The Progression of the Internet and the Rise of Artifical Intelligence

The Internet has come a long way. It finds its origins in research commissioned by the United States government in the 1960s. The result of this research was the ARPANET, a network that served as a backbone for interconnection of academic and military networks in the 1980s. This project would lay the groundwork for the transition into the modern Internet that we use today.  Commercial internet has quickly developed from a 56 kbps (kilobytes per second) dial-up connection in the late 1990s to 1 Gbps fibre internet connection in 2018. That is over 2000 times the download speed. We use the Internet for everything now. Research, education, shopping, gaming, career work and peer interaction are some of the things we use the internet for daily. In terms of usefulness, it seems like the Internet can not go much further, however, there are plans in store to take the Internet to brand new heights. 

Gigabit internet will be come the norm and much faster internet connections will be available. Tech companies are already experimenting with internet speeds of over 1 terabyte per second. This will make its way into commercial use sooner than we think. The world will continue to become more connected with more users in developing nations gaining access to the web. It is predicted that by 2020, over 20 billion devices will be connected. However, with the expansion of the internet’s reach comes some consequences. Hackers will grow in number and become better at their craft. Internet service providers will strive to enforce remove net neutrality, giving them ability to control how we use the internet and what we can access. Despite this, improved internet security will curb many potential hackers and net neutrality awareness grows everyday, especially within North America. 

Artificial intelligence technology is advancing at a rapid pace and, we often fail to realize the influence it already has on most of our lives. Siri for Apple products, Cortana for Microsoft products and social media are a couple examples of things that make use of AI technology in our daily lives.  As it is right now, artificial intelligence enriches our lives greatly and has personally been of great use in my life. There is worry that through artificial intelligence, the internet will gain “consciousness” and began to act autonomously. To answer simply, the internet can not gain “consciousness” because it is simply an interconnected network of networks. The Internet has a bright future and will continue to evolve in ways that make life easier for users and keep us intrigued.

Twitter in Today's World

Twitter is a platform that gives anybody the chance to share their thoughts and ideas with an audience. I have been using this service for about 5 years and in that time, I have seen Twitter grow and evolve into one of the most used social media services in the world. 

Users are given the opportunity to express themselves in 280 characters or less. Increased from the 140-character limit in November of 2017, it forces users to come up with concise and creative ways to get their point(s) across and I believe this is part of the growing appeal of this platform. As you tweet (post on your page), you attract people to your profile and gain followers. When you first create your Twitter profile, followers are often people you know in real life, however, as your profile grows, many of your followers will be people from anywhere in the world that enjoy the content you post on your page. You are also given the option to follow other Twitter accounts. This will aid in building your timeline: a section of Twitter where the posts of those you follow (and even those you do not follow) congregate for easy viewing. 

Your followers can support your posts with a like or retweet to share your tweets with their followers. You can do the same with miscellaneous tweets you see. Adding hashtags to your posts add your tweet to an umbrella and in this way, you allow other users to find your tweet and tweets that follow the same topic. For example, posting a picture of your dog and adding the phrase “#dog” to your post will allow other users to find your post and other posts like it when they search that phrase. 

Personally, I hold a decent opinion of Twitter. It gives everyone a platform to express their thoughts and feelings on any topic, whether that be politics, current events or debate which fast food joint has the French fries. Twitter is a new form of blogging and does carry certain advantages over traditional blogging. These advantages include simplicity, real-time feed/interaction, and the ability to reach a wide audience. Some disadvantages include the 280-character limit that may force users to dilute their ideas and spam/fake accounts which are easily made and used. 

Since Twitter has many active users and operates in real-time, information spreads very quickly. Unfortunately, since this is true, misinformation spreads just as quickly. For example, earlier this year in May, a story was spread on Twitter which claimed that the New York Stock Exchange was being flooded. This was later proved to be false. This is an issue because before the truth can be told, many users have already seen the story and taken it to be true. Twitter makes it very easy to spread rumours which can easily damage the reputation of individuals, groups or businesses. 

