Impact Of The Internet On Our Society Media Essay

Impact Of The Internet On Our Society Media Essay The Internet is the epitome of the fast moving, dynamic sector of the twenty first centuary. It is arguably the blazon of innovation in communication technologies, services, and the markets over the last 15 or so years, is viewed by many as a communication frontier with many radical transformative potential  [1]  . The Internet and specifically its usage provides an example that how its nature and consequences has been transforming the society. This paper argues that how the internet brings changes and its impact on society. This paper will also try to find out the role of the State in bringing the changes and development into the Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Internet now has become more pervasive than television and radio in todays globalised world. It provides the rare information and examples that was not easily accessible before. With the expansion of the internet and communication technology the development has started taken place. The significance of the Internet has not just in the field communication but also into each and every sphere of life. The extent of Internet is such that anyone can access any information from anywhere. There is no geographical boundaries left as all are removed by the internet communication technology. Cyber has removed the distance as now everybody is so interconnected, people share their ideas, thoughts, suggestions, problems, ideas etc and cyber always welcome them. Internet welcomes the intellectual activities i. e those who wants to express their views are always welcome.  [2]  Internet has emerged as a prominent medium of communication. The issue that has become a prominent focus of debate and a lso is to examine the impact of Internet on society. This also leads to the transforming phase of the society that how the society is been transforming and a new society is been emerging. In this transformation of the society it is the State which plays a major role in the development of the Information and communication technology which leads to the changes. The evolution of Internet was by United States Department of defence Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, APRANET, in 1970 for transferring data and information. But the way it has transformed our society Hauben and Hauben (1997) refer to as Netizens: Net Citizens.  [3]   It has created its own terminology its own world such as search engines (google.com; wikipeadia.com); web pages, web servers, clients, http, POP, DNS, ISDN and various domain names also. In this present world we talk about e-shopping ; e trade e-toys; e-commerce; e-governance; online services etc which shows the desires of our society that how ready it is to adopt these changes of the changing world. Technology and Social Changes: As everything has its positive and negative impact, internets also have its positive as well as its negative impact not only in the society but also into the security, political and economical ways of living. Since 1993 numbers of the net users have been increasing continuously and now days everybody has its own e-mail id and have access to all the information which is available over the Internet. In terms of security, nuclear issues continue to dominate, but with the greater concerns about chemical and biological weapons and their possible use by so-called rogue states such as Iraq, or terrorist groups able to use the global interconnectedness of transport and ICTs to communicate, organize boundaries more easily. Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a catch all terms signalled the expanded range of weapons beyond the nuclear seen as threat in the contemporary world. (UK Government, 2002).  [4]  With the arrival of the internet the issue of security becomes more complex and diffi cult to control. Youngs argued that, The more dependent on ICT network individuals, organisations, economies and states become, the more difficult it is to police and control informational boundaries. The digital age feeds on the capturing and transferral of data across increasing numbers of network nodes at ever faster speeds. It is not an overstatement to say that as societies and individuals and entities within them operate via the Internet, whether through e-banking or business, email and chat rooms activity, or political activism, the more they are caught in it, identified by and through the networks they are involved in and the information they contain about them. This is the situation where boundaries can easily collapse, and this goes much further than just the idea that the internet crosses geographical and political divides, and separations between public (institutional) and private (personal) social spaces and places.(Youngs,2001)  [5]   The transnational characteristics of the Internet and its multi-sector nature- economies and politics, public and private commercial and non-profit, formal and informal, institutional and individual and so on- are fundamental to the intricate meaning of the transformations associated with the network society. Many would argue that the internationalisation of the economy, over the twentieth centuary in particular, was a major driver of globalisation, but in the latter part of that centuary ICTs (and to some extent media generally) were integral to that process.  [6]   For blurred boundary between warfare, criminal activity and plain old-fashioned system failure as perhaps one of the greatest difficulties for the nation states. Edward argued Many of the technologies being brought into use are expected to operate across the wide range of platforms-types of computers and types of network, to the extent that different operating systems sharing a network can sometimes have unintended consequences. These can range from system crashes to non- specific random errors. So there is an issue of threshold to be addressed in terms of protective security and military defence. The latter may be good at responding to definite signals, but the small inconsistencies that plague large systems make it difficult to tell when a decisive boundary has been crossed to be able to initiate a large-scale and well-resourced response.(Edward, 2003: 103; my emphasis.)  [7]   The changes into the mode of communication has brought significant and historic changes into the society as well as such developments has given attention on the relationship of communication to the definition and nature of the modern state, its security, identity and democratic processes.  [8]  Internet has become the origin of the communication system in USA. Robert Deibert argues that would withstand a nuclear attack. Young argues that but equally, if not even more interesting are the exponential transformations involving the Internet in all spheres of human and social interactions.  [9]   Young argues about the impact of internet on the economics of the state that while the success of the states becomes significantly linked to digital advances of varying kinds, growing number of citizens are also offered via the Internet an interactive political sphere that extends well beyond the traditional state settings. Reflexive processes impacting on political affiliations and identities are increasingly likely to reflect these expanded circumstances (Youngs, 2001  [10]  ) . With this Internet is representing a completely new virtual social environment, which also links directly the private space of home to the wider world, just as in, some ways, radio and television did, but in case of Internet much more powerfully for example, through interactivity  [11]  . For many people in the world Internet is the medium of exchange of spheres as well as it acts as a medium of global reach. However for some it is not accessible example: digital divide the line which divides the digitally empowered and the digitally poor, hampers the ICT potentials of placing unequal human beings on an equal footing. Digital poverty is much more problematic because it affects not just the traditionally rich but also the traditionally poor and threatens to broaden socio-economic inequalities even further.  [12]  Internet is transforming the lives of human beings and attention must be paid towards the lives of those who are not cyber literate and are disempowered. By making th em cyber literate this problem can be solved and for this purpose active participation is needed. Impact of Internet on Education: Internets help a lot in the field of education by providing new information and keep them updated. It has transformed the relationship between the teachers and the students and gave a new horizon and prospects to it. Example: earlier students were not aware about the current information they depends upon books and newspapers but with the access of Internet they can easily grab the information in whatever language they want and needed. Students learn various languages and can communicate with teachers and experts just by clicking mouse. Internet has now become a source of joy and education both. State is also playing its role in increasing cyber literacy. Government by making various polices is trying to make people participate into the programmes and policies made for the educational purposes. Internet also brings new social environment from private space to the globalised world. As Internet is very helpful for the students and children for their educational purposes in positive aspe cts. However it has its negative aspects also as there are certain websites which are dangerous to them. According to Littleton Colorado, in April 1999(vice-president, Gore) In the field of education children gain access to areas which are not suitable and dangerous. And in other areas also the issues of security is of great concern.  [13]  Firewalls are the issues which are always needed and in great demands for security purposes not only in the field of education but also in business . Internet is the ocean of information, as far as one satisfied it continuously provides information. Political Influence: The Internet explicitly propagates and implicitly spreads western democratic values. These views are mainly spread through some governmental organisations or government-sponsored groups in the West. Internet degrades and repudiates those countries, political parties and governments that have different ideologies from those of the West. It can be used as a tool to harm national sovereignty and interfere with other countries internal affairs.  [14]   Impact of Internet on Culture: The Internet advocates western life styles. These websites displays various aspects of western society and life, and the overwhelming majority of then have positive portrayals of the western life-style. It makes people believe that the West seems to be countries of absolute freedom and paradise for individual achievement where private life is without obstacles and external inferences. This is particularly appealing to the youths whose life philosophy and worldview have yet to mature. They aspire with great diligence to go abroad just to change a way of living. It helps in dominant cultures impact and homogenize in an inferior position. Because the Internet overwhelming is a culture of the English language, it further strengthens throughout the globe the culture based upon the English language. In comparison, cultures based upon any other language have been weakened. It also corrupts peoples mind, influences and changes moral perspective and ethical values. The pornography merchants i n western countries have opened websites. This has led to the Commerce Committee of the U.S Senate to propose the 1995 Communications Act for Good Behaviour to prohibit sex crimes committed on the internet  [15]  However U.S plays a kind of hegemony into the field of Internet. Security threats: Due to hackers nothing is safe on Internet which is transferred. They can strike anywhere and anytime and can hack. According to the Statistics of the US.FBI incidents of the American Internet networks being broken into are rapidly increasing by 30% annually, making the US suffer tremendously.  [16]   Flooding of Information: Waste of time and resources The Internet is capable of providing connectivity to millions of people together. People connected together may create Internet junk such as advertisement; product information etc. It may provide incorrect information which may be real or fake. The creation of unwanted information online is a huge loss of time and cost of searching valuable information as well as people may get mislead easily. The younger generation is highly infected with this because of two factors such as their young age and also they have time to access Internet as much as they want and the information which is available on internet may mislead them to other directions. Conclusion: This paper focussed on how Internet has its impact on our society and how the technology brings social change. How the technology benefits the human beings and how it brings prosperity and welfare and how every citizen is benefitted with the Information and Communication technology. For building information-oriented or cyber literate society state do not need resources to invest more and more into it but it needs creative individuals and comparatively small amount of investment in ICT infrastructure. As anyone can easily provide the information about the product and all the transactions takes place online. Example: Carpet industries in Bhadohi (U.P, India),if someone wants to place an order from US then he need not to come to India but can place order online. Or, Puppets from Rajasthan, can ordered online from anywhere in the world. All the geographical boundaries are been collapsed through Internet as even the smallest information is available on Internet at the cheapest rates. Info rmation and Communication Technology also helps to remove the economical inequalities. And also tries to remove the digital divided or the technological imbalances not only in between the countries which are developed and under-developed but also between the males and females. As Susan Stranges had argued in analysis of global political economy, in advance of the Internet age the importance of technological power for an understanding of continuing US hegemony widespread economic significance of ICTs, and the prominence of major corporations such as Microsoft.  [17]   The impact of the Internet on our society is discussed in this paper on the fields of education; politics; culture; security and economics. All these reflect the needs of the regulatory measures or the cyber laws not only just making but implications also. However an increasingly networked and information driven world as a community is been formed. They can access to all the information which includes e business, cross border political affiliations and activism that may help to form new kinds of identities; individual research activities that enable, for example, citizens to gain access to world press and other official views of governments action; cross national political or personal discussions in chat rooms; email relationships between people who have never met.  [18]  As Young, argued that Internet is both complex as well as easy and through Internet crosses the geographical and political divides and also it brings separation between public and private social spaces and place s. In conclusion, once the Internet is opened it should be used as a tool through which information can be gathered and can be used for the development and welfare purposes and should it not used as an objective. And State should try to gain victory over the challenges such as cyber literacy, bridging the digital divide; providing services online; cyber laws and their implications.

