世界上所有社會群體如今深受所有媒體資源的影響。只有媒體可以顯示報道世界上正出現的新聞，戰爭，政治，運動，天氣，時尚以及更多的事情。媒體成為了人們與世界的連接物，顯然，技術及媒體技術發揮了主要作用。上個世紀是媒體技術的發展時期，并且沒有任何的異議與爭論，每位公民都欣然接受網絡技術改變世界。互聯網作為一種技術，成為了獨特的產業。

 

互聯網在計算機和科研團體中廣受歡迎。在20世紀八十年代，大多數大學和以研究為導向的機構都擁有了能夠連接互聯網的電腦。最近，網絡媒體變得十分強大，足以被視為超級力量。維基解密是一個大型文檔泄漏及分析信息網站。社會媒體正影響我們的日常生活。

 

這篇dissertation將會徹底討論互聯網作為媒體技術怎樣使社會與文化面向全世界。

 

互聯網作為一種技術出現：
 

開頭-

 

在二戰時期，一位美國工程師和科學負責人萬尼瓦爾·布建立了一種在聯邦政府，美國科學界和商業三者間的聯系。戰后，萬尼瓦爾·布幫助使這關系逐漸制度化。因此，像美國國家科學基金會和高級研究計劃局（ARPA）這樣的組織被一一創建。網絡發展的起點源于ARPA，布什還于1945年寫了一篇題為“誠入所思”。在文中，他所描述的理論存儲和檢索裝置被稱為“記憶擴展”，將使用類似于我們現在所說的超文本系統。

 

All the societies of the world are now strongly influenced by all sources of media. Only the media could show what is going on in the world within news, war, politics, sport, weather, fashion and much more. The media became human connection to the world. Obviously the main role played by the technology and technology of media. In the last century was the period of the development time of media technology. And without any debate and argument every citizen of the world would accept that the internet technology changed the world. Internet became a unique and special social domain as a technology.

 

The Internet became widely popular in the computer and scientific research communities. By the 1980's most universities and research-oriented institutions had computers that were connected to the Internet. Very recently internet media became so powerful which can be the treat to the superpowers. WikiLeaks is that type of information media who has opened the ugly faces of the super powers and vested quarters of the world. Social media is influencing our daily lives.

 

This study will elaborately discuss how the internet as a media technology changed the social and cultural trends worldwide.

Birth of Internet as a technology:
 

Beginnings-

 

At the time of World War II, an American engineer and science administrator Mr. Vannevar Bush built up a relationship between the federal government, the American scientific community, and business. After the war, Vannevar Bush helped institutionalise the relationship. As a result, organizations like the National Science Foundation and Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), were created. It was at ARPA that the Internet first began. Bush also wrote a paper entitled, "As We May Think," in 1945. In this paper he described a theoretical storage and retrieval device, called a "Memex," which would use a system remarkably similar to what we now call hypertext.

 

The Memex worked as a memory bank to organise and retrieve data. The Memex is a device in which an individual compresses and stores all of their books, records, and communications which is then mechanised so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility.

 

Vannevar Bush was a man of foresight, he already found the relations between natural courses of human body and the then technological transformation.

 

We know that when the eye sees, all the consequent information is transmitted to the brain by means of electrical vibrations in the channel of the optic nerve. This is an exact analogy with the electrical vibrations which occur in the cable of a television set: they convey the picture from the photocells which see it to the radio transmitter from which it is broadcast. We know further that if we can approach that cable with the proper instruments, we do not need to touch it; we can pick up those vibrations by electrical induction and thus discover and reproduce the scene which is being transmitted, just as a telephone wire may be tapped for its message. (Bush, 1945)

 

In 1962, J.C.R. Licklider who was considered one of the most important figures in computer science and general computing history went to work for ARPA. Licklider believed and suggested that a computer network be established to allow ARPA research contractors to communicate information with each other efficiently. Bob Taylor, who was the director of ARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) from 1966-1969, wanted to find an efficient way to allow various IPTO contractors to share computing resources. He picked up on Licklider's old idea of a network and hired Larry Roberts to head the project. Roberts would be the main architect of a new computer network that would be known as the ARPANET. Thus the beginnings of the Internet were underway.

