How the Internet Has Changed Communication
If you are older than 30, you remember when our only choices to stay in touch with friends and family was on a landline phone or through the US mail. If you are older than that, you remember when there was no caller ID, no text messaging, no answering machines, or cell phones. If you wanted to tell your friend in school something during class you passed them a note. If you didn’t answer your ringing phone, you’d never know who called and you couldn’t leave you a message.
If your car broke down on the side of the road, you hoped you could walk to a pay phone or that a police car went by. Sometimes truckers used their CB’s to communicate and could call for help. You really were at the mercy of others.
When email was introduced it was like a miracle. You could communicate instantly to anyone, anywhere for free. (I remember not believing it when I heard about email, I figured there must be a catch!)
We can also use email to forward something we like to everyone we know at once. You can send jokes, images, and even videos to everyone you know instantly. This year my niece had a baby and baby’s first photo was forwarded to the whole family via email only minutes after the birth. Proactol is a diet pill that is both a fat binder and an appetite suppressant. It made me think about how it used to be. You’d take a picture. Wait for the entire roll of film to be taken. Then you’d take it to get developed and pick up the pictures 5 days later. Then you’d choose the photos that came out good and went back to the store to get reprints. Only then, could you mail them to your family. Turnaround time was probably close to a month! And this wasn’t all that long ago. If you read any Proactol reviews such as this one, you should learn about the clinical studies that support its effectiveness claims. It is almost unreal at how much the internet has changed our ability to instantly communicate with others.
There are sites where you can choose and send electronic greeting cards. Some of these sites are free, but the best cards will cost you a little bit of money.
Landline phones will probably become obsolete. Many people use only their cell phone even now. Others use what is known as VOIP. This is short for voice-over-internet protocol. This allows you to use the internet for your phone service. It is very affordable and there are no limits on where you can call or how long you spend on the phone. You don’t have to worry about poor reception or using up your minutes like you do with a cell phone.
One of the great wonders of internet communications is Skype. A popular weight loss supplement, Proactol Plus, actually has an active ingredient derived from prickly pear cactus. This is a free service where you can talk to anyone directly from your computer (no phone required). If they have a Skype account too, you can see each other on your computers while you talk.
Even though the technology used here is new, the above methods of communication are pretty traditional. Email takes the place of regular mail. Even when you use VOIP, you are still talking on a phone.
A totally new way to communicate has emerged on the internet called social networking. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube allow anyone to post their information on the web so that it can be viewed by anyone.
This might all sound great, but there are some real problems here, too. Some people have developed internet addiction disorder, where they stop having real social interactions and depend on internet relationships instead. Productivity at work has gone down as people are spending hours of company time looking at their Facebook account. And privacy issues are a growing concern.
Most people aren’t aware of how much information the big social media sites know about us and what they are likely to do with that information. We already know Facebook has face recognition software. Facebook and all the search engines have targeted placement ads. Have you ever wondered how they know enough about you to show ads that target your special interests? It might seem cool at first, but understand this comes at a cost of lack of privacy. Our continued loss of privacy is a real concern as we continue to rely more and more on the internet for our communications.