In our times, it is hardly possible to find someone who has never heard about the advantages and opportunities offered to modern people by the Internet, the worldwide network of public computers that allows its users to exchange information. Within the last two decades, the Internet became one of the most popular and demanded technological innovations which are currently used by billions of people throughout the world. It is impossible to deny the fact that the Internet has had a huge impact on our life, but should its influence be considered as something more positive than negative, or vice versa? To find an answer on that question, let’s take a closer look at the role of the Internet in modern life.

First of all, it is necessary to mention that the most important function of the Internet is its being a unique source of information. Every Internet user has a free access to many powerful search engines like Google, MSN or Yahoo, which can assist in finding any specific information or data within a few seconds. In addition to that, today’s Internet offers its users an opportunity to watch videos and TV shows online, read newspapers and books, download a great number of movies, PC games, music, software and so on. Undoubtedly, it is a great positive influence of the Internet since viewing various educational or entertaining sites helps people to learn a lot of new things and increase their general intelligence.

Moreover, the Internet is an invaluable source of information for today’s students. It gives an opportunity to access electronic libraries, e-book catalogues and databases, scientific documents and academic works, news, educational websites, etc., and can be of a great help when writing academic researches and course works. Launching the Internet in the classrooms substantially enhances the opportunities of modern education and allows teachers to use online resources, various educational videos, programs, visual aids and so on. Also, nowadays the Internet became an irreplaceable tool for distant education, helping millions of people to receive their academic degree regardless of where they are physically located.

Besides, the Internet has opened absolutely new dimensions for interpersonal and intercultural communication allowing people from all quarters of the earth to communicate with each other using IM tools, e-mails, online chat-rooms, etc. Moreover, nowadays, it became possible to do voice and video chat, so the users are able to hear each other’s voices and see each other’s reactions and emotions while talking. As a result, the Internet should be considered a perfect tool for meeting with the people who share the same interests, or making friends with the people of other nationalities and learning more about different cultures of the world. This way, the Internet brings people closer together, and this is another very important positive function of Internet technology.

There is much more to add to the above. For the last decades, the Internet has been offering new opportunities for modern businessmen. E-commerce and online shopping have become an effective gear for the current economic development on global level. Also, the Internet became a convenient environment for job seeking, hotel and ticket reservation, doing financial transactions, advertising, working on a freelance basis and numerous other social services available online. Finally, the Internet has opened a new epoch in entertaining industry allowing people to watch new movies, concerts or theater performances, visit museums and galleries, or even virtually travel throughout the world.

Undoubtedly, the Internet as a technological phenomenon has some serious drawbacks. Those include, first of all, spamming and a threat of receiving computer viruses, stealing important personal information of Internet users, as well as Internet addiction and various concerns connected with children using the Internet. However, in my opinion, positive effects of using the Internet heavily outweigh its drawbacks. It is obvious that the development of the Internet is connected with a number of great positive changes and new opportunities for all of us. Therefore, I am convinced that for every aspect of today’s life, the Internet and modern Internet technologies cause more good than harm.