Internet As A Medium Essay, Research Paper

English 1A

Condon

The internet is a fast growing medium in the world. A countless number of people become lost in this intangible realm everyday. Computers are found in a vast majority of the households throughout the world. People from all around the world are creating websites. The internet is perhaps one of the most valuable resources for information available. The internet is the most productive way to search for anything from historical events to the latest movie reviews. It is a very powerful medium which has grown to influence a large portion of society. Communication over the net is becomming easier and more popular everyday.

Advertizers are taking steps everyday to advance the sales of products to the growing number of people online. Everyday, new banners are created for the sole purpose of catching ones attention. Advertizers spend rediculous ammounts of money for a little dancing picture that might bring a few extra people to their site. For the people who use the internet solely as a source of entertainment, these advertizements have very little effect; however, for the lazy people who would like to shop at home at the comfort of their computer, the advertizers must attempt to control them. Whether someone uses Amazon.com or a generic online booksellers website depends on which advertizing has effected them more. Amazon.com is a large and well known enterprize simply because everyone has heard or seen the name. Personally I do not think any of my friends or relatives have ever used this site to purchase anything, but its name gets lodged in your head because advertizers draw so much attention to it. Advertizing on the net is recently starting to invade our private lives on the net as well. Just as advertizers in the recent years have been annoying people by calling their houses, now they send mass messages through “ICQ” and “IRC”. Advertisements for an URL with the next greatest product since the last one. It is very annoying that advertisements are allowed to run rampant around the net, but many people have come not to even notice the advertisements anymore. That is the price advertisers pay for making us see the same stuff over and over. Now it is to the point that advertizements are not even noticable unless there is some outstanding aspect to them.

The internet is an excellent face paced world allowing the common consumer to pick and choose items to purchase with the click of a mouse. Advertisements do their fare share in trying to commercialize the net, but theirs still the fact that informa

A common definition for the word media is means of communication. What better way then the internet do people communicate on such a mass scale. In chat rooms a person can find information about about products from people who have actually used the products. Tips about best prices and quality of goods and services are at the disposal of everyone on the net. By communicating with other usually decent people on the net, consumers can find the best deals for products they actually want. Aside from being only the consumer, people have a great opportunity on the net to set up their own site and sell products. There is a lot of money to be had on the internet. For the people who have become addicted to surfing the web, there are ways to make money by just visiting sponsors and telling a few freinds. News travels fast around the web. Popular programs like “Napster” and “Gamespy” have become the standard ways to download music or play games. I remember when each of these programs first came out and how fast they grew; consequently, these programs became very popular with very little advertizing. Ive never seen a banner or paid advertizement promoting these programs, yet many people seem to use them everyday. This shows to me that good products can stand alone without millions in promotions because the great communication system we have set forth on the net. The ability to pick and choose items of the best quality is the real power of the internet.

Although the internet is a good source of information and mens of communication, it can also be an addictive way to be lazy. Chat rooms and messaging services are a great way to communicate with relatives and friends, as well as a way to make new friends. But before to long the internet can easily addict people. I have known friends in IRC who have been there for many years; Everyday these people come on and talk for hours on end just to keep eachother entertained. With an occasional game of online “Quake” or “GTA”, people can stay in front of their computers for days at a time while only stopping for bathroom breaks and food. Sure it is a great source of entertainment, but after a while these people see what has become of their social life, and they are trapped. With no friends to fall back upon, the internet takes you in and provides little means of escape. A friend I met online in Quake a few years ago is one of these people. Joe had a loving family and friends who hung out with him alot when i first met him. He found a woman named tonya on the net and was online all day just waiting so he could talk to her when she came on. He moved out of his house when he was 16 to live with Tonya because his parents,solely his father, didnt want his lazy ass no more.