Introduction
Do you exist? Where do you exist? Why do you exist?
Mr. Chairperson, fellow TM and distinguished guests.
These questions have been bothering philosophers for ages. Existence, in today's world, has taken more complex forms than ever before. One such existence, and I would say the most popular existence beside you physical one, is: Online Existence.
My goal for this series of speeches, this one being the first, is to take you through the world of online existence. i.e. your presence on the Internet, the way you see the world, and the way the world sees you!!
Most of you already have a good idea of what Internet is. But for the sake of those who are not so sure, I will briefly introduce the world of Internet.
Internet
What on earth is Internet?? Everyone is talking about it, from children to seniors, men or women, rich or poor, good or evil, everyone is talking about internet these days.
When many computers are connected together and have the capability of talking to each other, a network is born. When many networks join hands and start talking to each other, it makes Inter-Network, of in simple, Internet.
Initially the Internet was invented for military communications, but soon the academics started using it for civil purposes too. And you know when students get hold of something; it's bound to get popular. J
Social Networks
Electronic Mail, or email, became the primary means of communications. Some people thought that only sending emails is not enough, so they started living their life on Internet. They would spend more and more time online and started interacting with other people. This was the beginning of a new existence: The Online Existence.
Internet is a huge source of information. There are billions of pages worth of information written and saved on computers that are shared with the world. Recently Jack told me that he's been reading Wikipedia lately and thinks that he must have read almost half of the whole website… he must be kidding!!
But all this text of information is separate from the Social Networking facet of the Internet. In the Social Networks, important is not what information you share (means the correctness of it), but who you share it with, how you share, and with how many people.
Lets take a look at in what ways Internauts socialize.
And by the way this term is used casually for those who exist online. Inspired by Astronauts, though nothing less!
Types of Social Networks
Internet is used for:
- Chatting and live messaging
- Emails and other messages
- Sharing ideas on particular topic
- Sharing day-to-day thoughts or routines
- Finding a job
- Making new friends
- Finding your Love of Life
- Helping or seeking help, learn
- Getting popular, promoting Personal Brand
- Parallel Life
What to expect / What not to expect
Believe me, expectations go high when you are first introduced to Social Networking. Some of the expectations include:
- You are able to share yours thoughts and exercise freedom of speech
- You can get valuable information from people's firsthand experiences, much better than conventional, corporate-controlled media.
- You might be able to help, might get help in small jobs
Besides these, you should not expect that:
- You will become a celebrity overnight
- Everything you see/hear/read is correct
- Nobody knows what you do (no anonymity )
- People care about your privacy
- Everything is free on Internet
Conclusion
Now you have seen what is Internet. You have also seen how your Existence has taken a new meaning in the world of Internet.
My future presentations will focus on a specific kind of social network and we will see what Social Networking has in store for you.
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