The Internet's impact on daily living

Written by Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr. (CFA)

Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata Jnr.

There is a huge impact of technology on our everyday life. One of the greatest blessings of technology is the internet. Many of us have already become so used to the internet that we take it for granted today.

In actual fact, the internet can be considered as one of the world's most significant inventions which has brought a number of influences on people's daily lives.

For some, it is impossible to go a single day without the internet; it has simply revolutionised the way we live, interact and operate on a daily basis. Ordering for a pizza, for instance, purchasing a television set, sharing a moment with friends, transmitting a picture via instant messaging, sending a mail and more are already common activities online.

Before the invention of the internet, if you wished to get any news, you must walk down to the newspaper stand or seek out a newspaper vendor early in the morning to be able to buy the local edition of the newspaper reporting what had occurred the previous day.

Now, one or two clicks away on your device with internet connection, (laptop, mobile phone, iPad, etc), is enough to enable you to gain access to read your local online newspaper like www.punchng.com or any other newspaper from anywhere in the world in real time as they are being updated.

Our daily lives have significantly been made simple and easy through communications and transactions over the internet. In the past, looking for a job entailed your writing series of applications to a number of companies and either taking them personally or posting them at the post office. Nowadays, you only need to send an email of your resume to the company's Human Resources Department, which gets delivered immediately through the internet.

This ensures that it gets to as many companies as possible immediately it is sent rather than waiting for a whole day trying to submit it at the company and getting rejected ultimately or having the posted application lost in transit.

Some other specific ways the internet is impacting lives are enumerated below.

Impact on students and teenager's life: 

I remember in those days that you needed to travel to and queue at designated post offices to obtain the JAMB form, fill up the bulky document and take back to the post office to submit.

At present, all you need to do is to obtain and fill the JAMB form online without stress. Even the examination mode of shading the multiple choice answers to the JAMB questions and waiting for months on end for these to be marked and results released had been replaced with computer-based-tests, CBT, and results are made available within 24 hours!

Students now carry out research and studies by searching for data and information on the internet. Children and teenagers are linked with large number of their peers around the world and they enjoy interacting with one another; making the world a global village.

Influence on business life: 

Businesses today are utilising some web technologies to promote their business, products, services and brands (which include personal brands) across the world. Internet marketing has become very popular these days; businessmen are promoting their products and services all around the world.

The stock exchange market is completely dependent on internet technology through which investors constantly monitor prices of various companies' shares, gold and a lot of other investment instruments.

Improvement in social life: 

People are becoming more socially-inclined as a result of the availability of the internet. People now use various social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ to communicate with each other very easily.

Internet offers the opportunity to chat with one another and make new friends via various social media sites. Some years before now, if you had a friend or a family member outside town or country, sending a letter through the post office and booking a telephone call were the only ways of connecting with them. These took time. Today, you can connect through email, video conference, Skype and other online applications that are dependent on the internet.

Online banking: 

Online banking allows you to carry out almost all your banking transactions from home through the internet. This is a marked improvement from what obtained in the past, from having to wait in endless queues in a banking hall to check your balance, cash some money, make transfer of funds, collect your monthly statement, etc.

Online shopping: 

Internet technology allows the existence of debit and credit cards, which enable you to make online payments when purchasing products through the internet. These days, purchasing products, for example, mobile devices, watches, bags, home items and clothes, or even paying out bills can be done very easily from the comfort of your home.

According to a McKinsey report, "by 2025, e-commerce could account for 10 per cent of retail sales in Africa's largest economies, which will translate into some $75bn in annual revenue."

Getting directions: 

This is one service I use a lot in Nigeria and it works fairly well as long as there is internet connection. Before the invention of the internet, maps and compasses (which were difficult to read) were used to ascertain directions. The internet has made getting directions easier. Nowadays, you can easily get directions on the internet through different web technologies such as Google Map.

Entertainment: 

Today, all you need to do is to log on the internet in your leisure time and enjoy videos and movies or play music and video games. It's all there for you on the internet.

Gathering helpful information: 

All kinds of information relating to anything in everyday life are available on the internet. These range from cosmetics to health issues, fashion, interior decoration, cooking recipes, and a host of other interests.

It is therefore not out of place to refer to the internet as one of the great wonders of the world!