SEC - S9W5: "The Internet, my best ally"

With that, my nightmare started as a new concept was all over the news: "Y2K".

Terrible things are going to happen to our computers.
Y2k was referring to a shortcoming in the calendar of computers. It was expected that computers wouldn’t be able to change from "99" to "00" and with that, your computer will crash, the internet will come to a standstill, not to mention the infrastructure like water and electricity supplies and banking services that will no longer be there.

Guess what? Midnight 1999, and I survived the click over to the year 2000. I can remember so clearly how I was sitting in front of my computer watching the computer screen instead of being outside, lighting the sky with fireworks.

That, my dear Steemian friends, is how long I’ve been using the internet.

How much do I use it every day?

If you ask a child how much is plenty, they will put their hands in the air and shake them; that is plenty to them.
Well, I don’t have enough hands or feet to shake to show you how much I use the internet every day.

I often think that we don’t know how much time we actually spend on the internet.

According to some of the latest data the average person will spend just two minutes short of 7 hours per day on screens, computers, smart phones, tablets, etc.

I myself spend far more time than this on the internet. In fact, my average screen time on my mobile phone for the last week was 5 hours and 49 minutes per day. The scary part is that when I am on my mobile phone, I am on the internet. I don’t use it for anything else. Even when I am taking a photo I am on the internet as it is saved "in the cloud". These days we even call via the internet.

As for my computer, I spend at least 6 – 8 hours a day on it. If I take only 50% of these hours as internet time and add it to the internet time of my phone, I come to the shocking discovery that I am on the internet for 10 to 12 hours every day.

What an exercise and what a shocker!

What activities do I do online?

Gone are the days of rushing home to see who is online in chat rooms like AOL, MSN, etc. Not to mention waiting for that most famous sound.

Today, the internet is so much more than just a chat room.

It is my gateway to;

1. My emails
2. My banking
3. My news channels
4. My favorite music
5. My medical aid scheme
6. My Bible
7. My travelling
8. My connection to my favorite aunt, Aunty Google
9. My TV programs
10. My social media platforms
11. My communication with my children
12. My marketing
13. My business
14. My trading platform
15. And lately, my connection to my grocery store

In fact, I will be like a child and flash two hands at you as I use it for so many more things, as mentioned in the 15 items above.

Do I have internet access at home? How much does the service cost?

YES! There is a saying that goes, "Home sweet home". These days, we can change it to "Home sweet internet."

I have two types of internet at home;

• Connectivity on my mobile phone via a service provider: 4G
• Connectivity via a fiber-optic

I was of the belief that, with today’s economy, it is best to look for an affordable connection. Gone are those days. Now all we want is the fastest connection no matter what we pay.

Cost for internet connectivity:

Supplier	Type	Cost SA Rand	Cost STEEM
Vodacom	Monthly recurring 10 gig	R349 - 0.05c pe MB	93.34 STEEM
Afrihost	150 Mbps (down) – 75 Mbps (up)	R 997 pm	266.65 STEEM

The first dial-up internet connection cost an additional R 250 (66.86 STEEM) per month to my normal telephone line. Yes, data costs more these days, but it is like comparing a box of apples to one apple. I would rather have the box than one apple.

On the other hand, with the electricity problems and the theft of batteries from the towers of service providers, it might be better to have one apple than none.

I would like to see governments supply their citizens with free data. By doing this there will be a huge change in the economy, productivity, crime rate and so much more.

Why do I think the internet can be harmful?

As the stepmother of a teenager, I cringe when I think about the dangers of the internet. I am going to answer this question based on what I see happening in his life and the constant worrying we go through day after day.

He cannot wait to get home in the afternoon to get to his phone or Xbox. At night, he falls asleep with the phone in his hand. If we don’t put strict rules in place he will be on his phone 24/7.

He told me the other day that the most asked question on Google is "What shall I do with my life?" How on earth will Google know? We also forever have to hear about what "somebody" says in his video about the correct way to exercise. After all, we as parents, don’t know anything. Are you familiar with this?

With the internet, privacy is no longer a secret. There are millions of cookies tracking where we are going. We hear strangers chatting with him when he plays online games. He makes new friends when he takes part in a online chess competition for his school. Kids we don’t know, parents we don’t know.

He showed us a message the other day that was sent by his schoolmates about a child in their grade. I could not believe the hate speech in the message and can only imagine the embarrassment of the child who was on the receiving side when he saw the message. I can understand why kids commit suicide as a result of the internet.

Internet crime is on the rise day after day. Phishing, identity theft, cyberstalking, hackers, online recruitment fraud, and child pornography are all words we are becoming all too familiar with.

Can we ban him from the Internet? No, we cannot.

The internet or digital world can be such a useful tool for children and adults, but at the same time it can also be harmful. We need to be awake, tech-savvy all the time, and constantly educating our children.

The internet has unbelievable power, and we need to control ourselves or it can take over our lives and those of our loved ones.

What benefits has the internet brought to my life?

The internet is unbelievable. I think walking on the moon cannot even be compared to what we see today.

I was lucky as I lived in an age without internet and one with internet, with the result that it is easy for me to compare the two worlds.

The internet makes my life easier. As easy as that! All in one sentence.

• Finding out what is happening around me is so much easier.
• I no longer have to leave the safety of my home to perform tasks like banking.
• I can have food and groceries conveniently delivered to my home.
• I can perform administrative tasks so much more effectively.
• I now have easy access to information.
• It connects me to others faster and so much easier.
• It is so much easier to drive to an unknown place.

I am afraid that, like so many others, I am hooked, and I cannot imagine my life without the internet.

That brings me back to the main question,
"Is my internet my ally, my foe, or even my friend?"

Ally: My helper, for sure!
Foe: My enemy, it depends
Friend: It has my back, I don't think so

My internet is for sure my ally!