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The negative side of the Internet is actually a multi-dimensional entity. Although the Internet has brought fantastic opportunities to all of us in recent years and made so many things possible that were never possible before, not all the news of course is good news.

The criminal fraternity have of course benefited from the advent and growth of the Internet. Computer hacking has become a new buzz phrase in society. Unscrupulous individuals are gaining access to the bank accounts and financial information of others, siphoning off their cash and using their identities for a whole host of criminal activities. Websites are hacked, costing companies millions and giving these criminals access to further information which can be put to illegal but often highly profitable use. Sadly, as detection methods for these activities improve, the ingenuity of the criminals and their techniques seem to develop on a level par.

The Internet has very much had a negative impact on social activities, in all age groups but particularly in the young. As people spend more and more time online, they are doing so in physical solitude, cooped up indoors. While they may very well be interacting online, they are missing out on traditional social activities, much needed physical exercise and simple time in the fresh air.

This leads on to the negative impact the Internet has upon people's health. They can develop eyestrain or other vision problems by staring too long at a computer screen. They can develop problems in their back or joints by sitting too long at a computer and quite possibly not adopting the correct posture. It is possible even that they may develop such as migraines by watching complicated computer graphics on such as online games.

The Internet has had a very negative effect on many people with respect to their employment. As things like banking and shopping are more and more performed very effectively online, staffing levels in retail outlets have been adversely affected. Huge conglomerates like Amazon and eBay allow people to buy products at much lower prices than they would in a conventional sense and the knock-on effect has in many areas been profound.

It is clear therefore that although we can obtain a great many benefits from the Internet, its usage has to be extremely well controlled and limited where necessary if those negative aspects of its creation are not to exceed the positive and produce more problems for all of us than are absolutely necessary.

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
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