The Advantages & Disadvantages Of The Internet – The Good And The Bad Of The Information Superhighway

The advantages and disadvantages of the Internet are like two peas in a pod. There are the good and the bad sides to Internet, the acclaimed information superhighway. From modest beginnings as a military project, Internet has grown into the most potent tool of communication, knowledge and information.

Unheard of 10 years or so ago, Internet, today, has completely changed the way we communicate. It has become the inalienable part of our very lives. It is mainly accessed by students and scholars for their research projects. There is a multitude of people who swear by it and there are others who spurn it.

The Negatives & The Positives

Internet is a database of information where one can find whatever information one requires. This incredible source of information has a flip side too. The limitless information that it provides has an unsavory side to it. Information that may be harmful, in certain hands, is also freely available.

Some of the advantages of the Internet are:

• Easy and instant communication through E-mail, instant messaging and on-line chats
• Global access and reach
• A powerful marketing tool, accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year
• A comparatively inexpensive and cost effective way for businesses to promote their product
• On-line banking, on-line payment of bills
• Reservations in hotels, airlines, etc
• Information on conferences, market information, online discussion forums, new ideas, and technical support
• Buy and sell products and services.
• Multimedia capability


There are many disadvantages of the Internet also:

• Pornography is the most unsavory side of the Internet. Children are easily exposed to inappropriate reading and graphic material and unwanted attention of sexual predators.
• The Internet has opened up avenues of unsolicited intrusiveness into our lives. Distracting pop-up, flash ad pages and spams are the invasiveness we live with.
• Computers get infected by various viruses, which completely take over the system and destroy their entire hard drives.
• Unscrupulous businesses, selling cheap or fake products.
• Misuse of your credit/debit card information
• It is very difficult to evaluate the legitimacy of an on-line transaction.

Despite all the terrible disadvantages of Internet, the advantages of Internet, in fact, far overweigh its disadvantages.