What are the consequences of an upsurge in the use of the Internet in 2021?
The last two decades have seen an increase in the use of the Internet. According to Statista as of January 2021, there have been 4.66 billion internet users worldwide which is 59.5 percent of the global population. Of that number, 92.6 percent (4.32 billion) have access to the Internet via mobile phones. whereas, Global social media states, show that there are 4.48 billion social media users worldwide by July 2021 which is about 57 percent of the world’s total population. With this ongoing development, Internet users can connect with any part of the world, shop online, use it as an educational tool, work remotely and conduct financial transactions. Unfortunately, this rapid development of the Internet has a devastating effect on our health, leading to a variety of negative economic, social, and human phenomena.
Economic consequences of using the Internet
Online scams:
the internet facilitates electronic transactions, for millions of people, their businesses and organizes their economic activities online. The most common scam is the Phishing method. It comes from combining passwords (code) and fishing (fishing). This is a clever process of cheating the economy by disclosing personal data and especially information related to financial transactions. Unscrupulous users can expose their information in a false form on the Internet. Evidence of a false victim falls double cross and is used to gain access to personal information.
Electronic Gambling:
Electronic gambling can be seen at work when two or more people gather online to exchange betting. Such activity involves the risk of actual financial loss or gain. One of the biggest problems with gambling is losing money. This can lead to loss of savings for those, home, or property, etc. Many people become addicted and cannot stop thinking that during the next round they will get their money back. Therefore, spending a lot of money can be just as much time spent, ignoring existing obligations and all the other consequences of addiction. It is found that even regular visits to gambling establishments where there is no real money can be addictive. Easy access to online gambling websites increases the risk of adult involvement in such activities.
Social consequences of Internet
Gape in Social relationship :
The way the Internet and smartphones blur the distinction between private and public, and between different spheres of life, including work, home life, and leisure, damages the boundaries between public and private life. Possible side effects of such intrusion include loss of quality of life, lack of privacy, deterioration of safety and security, and harm to social relationships — where friends and family members feel left behind with new technology.
Cyber Race:
Cyber Racism means the miracle of online discrimination. Discrimination on the Internet is common and is easily facilitated by the anonymity offered by the internet. Discrimination can be expressed through racist websites, photos, videos, comments, and messages on social media.
Personal Consequences of Internet
Online Grooming:
Online self-discipline describes behavior that tries to instill confidence in the young user so that he or she can have a private meeting with the user. Sexual abuse of the victim, physical violence or child trafficking and child pornography can be the result of this meeting, which makes it a form of online psychotherapy. In addition, it is sometimes portrayed as tempting to highlight the slow and slow process of disclosing information from a young user and building trust relationships.
Internet exploitation:
Cyberbullying is an aggressive method of using electronic means. Such behavior can make young people feel lonely, unhappy, and scared, feel insecure, and think that something is wrong. They lose confidence in themselves and may not want to go back to school or try to be separated from their friends. Moreover, in extreme cases, persistent, persistent, and violent exploitation has led to serious consequences as suicidal intent. Child and adolescent abuse can take many forms in not only the roughhouse and aggression, but also the various forms of intimidation that leave the victim exposed.
Cyber Suicide:
Cyber suicide describes suicide or attempted suicide, influenced by the Internet. Cyber suicide has attracted the attention of the scientific community since the growing number of suicides is growing online. It has been suggested that the use of the Internet and especially those suicide-related websites may promote suicide and thus contribute to the growth of Cyber suicide rates. Strangers meet online and then gather somewhere to kill themselves together. In addition to online suicide, there is a case of users committing this act while connected to the Internet: “real-time suicide via webcam”. In response to the above and similar cases, the issue of the Internet’s role in assisting suicide has begun to be discussed. At an active level, scientific research on Cyber suicide is still in its infancy, and the strong evidence that the Internet is contributing to the increase in suicides is currently limited. However, the Internet has some features that allow a person to think that a user can commit suicide.
Insomnia:
Social media can be addictive without realizing it. You usually decide to check your social media accounts for ten minutes before going to bed, but before you know it, two hours have passed. This is a common problem among young adults and adolescents leading to severe sleep deprivation. Except for a few hours of sleep, sleep quality is affected due to the brightness of the screens that prevent people from being sensitive to sleep. Sleep deprivation can affect productivity, emotions, energy levels, and concentration which can eventually lead to serious problems.
Linked to Depression:
Some studies have shown that people who spend too much time online on social media also show signs of depression. However, on the flip side, these people may already be suffering from depression, which is why they spend so much time online.
Fear of Missing:
Fear of Missing has become a very serious problem since the advent of social media. Researchers have found that participants experienced a form of social anxiety when kept away from social media. Anxiety was triggered because people felt they would lose something like an exciting episode, or an event if they did not regularly check their calls. Ironically, the more time people spend online, the more likely they are to miss out on real events.
Can Lead to Low Confidence:
Another disadvantage of spending too much time on social media is that we begin to compare ourselves with our own lives and those of others. How many times have you seen pictures of your friend’s wonderful vacation and wish you could do the same? Or have you seen pictures of them with their spouse looking very happy together and wanting to be in a relationship again? When we start to think that other people have better lives, it affects our self-esteem and makes us feel unworthy because we may not have all those good things.
