Economic:
The Internet has been a huge economic boom to our country and the
world. The Internet has a massive variety of items available for purchase and online
merchants want our business. Online merchants take the information that they learn
from the consumer and apply it in their own businesses to become even more profitable.
In the business world, this knowledge of the customer is an opportunity for money and
power. Corporations and businesses can reach worldwide customers. Information
passes via internet to the individual person then to businesses. Corporations study the
trend of business and execute much larger economic decisions using millions of
dollars. . We no longer live in a world of local markets. The Internet has brought us
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into a global marketplace.
In Corporate Metamorphosis Murphy (2006) explains that knowledge is power.
Access to knowledge gives the exo-firm a powerful foundation from which to
work. This foundation, although not solid and not on the accountants' books, truly
exists. It is real - not virtual. The foundation base is people, their experiences and
their ideas. This also spreads to corporations who have experience, knowledge
and access to atoms and materials with which to turn ideas into reality. The
access to this knowledge via the Internet - a simple medium - gives the the virtual
corporation the potential to be an extremely powerful player in the global
marketplace.
In The Changing Nature of Innovation Horn (2005) expresses that
the Internet links people of similar business goals in a global economy.
The
Internet is a tool that can work for people to make their goals reality. The
Emergence of the Internet and open standards is spawning those new models,
Allowing for the integration of businesses and business processed from an
ecosystem of outside suppliers.
Murphy (2006) concludes that it's all about relationships. Whether personal,
corporate, management and customer oriented, connectivity is what the new
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media is doing. It is bringing people with similar ideas and mandates together.
Distance is falling by the wayside. Ideas are being turned into reality. Virtual
corporations have the potential to change the way business is done from this
decade on into the next century. It is only the beginning and we are all still
predicting our future around technology of today
Social:
The Internet is about relationships whether political, economic or social.
However, the Internet has had a major impact on our society and culture. Long before
the Internet was but a twinkle in Al Gore's eye, we wrote letters by hand and waited
weeks for a reply. Today we send instant emails across thousands of miles.
The Internet
helps us all stay more connected to family, friends and the world around us. The
Internet has made our world smaller by making us aware of other cultures far beyond
our own towns, cities and countries. Everything we need or want to know is at the click
of a button. Everything from home mortgages to medical advice, from research to
blogging can be done online. The Internet brings us email and instant
messages. It allows us to stay in touch with people all over the world. Personal
relationships also can develop between people who due to distance might never have a
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In The Weekend Interview With Greg Waldorf The Matchmaker Parker (2007),
reports that the popularity of Internet dating is just one more sign that we're
witnessing a fundamental change in the way people interact, a difference that
can be particularly pronounced across generations.
Some positive relationships do begin online. However the Internet also has a dark
side. Everyday it seems we read about another minor becoming involved with a
sex offender they met online. The minor and the sex offender are not meeting at
a high school dance. They are meeting in online chatrooms.
Often the
conversation over time leads to an in-person meeting. Unfortunately these meetings may
have tragic consequences.
In Online Relationship Leads to Sexual Assault Jeppersen (2007) reports that
a Woolwich man who had been having an online relationship with a 16-year-
old Carthage girl for two years allegedly sexually assaulted her at her home this week and
was arrested outside of Bath Thursday night.
Still facts such as these will not keep people from forming relationships online,
especially young Americans. The Canada News Wire (2007), reports
that a comprehensive survey in 12 countries of more than 7,600 young people between
the ages of 16 - 29 shows that 77% of today's online youth would sooner live without
television than live without the Internet.
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Many of our young people rely on the Internet for all aspects of their lives.
Instead of having real social situations or going out and meeting people face-to-face they
choose to build relationships in chatrooms, on MySpace and other internet sites.
Another form of linkage online are terror websites. These websites recruit
young people to join their groups and participate in violent activities.