In conclusion, Twitter is an excellent platform to put forth your ideas to those that want to hear them and serves as a great way for businesses to appeal to large audiences instantly without the need to appeal to gatekeeper groups such as television networks and radio stations to acquire advertising rights with large sums of money. If you do not have a Twitter account, I would recommend making one. Everyone is always up for a good conversation!

Blogging vs. Traditional Media

Blogger is a blog-publishing service owned by Google with content read and curated by millions of people worldwide. Being a user-friendly and free service, Blogger serves as a great platform for anyone who wants to begin their journey into the blogging world. The website gives you the ability to change the theme and layout of your blog. You can use your blog as a source of income via Google’s AdSense program. This program pays you to place various ads on your blog in the hopes of appealing to your readers. The website is very fast and secure as it is hosted on Google’s servers. Users should have little worries of their accounts being compromised. The Blogger platform gives readers the ability to comment on your posts and you can monitor traffic (i.e. page views, audience demographic, etc.) on your blog. Blogger has many great features but unfortunately, has some grievances as well. The theme/layout customization could be more in depth. You are only provided with simplistic options and are not given as much freedom over the appearance of your page in comparison to other platforms.  Furthermore, Blogger focuses on “traditional” blogging. As a result, the platform does not operate in real time via social feed like other social media platforms and so, that layer of interaction is lost. 

After searching the Internet for different examples of well-written blogs that suit my interest, I found three blogs written and executed in great taste. The first blog I found was Destructoid (www.destructoid.com). It is a gaming blog that hashes out hundreds of different blog posts. This includes game reviews, gaming news and updates. It is very useful for gaming enthusiasts who like to be updated on all gaming-related needs in one place and hear the opinions of others in the on goings of the gaming community. 

The second blog I encountered was TechCrunch (https://techcrunch.com/). This website facilitates a network of bloggers who report on the business of tech, tech news, the analysis of rising trends in tech and profiling new tech businesses and products. This blog is perfect for anyone who is interested in current technology information and trends in North America and other regions of the world.  

The third blog I came across was Hypebeast ( https://hypebeast.com/). This blog is one of the best destinations for info on men’s contemporary fashion and streetwear. Drop dates for seasonal collections from flourishing fashion streetwear brands like Supreme, A Bathing Ape and The Hundreds are often reported on this blog for enthusiasts to prepare for. Blog writers on this platform also engage in brand new street footwear and music, providing reviews and insight into the trends of today. This blog appeals mostly to the younger demographic of people (teenagers to young adults) who like to hold the bird’s eye view on current street fashion and culture.  

Blogging still holds an important place in the circulation of information today. Blogs are great for taking in long form of information. It is available on the internet and often involves more opinion than the formal tone of traditional formats like newspapers and magazines. There are also many different blogs available to digest, often dealing in many different topics, giving readers the opportunity to engage in any topic they want. However, it does have some disadvantages. Blogs rely on the internet, so those who do not have internet (especially those in developing nations) can not engage in these blogs. Traditional media has the capability to reach those in developing nations where internet is not readily available. Traditional media involves real world communication. You can touch, feel and interact with newspapers in a way you can not with blogs. 

Within the next 5-10 years, blogs will be going nowhere. Many people still rely on blogs to provide them with the information they need on topics pertaining to their personal lives and even their careers. Even though the structure of traditional blogs is changing to become more freeform, they still follow the rules of traditional blogs of the past. Social media is bigger than ever and has become the way to follow news and trends, especially because it is accessible anywhere if you have a device that can connect to the Internet (i.e. smartphones). However, social media only allows for quick thoughts and non-elaborate posts. People still like to read long-form, structured pieces on the topic of their choosing. Blogs give writers the freedom to do this and as long as this is possible, blogs will see stability for the next 5 to 10 years and beyond.