East Is East

East Is East East is East is a play by Ayub Khan-Din, first produced by Tamasha Theatre Company in co-production with the Royal Court and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. It is often cited as one of the key works to bring Asian culture to mainstream British audiences. The play is published by Nick Hern Books. Ayub Khan-Din (born 1961 in Salford, Lancashire) is a British Pakistani actor and playwright. â€Å"When I began to write East is East, I was sitting at my kitchen table pouring out my life story bit by bit.The first draft came incredibly quickly: there's writing what you know and there's writing what you've known your whole life† Given Circumstances  · Who am I? Ella Khan, 46, Irish-Catholic, housewife, works in family shop  · What time is it? Century? Year? Season? Day? Night? Early? Late? Date? 1970’s  · Where am I? UK, Salford, family house, fish and chip shop  · Who is here with me? Family (Husband, 7 children)  · What are my relationships? Husband (Geo rge) – she loves him but doesn’t agree with everything he doesChildren – she tries to protect them from George and what’s them to be happy  · What is my super-objective? Feelings? I consider Ella as the â€Å"victim† of the film. It’s easy to understand that she loves her husband, and wants to please him, but when he starts to decide too much about their children, she doesn’t know what to do anymore  · What is the obstacle? Is there more than one? She finds herself unable to stand up to George until he pushes her too far by abusing their children. Ella Khan Ella has a strong belief in freedom, fairness, family †¦ and Salford.Ella is ferociously protective of her kids. She's learnt that society is hostile to them and also that their father is not prepared to allow them the freedom she herself feels they should have. So she spends a lot of her life fighting for them or keeping things from George to protect them from his anger. I think Ella is like someone who lives under an oppressive regime – she has had to develop cunning, she is sometimes passive, sometimes aggressive and will do anything to make allies. One thing she has above George is that she sees her situation with clarity.He believes that moving to Bradford would solve their problems but Ella knows that the Pakistani community there, especially the women, will never accept her. This is why she has insisted on staying in Salford. Friendships with women are vital to her, with the affection and support they bring, and without Annie, Ella would perish. Whats the story? In EAST IS EAST, George (Om Puri), who is Pakistani, marries Ella (Linda Bassett) and they settle down in Manchester to have seven children and run a fish and chips shop.George wants his children to adopt the religion and customs of Pakistan, yet oldest son Nazir objects to an arranged marriage and bolts in the middle of the wedding ceremony, and in all the family chaos, they ha ve neglected to have their youngest son circumcised. With India at war with Pakistan, George's fear of the loss of his homeland and culture makes him even more concerned about passing on that culture to his children.They go to the mosque, grudgingly, but they feel like Brits and only one of the seven kids wants to live according to Pakistani traditions. The others want the freedom of Western culture. They may feel English, but they look Pakistani, and George fears that the culture they want will never accept them. His neighbors support a politician named Enoch Powell who is calling for repatriation of foreigners. But George and the neighbor do not know that their children are romantically involved.

Arab sheikdoms in the United Arab Emirates Essay

Dubai is one of the seven Arab sheikdoms in the United Arab Emirates (U. A. E. ). Before oil and gas were discovered in 1958, it was among the very poor sheikdoms under British protection and was once called a Trucial State. Today, their sheiks are independent and among the world’s richest men, with a gross annual income of $25. 7 billion. It has vast reserves of oil and natural gas (Ibrahim, 1982). The land is mainly salt mashes, barren desert, and sandy plain. Oases stud the desert areas. To the east, the mountains lie close to the sea. It is also famous as having the highest cost of living in the world – the cheapest apartment rents for $1,000 per month (Peck, 1986). The Emiratians (Dubai people) used to be pirates, fishermen or pearl divers, nomads or oasis farmers. Most are now wage earners or businessmen who feel more conscious of a national identity as a rich and important country. They are famous for two unique sports: (1) camel races, and (2) falconry. Colorful music, dancing and singing also give life to this otherwise dry place. This area of Gulf was notorious for piracy. They preyed on the trade between Europe and China. The British came in 1806 and started to impose oder against the Arab pirates. In 1853, piracy was finally wiped out when the sheiks signed the Perpetual Maritime Truce Agreement with Britain. Thus, the Pirate Coast became the respectable Trucial States (Seale, 1988). Today, Dubai is the largest commercial center and the nerve center for smuggling Western currency, gold, and other goods into the Indian subcontinent, especially Pakistan. Dubai is also the outlet for capital fleeing Afghanistan and Iran. One phenomenon