we take advantage of how much we can really ‘communicate’. We are part of an international community. But, does all this ‘quick and easy communication’ really benefit us?

Although, the Net is extremely useful, there are some downsides to it. First of all, the internet allows for a range of crimes that actually were harder to commit before. Crimes such as identity theft have been so much easier, as no one is actually checking for ID proof, to see if you are actually the one communicating, and interacting on the Net. Also, due to increased internet use, we have undermined the value of face-to-face conversation of actual human contact at all. And, what about writing? The whole beauty of penmanship has completely disappeared. I wish I could experience stories I have heard from my elders about writing letters – staying up till 3 am just writing them, waiting eagerly for days for a new letter and the joy of opening a letter sent by a loved one.

Sure, it is agreed, that the Internet has helped us communicate faster and easier. But, the true form of letters has taught patience and joy to those elder to us. As the young generation, I feel, it is our responsibility to take this technology further, but not leave the old one behind. For, as Confucius once said, “Real knowledge is to know the extent of one’s ignorance”.