by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: February 09, 2009   Last Updated: September 09, 2011

Technology has undoubtedly improved everybody's lives, making it is easier and quicker to perform certain tasks and generally contributing to a better standard of living. The internet is one invention which has transformed lives, and has had such a revolutionary impact that it has completely re-configured the way in which people view the world. There have been many positives to come out of the expansion of the internet, but like all good things, the internet has also had some negative effects.

It seems that there is a reliance on the internet which formerly had not been an issue. Many forms which are required to be filled in are only available online, whilst some companies only deal with customers online, making it increasingly difficult to find an actual person to talk to. Indeed, the internet has proved to have negative effects when it comes to human relationships in general. People are more interested in engaging with others in chat rooms and forums than meeting people in the 'real' world, and so it can become harder to deal with people in actual social situations.

Some individuals become addicted to the internet, thus jeopardising their own relationships, as their need to access the internet takes control of their life. This is particularly visible in the rise of pornography. There is so much free pornography available, making it much easier to access. Increasing numbers of people have become addicted to pornography, partially as a result of the ease with which they can view such material. The ubiquitous nature of pornography also means that children are able to view films and images of a sexual nature, although parental controls can be implemented.

Children today do not even remember a time when the internet did not exist, and so their whole perception of relationships, social interaction, and accessing information is shaped by their exposure to the internet. Social interactions are increasingly being conducted through technology, whether through text messaging or email, seeming almost to dehumanise social contacts. The internet has made the whole world accessible to everybody, but at the same time it has made it seem less real.

Children and adults can make 'friends' with someone half-way around the world, but are they 'real' friends? After all, most people who meet through social networking sites never meet, relying on instant messaging to communicate, and people are not necessarily who they say they are. Although people can lie in person, there is something less sinister about getting to know people's flaws by talking face-to-face, rather than communicating through a computer. Indeed, there is an 'underground' bad-land within cyber space, where people with perverse interests lurk.

There are adults prepared to portray themselves as something they are not, in order to attract children, who they are then able to 'groom'. The internet has provided a forum for this kind of abuse, and has enabled paedophiles to be able to find each other and share images, which would have been much more difficult in the past.

However, just because the internet has had a negative impact on some areas of people's lives, this should not be allowed to overshadow the overwhelming benefits and opportunities which the growth of the internet has provided. Ultimately, the positives of the internet far outweigh the negatives.

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