of the oil boom was to fill Dubai’s population (like that of Kuwait and Qatar) mostly with foreigners. The majority of the population or around 50% is Indo-Pakistani outnumber the native Arabs, who populate the land by only 42%. The large foreign population (mostly migrant workers) are lured to Dubai by the high salaries, welfare benefits, and rapid development. To keep discipline, the governing Arab sheiks have emphasized Muslim (Shariah) law, religious education, and the observance of Muslim practices. The Muslim rulers and people are Sunnis, strongly influenced by the strict Wahabi sect of neighboring Saudi Arabia (Peck, 1986). Diplomacy, national security, information, communications, health, education, and the budgets of the three smaller emirates are decided by the federal government. The local sheiks retain control over policy within their emirates. The laws of Dubai (under the United Arab of Emirates) are divided into two main categories: union laws and decrees. A bill drafted by the Council of Ministers for non-binding deliberation by the Federal National Council and then submitted to the president for his assent and the Supreme Council of the Union for ratification becomes a union law when promulgated by the president. Decrees are issued jointly by the president and the Council of Ministers between sessions of the Supreme Council of the Union. As the final say is always on the Supreme Council of the Union, a decree must only be confirmed by them to remain valid (Ibrahim, 1982). Dubai’s political system, which is a unique combination of the traditional and the modern, has underpinned this political success, enabling the country to develop a modern administrative structure while, at the same time, ensuring that the best of the traditions of the past are maintained, adapted and preserved (Ibrahim, 1982). Relations with the other members of the U. A. E. have not always been smooth. The discovery of a big natural gas field in Sharjah reopened a border dispute with Dubai. In November 1982, Dubai sent tanks to the border to prevent Sharjah’s foreign contractors from drilling the field (Seale, 1988). However, not all is coming up roses for Dubai. Bad planning and extravagance have now caused new miseries. In fact, the most outstanding examples of ill-conceived investment in the Arab world are found in the Dubai ports and so-called international airports stand cheek to cheek. Within fifty kilometers of its coast are three major ports, including the Mina Jabel Ali, the biggest manmade port ever built. Its sixty-seven berths are now suffering terrible losses. Being a member of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai has an international airport of its own, making cynics joke that the state boundaries end where the next runway begins. The headquarters of the Arab Monetary Fund in Dubai have polished one-way windows done with gold compound (Peck, 1986). References Ibrahim, Saad Eddin. (1982). The New Arab Social Order: A Study of the Social Impact of Oil Wealth. Westview Press. Peck, Malcolm C. (1986). The United Arab Emirates: A Venture in Unity. Westview Press. Seale, Patrick. (1988). Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. University of California Press.

Things Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe - 1341 Words

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, is set in Nigeria during the 1890’s. The novel focuses on the clash between Nigeria’s white government and the culture of the Igbo people. Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan, by Bruce Feiler, covers Feiler’s journey to Japan to teach English and American culture for a year in the 1980’s. Throughout each novel, the reader is presented many different elements of each societies beliefs and culture. The central conflict surrounding each novel involves one unique, isolated, culture attempting to keep its traditions in a time where Western culture is demanding a change. Things Fall Apart and Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan, discuss the effect of two unfamiliar cultures on each other when cohabitation takes place. Things Fall Apart deals with tension about whether or not change should be accepted over tradition. Okonkwo resisting the new political and religious orders shows the tension change provides. He f eels that the new orders are not manly and that he himself will not be manly if he consents to join them. In some way, Okonkwo’s intransigence to the new orders revolves around his placement among society. His sense of self-worth is dependent upon the traditional hierarchy by which society places him. Okonkwo is placed at the top of the hierarchy, and if he were to embrace Christianity, he would then be on the same level as the outcasts of society. Many of the clan’s outcasts were inspired to embrace Christianity as aShow MoreRelatedThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1415 Words   |  6 Pagesbook Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe does just that. This book should be taught in schools because it shows the values and traditions of Achebe’s Igbo culture, persistently teaches life lessons throughout the book, and shows the darker reality of European colonialism in Africa. Chinua Achebe is known as one of the most influential and famous authors to ever write. Chinua Achebe originates from