Study
how ICT has contributed to the development of society Written by Fate
ICT over the years has had a huge impact on our society, the media and the economy. With the introduction of computers our lives have been made far easier, the communication of information has been made practically instant and socialising has grown on a massive scale. Overall, the introduction of ICT has completely changed the way the world works as well as the way we, as a society, are connected and throughout the rest of this essay I shall be detailing this change.
Media is, and always has been, an important part of our global society. Without it, we would all be cut off from the rest of the world. It is a source of education, new and information, without which, this world would not have developed to the high technological standard it is today. The oxford dictionary describes media as “The main means of mass communication (esp. television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet) regarded collectively”, but you can easily expand on this definition… in fact, if you were to go by an extreme definition of ‘communication’ it would impossible to ever go without a form of media as it would require us all to be blind, deaf and mute. Overall, media is an extremely important aspect in all of our lives, and with the introduction of mass media in the form of national/global newspapers, books, magazines, the internet, TV etc. this exchange of information began to appear on a much wider scale.
But before the introduction of ICT, the media did not have the global impact it has in the present day, nor was it as we see it today. Before the introduction of the printer, newspapers and books were all handwritten with very little if not no copies kept after it was distributed. Newspapers such as news of the world were 4 A3 pages long, with all the information written in tiny writing and having no pictures whatsoever. Books were not widely distributed, most of them being kept inside families with no copies whatsoever, meaning many important works have been lost in fires or floods or some other sort of disaster. With things happening like they were back then, I am sure no one thought that the media would have as large an impact as it does now.
However, all this changed when ICT was introduced to the world in a way that everyone was able to access it. For the first time ever, news was able to be distributed on a national scale with the introduction of the radio, slowly followed by the TV. With the introduction of the printer, books, magazines and newspapers were able to be mass-produced and made to be more appeasing to the reader as pictures and colour could now be included. Along with news being distributed over the TV, whole new forms of media were created with the introduction of dramas, comedies, cartoons and various other forms of TV shows. And eventually, with the introduction of the computer and the internet, people were able to do all of the above from their very own bedroom, with websites offering live radio or TV streams, online news and a brand new way to distribute media to the world.
There are many stats(1) that clearly show how media has become a far more common thing in our life. It shows that with the introduction of the radio, it took 38 years for it to reach 50 million listeners, while terrestrial TV took 13 years to reach 50 million users. In comparison it took the internet only 4 years to reach 50 million users. By the year 2000, 300 million people were using the internet, which increased to 2.1 billion(2) (30% of our global population) users by April 2011, an increase of 480% over 10 years, showing how over time, media is becoming a larger and larger impact on our society.
As well as having a large impact on the media, ICT has also had many impacts on the global society, some positive, some negative. The introduction of ICT brought the internet, which in turn made it far easier to socialise with other people, be it through a social network, webcams, instant messenger or even e-mail. We now have the ability to get any information incredibly quickly and easily, and are even able to do our shopping without leaving the house. However, although we gain all this convenience, there are negative impacts as well, for example, criminals can use social networking to organise riots or perform paedophilic acts, while a general negative may be that people will become lazy due to convenience.
Social networks such as Facebook, twitter or Google+ have given us the ability to connect with friends around the world if they are connected to the internet, which has made sticking in touch with people far easier. The introduction of the social network into our society has brought us many benefits, not just related to socialization. These include: Allowing the police to find important information about people they are chasing, giving the news media new places to find stories, and giving companies the chance to really connect with their customers. However there are also many downsides to this, for example, anyone can use them, meaning there is a large chance for paedophilia to occur. As well as helping the police it can also help the criminals, giving them the ability to quickly organize criminal activity such as riots. Social networks are becoming increasingly popular in our society, and with Facebook’s 350 million users (only half are active however), if it were a country, It would be the 4th most populated in the world.(1)
Another interesting thing that the introduction of the internet has provided us is digital distribution, which is how companies can distribute games, music, movies or books etc. this allows us to buy things off the internet without the need to go to the store and buy stuff. Although this is incredibly convenient for the consumer, it does harm the retail stores as they will lose sales to those wanting to download instead of physically buy. Another negative impact of the introduction of digital distribution is that it has allowed for the illegal download of various pieces of software and forms of media through the medium of torrenting, this is bad for the economy as it steals customers away from those companies who wish to make money.
In conclusion, ICT has had many impacts on our way of life, some good… some bad, however it is still being developed and sooner or later we will have the ability to see the internet through our eyes (with the introduction of cybernetic contact lenses), the introduction of teleportation allowing for instantaneous transfer of data and many other things that will just make our life easier. ICT will impact society and the world only as far as we want it too.
(1) http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/4402-20+-more-mind-blowing-social-media-statistics
(2) http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
