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How the Internet Has Had A Positive or Negative Effect on Communication?
Although the advent of the Internet has brought various changes not only in our
lifestyles but also in our day to day activities. It has transformed the ways we used to live in
the past. It has transformed communication and has brought negative and positive impacts on
our lives through this communication. This communication takes place though social mediate
sites, chatting platforms and calling apps. This communication through the arrival of Internet
has brought a revolution in the way we approach and talk to other people in time, space and
relevance. We do not communicate in the same way, we used to a decade back. Kai Brito of
the Badger Herald cites Professor Morton Gernsbacher to show that the Internet has positive
impacts on our communication (Brito 2017). Although it does not matter what methods or
tools or apps people uses, what matters is that the impacts are more positive than negative.
The Internet has impacted the communication not only in sending messages, but also in
sending messages in different formats and different time frame.
As far as sending messages is concerned, it is a positive in that a person can send as
many messages to as many people as he wants without going into much fuss of the yester
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years of selecting envelopes and then writing or copying the same messages. Brito has stated
that it is because of our “preference for text over speech” where a message can stay longer
and can be stored or even reproduced for the purpose of evidences (Brito). Therefore, this is a
major positive aspect that sending massage has become easy not only in terms of number of
the messages, but also in terms of safety or retrieval. This mode of sending messages also
helps a person to store messages when criminal activities are to be exposed through such
methods. This is a great positive aspect of the Internet communication where preference of
written message helps a society stops crimes. However, another positive impact is the use of
different formats for sending messages.
In fact, when using the Internet, a person is compelled to use internet-based
communication to talk to the people. He sends millions of messages to millions of people. But
not all these messages are sent through the same format and same medium. Vangie Beal
argues that the way a person sends his message or sends in a format depends on the medium
that he is using. A person may send an instant message through a chat room or write a
message and send through a mail. He argues that when sending an email “The messages can
be notes entered through the keyboard or electronic files stored on a disk” (Beal 2005). In
fact, he means that the format could be a voice message recorded, a formal message typed in a
file or a message written to be sent through a chat room. In fact, it means that people have
various mediums and various formats at dispels to use at any time. They are not bound by the
medium or by the choice of formats like that in the past. And interesting! It is all done within
a short span.
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In fact, this is one of the most positive impacts of the Internet on communication.
Compared to the past, now communication has become very easier and fast. In the past, a
letter used to reach its destination in days and that is not the thing of far past. Sharma, an
Indian writer writes many disadvantages but when it comes to time, he says that
communication has become very much fast that it is not easy to track its fastness. This
happens, he argues, in two ways. The first is sending emails for connectivity and second is
sharing via social media platforms. He is of the view that the situation has reached a point that
people, if do not seen you online, think that you are not more alive. In other words, it means
that if you are online, they reach you instantly and tell you that they are with you through
thick and think. He states a case that people are often found saying that some people have
more than 1,000 friends on social media but none when it comes to have a real friend who
could extend emotional sport (Sharma 2018). In other words, he means that though it has
become fast and even faster, it lacks that emotional attachment. Whatever it may have
emotionally, it is a benefit that people can reach their loved ones in no time.
Briefly speaking, the positive impacts brought by the Internet in communication are
highly diverse and sometimes even controversial. However, no body can deny that the
Internet has changed the ways we used to send messages and take out time. Now there are
many ways to go online and then reach others through other means. In fact, sending formats
are so much and diverse that people can use formal or informal language and select a medium
likewise. If a formal message needs to be typed and sent, they can select an email or whatsapp
message in other case. In the same way, communication is just a button away or just a touch
away. You need not visit a positive office or visit a call center. Even call is a touch away. You
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can dial anybody and talk to any person within a minute. Even videoconferencing has made it
easy for a person to contact any person in any part of the world.
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Works Cited
Beal, Vangie. “Types of Internet Communications.” Webopedia. 05 Aug. 2005.
https://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/internet_communications.asp.
Accessed 28 Sep. 2019.
Brito, Kai. “UW Professor emphasizes positive effects of internet communication.” The
Badger Herald, 27 Sep. 2017. https://badgerherald.com/news/2017/09/27/uw-
professor-emphasizes-positive-effects-of-internet-communication/. Accessed 28 Sep.
2019.
Sharma, Vijay K. “How Technology has Affected Communication.” Kleint SoluTech. 28 Mar.
2018. http://www.klientsolutech.com/how-technology-has-affected-communication/.
Accessed 28 Sep. 2019.