an Igbo background and he expresses that through his writings very well including Things Fall ApartRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe1324 Words   |  6 Pages Chinua Achebe chose to write his novels in English to reveal a deep response of his people to colonisation and to make that response understood to people all over the world. Things Fall Apart was written in English to teach people worldwide of the struggles he faced and the people of Nigeria faced growing up. Many authors and critics have written about Achebe’s ‘Things fall apart’ adding their valued opinion on what he was trying to say and his decision to write in English. In the followingRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Essay1203 Words   |  5 Pages who took their land for monetary gain. This was a dark period of time for Africans that live there. The U.S. Civil War and The Great Depression both can be related, in this instance, to how down their people were because of what happened. Chinua Achebe said it best, â€Å"I would be quite satisfied if my novels...did no more than teach my readers of their past...was not a long night of savagery from which the first European acting on God’s behalf delivered them†(qtd. in â€Å"Morning Yet† 45). In theRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1452 Words   |  6 Pagesassume control over the Roman Empire. However, imperialism in Africa remained a recorded element from 1750 to 1945. This paper visits how control and changes were influences over the Africans during this time period as seen through Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. (UKEssays, 2015) Europe was experiencing a few financial and political changes that forced the major European forces to investigate abroad regions to add to their resources during the seventeenth century. In order for the EuropeanRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe2361 Words   |  10 PagesThings Fall Apart Book Critique Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a historical fiction novel describing the life of Okonkwo in a Nigerian village succumbing to European ways, in order to portray Achebe’s view on imperialism. It was chosen for us to read by our teacher because it describes imperialism and its effects in an Ibo village of Nigeria. It also shows the treatment of natives by the Europeans and how the natives reacted. Things Fall Apart is useful to our course of studies because itRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe1265 Words   |  6 PagesThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is markedly relevant to our current course of studies in World History, as it tells a story based on European Imperialism in Africa. Coming off the heels of our Imperialism unit, this post-colonial novel provides very helpful context on different civilizations’ perspectives throughout the Age of Imperialism; aside from analyzing death tolls, descriptions of conflicts, and names of countries, it was previousl y hard to envision what life was actually like during thatRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 735 Words   |  3 PagesThings fall apart. Achebe. Ernest Gaines once said, â€Å"I write to try to find out who I am. One of my main themes is manliness. I think Im trying to figure out what manliness really is.† Indeed, every society or culture has its own understanding of an ideal man. Even though these characteristics are different in various parts of the world, the significance of masculinity can never be overestimated. â€Å"Things Fall Apart† by Chinua Achebe is considered as one of the best examples of a riseRead MoreThings Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe692 Words   |  3 Pagesthe way to go. Through commercial trading Islam spread into Igboland, and this led to more Igbo people leaving the Igbo way of life for another, whether it be Islam or Christianity which divide the country in two. In the novel Things Fall Apart written by Chinua Achebe British colonialism and the migration of Muslims to Nigeria led to the change in the faith, social and economic changes in the Igbo society. Traditional Igbo faith believes that there is only one creator or god known as ChinekeRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe897 Words   |  4 PagesIn the novel, â€Å"Things Fall Apart† by Chinua Achebe the Igbo tradition revolves around structured gender role. Everything essential of Igbo life is based on their gender, which throughout the novel it shows the role of women and the position they hold, from their role in the family household, also planting women crops, to bearing children. Although the women were claimed to be weaker and seemed to be treated as objects, in the Igbo culture the women still provided qualities that make them worthyRead MoreThings Fall Apart By Chinua Achebe Essay1851 Words   |  8 Pageschoice and styles are critical not only to the reader’s understanding of the text but to his appreciation as well. How language is effectively manipulated in their writings enhances the reader’s valuing of the works. The selected novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a representation of Igbo culture and their language. It explores the life of an Igbo tribe at the time of when colonization hit Africa. It could be considered as a post-colonial text, as the protagonist of the story and the other