Uses of Internet: Its Advantages and Disadvantages

Kids, have you ever heard about the word 'Internet'? I guess you heard about it because we are using it in every moment of our lives. The internet is a very big network that connects computers all over the world. We can communicate and share information with people from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. The internet is also known as the ‘net’. In this article, we will discuss more about the merits of the internet.

So children, in this article, let us learn about what exactly the internet is and along with that let’s discuss both the disadvantages and benefits of the internet. Let’s surf the internet and know its advantages!

History of Internet

Hey Kids! Now first let's have a look at the history of the internet. The internet came in the year 1960 with the creation of the first working model called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency). In October 1969, using ARPANET, the first message was transferred from one computer to another. After that, technology continued to grow and we have various uses of the internet.

What are The Benefits of the Internet?

Hey youngsters! Now let us know the advantages of the internet.  The internet is one of the powerful and wonderful creations that offer endless knowledge and entertainment to people. Today, the internet plays a significant role in many areas. There are various uses of the internet, let's discuss them one by one.

Communication and Sharing Information 

• One of the key benefits of the internet is communication. The internet has helped us in connecting with our friends, families and new people who are in distant places all over the world. 

• We have many apps to connect with each other like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Google, Skype, etc. All these apps help us to connect with others and communicate with them. 

• We can also share information with other people using the same apps in different forms like in text form or voice message form. E-Mail is a fast, secure and reliable mode of communication.

Gaining Knowledge and Online Learning 

• By using the internet, we can gain knowledge by learning new things that are available on different websites. We can get so much information just by surfing the internet. If you want to learn any topic it's just that you need to search it on Google and you will find uncountable resources to study. There is nothing that you can't find on Google.

Address, Mapping, and Contact Information

• The Internet helps the user by providing information about almost every place in the world on the map with the help of GPS technology. 

• By using the internet, we can easily find one’s address and contact information.

• Suppose, if some person has missed his/her address while travelling it's very easy to communicate with others or else we can easily identify the place and reach our destination through maps, which work on the internet. If we need any plumber or any other service address, we can easily find it on Google.

Online Selling and Making Money 

If anyone wants to sell their products and services or if they want to run a business, the internet is the best place to do so. This is because anyone can find and access websites all over the world. So, with the help of the internet, people can run their businesses and earn money happily.

Banking and Bill Payments 

If your parents want to view their bank balance without leaving your home, the internet offers the benefit of accessing their bank account to view the balance. Also, they can send money, pay bills electronically, or many other services can be completed through the internet. 

Online Shopping 

The other most important advantage of the internet is online shopping. Online shopping allows people to find products of interest and buy them without having to visit a store. We can also compare the price of the same product in different stores and buy the product accordingly.

Donations and Funding 

If you want to donate and are looking for charity services, you can find many online services on the internet that help make it easier to support their causes or help donate.

Entertainment 

The internet provides people access to endless entertainment. With the internet, you can watch cartoons, movies, videos, play games online, listen to music, etc. There are many sites available on the internet, which contain different entertainment materials like music, videos, and more. 

Disadvantages of Internet

• Time waste: The internet has plenty of information that kills people’s time while surfing the internet.

• Mental health: Children need to play a lot of games, especially outdoor games to improve their physical and mental health. However, they are addicted to their phones, which is bad. It disturbs their mind. So, kids should stop using phones and start playing outdoor games.

• Physical fitness and health: Spending too much time on phones, laptops or any other gadget will cause health issues like eyesight, back pain, neck pain, etc.

• Other demerits: There are many disadvantages of the internet like hacking of personal information and bank accounts, unnecessary online shopping, the spread of fake news, etc.

Summary

In this article, we have discussed the internet and its history. Thereafter, we discussed the different advantages of the internet and then detailed its disadvantages too. We hope you have found the article helpful.

Interesting Facts

• The internet is everywhere, even on the top of Mount Everest, which is over 29,000 feet above sea level. 

• On an average, a person has 40 apps installed on his phone.

•  Facebook currently has 1.86 billion users, which if it were a country would make it the most populated country on earth.

Learn By Doing

1. Rishi wants to buy notebooks for his new school but there are no nearby shops available. What are other ways that Rishi can buy notebooks?

2. Krishna and his grandmother lost their way home from the temple. Krishna has a phone but he doesn't know which app to use. Children help out your friend Krishna by choosing which app he has to use to reach home.