Internet has revolutionalised the world. It has changed the way people live. In India, however, it does not seem to have influenced the lives of people in a very big way. Yes, people do use the internet to keep in touch with family and friends; however their usage of the internet stops there. I wonder why.
Ever since I was introduced to it at 12 years of age, the internet has never failed to fascinate me. It first started with exchanging emails with my cousin. I then got introduced to the ever-green search engine google.com, and ever since then, there was no looking back. And that is the reason I fail to understand why the internet hasn't intrigued more than half the population in our country. You might say half of them cannot afford it or don't have access. My point is in purview of the people who can afford it and have access to it.
In college, everytime there was an assignment to find out information from the internet, most people groaned. Well, that's probably because it meant more "studying". Most people I know have email accounts they never use. They hardly ever log in to social networking sites. When asked why they don't access the internet often, they say they don't know what to do online! How could they not know what to do online? I could spend hours browsing, reading and discussing online. There is no dearth of things to do online! After checking my inbox, replying to emails, reading online newspapers and feeds on my feed reader, reading blogs, watching videos, appreciating art on smashingmagazine.com and I still have time to stay online, I google-search questions that haunt my mind, or just play silly games on facebook or tickle.com. I never run out of things to do online, and people say they don't know what to do!
I find it incredibly amazing that I can share the silliest of thoughts on twitter.com and have interesting conversations on them. It's amazing how I can stay abreast with the latest information to the minute, and people say they find it boring and don't know what to do online! How is this possible?
P.S. If you are reading this, you probably are among the small percentage of people who use the internet for more than just keeping in touch. I would be glad to know how you spend your time online.
[3rd Nov 2010] Things to do online:
Here's a list of interesting websites that maybe you could check out. Just a few to get you started (in case you're here because you really want to know what you could do online)
Ever since I was introduced to it at 12 years of age, the internet has never failed to fascinate me. It first started with exchanging emails with my cousin. I then got introduced to the ever-green search engine google.com, and ever since then, there was no looking back. And that is the reason I fail to understand why the internet hasn't intrigued more than half the population in our country. You might say half of them cannot afford it or don't have access. My point is in purview of the people who can afford it and have access to it.
In college, everytime there was an assignment to find out information from the internet, most people groaned. Well, that's probably because it meant more "studying". Most people I know have email accounts they never use. They hardly ever log in to social networking sites. When asked why they don't access the internet often, they say they don't know what to do online! How could they not know what to do online? I could spend hours browsing, reading and discussing online. There is no dearth of things to do online! After checking my inbox, replying to emails, reading online newspapers and feeds on my feed reader, reading blogs, watching videos, appreciating art on smashingmagazine.com and I still have time to stay online, I google-search questions that haunt my mind, or just play silly games on facebook or tickle.com. I never run out of things to do online, and people say they don't know what to do!
I find it incredibly amazing that I can share the silliest of thoughts on twitter.com and have interesting conversations on them. It's amazing how I can stay abreast with the latest information to the minute, and people say they find it boring and don't know what to do online! How is this possible?
P.S. If you are reading this, you probably are among the small percentage of people who use the internet for more than just keeping in touch. I would be glad to know how you spend your time online.
[3rd Nov 2010] Things to do online:
Here's a list of interesting websites that maybe you could check out. Just a few to get you started (in case you're here because you really want to know what you could do online)
- If you've got a lot of digital photos on your computer, maybe you could try ShapeCollage that lets you make picture collages in different shapes.
- If you want to learn something new you could try SoYouWanna.com - a website that tells you how to paint your room, how to fake an appreciation for art, how to survive in a Brazilian jungle, how to publish a book, how to be a model, or maybe even how to be productive online... just about anything for anyone.
- New to the internet, and want to know all the things you've missed? Check these top 35 internet memes of the last 15 years.
- There's even a website that says it is dedicated to the bored and unemployed (not that you are), but this site's got interesting entertaining stuff. It's called Fork Party. I like checking the Fail section for laughs.
- If you like TV (or fiction - be it watching or reading), there's TV tropes. This website, I must warn you, can be addictive.
- If you like art, or even if you want to look at all the beautiful art that people are coming up with, you could try Paintings I Love or Deviant Art.
- And then there are the more popular websites like TechCrunch, Mashable for all the technology and gadget news, YouTube and Vimeo for videos, Flickr for photography. There are websites for just about anything one could be interested in. Someone I know learns to cook new recipes through YouTube.
- And I absolutely love the Make magazine. The DIY stuff is awesome.
- And finally, animation. If you're into it go to LineBoil.
These are just a few websites that I like (I'm not associated with any of these websites). But you could really find anything you want on the internet. Have you tried Postcrossing (where you can trade postcards from your country with someone else from another country)?
There is so much you can do and learn online. I hope I've helped you get started. Happy browsing. And also, be careful.
1 comment:
I am there on Twitter only for "status" sake. I'm mostly online on Facebook and spend a lot of time visiting blogs and posting comments. It is a very well-written one :).
It seems like you have the ability to appreciate art, don't you?? Can you please write to me on akshay3019@gmail.com . It's really urgent.
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