If you were to draw the cyber, virtual world, what do you think would your drawing look like? Unlike the scientists that roughly sketched out our solar system, drawing spheres and positioning them where they’re supposed to be, the virtual world isn’t definite. It’s a vast, intangible space where gravity seems to be out of the equation. And despite the fact that we can’t grasp what the entire internet world looks like, we are all inevitably part of it, and more than just being a part, we are active users who contribute to the growing world which we can’t seem to fully comprehend. As this world grows, we also evolve with it. Unknowingly, our behaviors change and the way we think and the way we see things are altered. The question now seems to be: will this revolution have positive or negative effects on human kind?
In a span of 20 years, the world has rapidly changed because of the internet. People are apparently more connected and more dependent on this radical and revolutionizing piece of technology. I myself couldn’t imagine what the world would be like today without the internet. I couldn’t even remember what it was like when the internet wasn’t as popular as it is today. Without my Facebook account, Tumblr page and Twitter, how in the world would I spend most of my idle time? And just like almost everyone else, I am one of the people who have been sucked into the world of cyberspace and have been transformed into a Homo Interneticus.
Because more and more people attach themselves to the internet, it is of no wonder that the virtual world has generated income far more than anyone could have ever imagined 20 years ago. If a comparison would be made, the internet could be likened to a shopping mall where absolutely EVERYTHING is available – ready to be bought and used by the consumer. However, the major differences between the two are as follows: (1) The internet is more accessible and “handy”; (2) Browsing through web pages is more convenient for people than walking through shops and purchasing; (3) Shopping malls are still limited to a few choices as compared to the internet where millions of web pages are available for the users. The internet practically provides our everyday needs, and though we think all our clicks and scrolls and enter’s are free – we must always be reminded that there’s a price to pay.
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| Do you think you're actually safe? |
In this time and age where everything seems to be instant and where communication is always at the palm of our hands, it’s difficult to trace back to the period when none of these things really mattered to us. Now that our lives pretty much revolve around it, it scares me whenever I think of the ways the internet has changed my everyday routine and the way I interact with people. It also bothers me when I think about where all the information we post online goes – knowing that whatever we put out there, will be there forever, and that it can be accessed by absolutely anyone. Any real information I submit online about me is a dangerous piece of information that could be traded. Photos, telephone numbers, addresses, and even personal exchanges such as e-mail, comments or posts reflect my real identity and are a part of me and knowing that some person in this world can gain access to these deeply disturbs me. It isn’t even impossible that the scenes from the movie Eagle Eye would happen in real life. We’re constantly under surveillance and are not even sure who is out there watching us do the things we do online. With a few codes here and there, information about us may be retrieved and may be traced back to our real identity – and who knows who can get hold of these information and for what use he or she may out them into. Unfortunately, the thing about this is that we, as users, are unhesitant to hand these because we think that the personal data are kept safe - the internet has given a whole new meaning to privacy.
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| Internet routine |
Today’s generation and the next ones are most likely going to be the “slaves of the virtual world”. It isn’t a rare instance when you see children glued to their electronic devices, hooked to whatever mundane thing they are doing online. I remember having a conversation with a couple of friends on how much has changed in such little time. Back then, playing outdoor games was such a fad and staying at home, and locking yourself up was considered to be doings of a loser. However, nowadays, none of the kids would even other to go to the playground and run around because there’s the gaming consoles and the computers to keep them busy and entertained. My friends and I realized how sad it is for these kids to be locked up in their houses, all alone; enjoying whatever game they’re playing by themselves. I’m not an expert on kids but in my opinion, this behavior puts their creative mind and their social skills (interaction and communication with others, etc) in danger.
I’m pretty certain that in the years to come, more and more advancements would be made and the internet could possibly be our “real world” already, given that at this point in time, we already are sucked into the virtual realm. Although it indeed has a lot of use to many, we should still be vigilant about the things that are sacrificed because of internet usage such as privacy of an individual and the shaping of the behavior and minds of the youth. I cannot say for a fact that doing something about this rather alarming issue would be easy but a small step into the door would be meaningful enough. I believe that proper education on internet usage is still the answer to this concern because controlling and regulating the internet would give way to a lot of questions and protests since people have been already given the liberty to use it as “freely” as they want to from the start.
If I were to draw the virtual world, I wouldn’t draw anything on the paper because the internet is “nothing” and “everything” at the same time, “nothing” in a sense that we must know that we still have control over it and we must not lose ourselves and our humanness because of it and it is also “everything” because our world slowly progresses as it changes too – just as how the blank piece of paper would appear to be nothing but the entire paper is actually everything already.
Fun facts
126 million – The number of blogs on the Internet (as tracked by BlogPulse).
84% – Percent of social network sites with more women than men.
27.3 million – Number of tweets on Twitter per day (November, 2009)
57% – Percentage of Twitter’s user base located in the United States.
4.25 million – People following @aplusk (Ashton Kutcher, Twitter’s most followed user).
350 million – People on Facebook.
50% – Percentage of Facebook users that log in every day.
500,000 – The number of active Facebook applications.
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| Internet facts from |
http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/072010/internet_facts.jpg; click the link to see high-res version :)
Posted by: Jara Lucero
Sources:
(image) http://cache.blippitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/internet-privacy.gif
(image)http://mumblingidiot.deviantart.com/art/Jus-Checkin-165952661?q=boost:popular%20world%20wide%20web&qo=44
(image) http://desktopdiva.i.ph/photo/d/986-1/Printing-the-internet-bed1.jpg
(image) http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/072010/internet_facts.jpg
(facts) http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/01/22/internet-2009-in-numbers/
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