 

The architecture of the ARPANET relied heavily on the ideas of Paul Baran who co-invented a new system known as packet-switching.( A British computer scientist, Donald Davies, independently came up with his own theories of packet-switching). Baran also suggested that the network be designed as a distributed network. The ARPANET connected large mainframe computers together via smaller gateway computers, or routers, known as Interface Message Processors (IMPs). On September 1, 1969, the first IMP arrived at UCLA. A month later the second one was installed at Stanford.

 

A True Internet-

 

The ARPANET continued to grow. Other computer networks, like Hawaii's ALOHANET and the satellite linked network SATNET, began to spring up. Soon the were many different computer networks all over the world, but they could not communicate with one another because they used different protocols, or standards for transmitting data. Then in 1974, Vint Cerf (known to some as the "father of the Internet"), along with Bob Kahn, wrote a new protocol, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol, that would become the accepted standard. The implementation of TCP allowed the various networks to connect into a true "internet." 

 

The World Wide Web
 

The World Wide Web led to widespread popularity for the Internet. Today the web continues to grow and change in sometimes unpredictable ways. Tim Berners-Lee, who created the World Wide Web. The first trials of the World Wide Web were at the CERN laboratories in Switzerland in December 1990.

 

Browser and web server software was available by 1991, and a few preliminary sites existed in places like University of Illinois by 1992, where Mark Andreesen became involved. By the end of 1992, there were a few sites developed which did not exceed the double digit.

 

The invention of the World Wide Web has been hailed by Time magazine and Tim Berners-Lee recognised as one of the 100 greatest minds of this century. His creation has already changed the way people do business, entertain them, exchange ideas, and socialize with one another. With new online businesses and communities forming every day, the full impact of Berners-Lee's grand scheme has yet to be fully known.

 

Want to see how much the world has changed in the past decade? Log on to the Internet, launch a search engine and type in the word enquire (British spelling, please). You'll get about 30,000 hits. It turns out you can "enquire" about nearly anything online these days, from used Harley Davidsons for sale in Sydney, Australia ("Enquire about touring bikes. Click here!"), to computer-training-by-e-mail courses in India ("Where excellence is not an act but a habit"). Click once to go to a site in Nairobi and enquire about booking shuttle reservations there. Click again, and zip off to Singapore, to a company that specializes in "pet moving." Enquire about buying industrial-age nuts and bolts from "the Bolt Boys" in South Africa, or teddy bears in upstate New York.(Time, Mar 1999)

 

In the New Century
 

In the new century internet progress is very fast. It changes the life style of new generations. New generations could not think their daily life without social media. The new generations specified as the young who are studying in different levels. Last few years the social Media changed the culture of new generation which also influenced all age groups. These changes occurred due to the evolution of internet.

 

The new phenomena of social media changed the social life all over the world. Now as per International telecommunication Union-ITU database-2011 the total number of internet user world wide are 360,985,492 on 2000 and increased from 2000 to 2010 as 1,966,514,816. Its growth rate is 444.8% and 28.7% of population are using internet. The Asian users were 825.1 million, European 475.1 Million, North America 266.2 Million, Caribbean 204.7 million and rest of the world were 195.4 Million.

 

The database shows that the uses of internet expanded in the developing countries. It means the lifestyle of people in developing countries changed within last 5 years. There is a huge change of internet users by gender within European countries and Non-European countries.

 

Other computerised media which are also based on internet, i.e. mobile broadband, fixed broadband, mobile phones, increased rapidly within decade. The authentic source is ITU. As per their database if we look then the information of development is:

 

Good and Bad Social Impact:
 

Internet and computer network influenced the social life. There are some debates on this matter, some researchers find social life is influenced and some denied. Some recognised as a positive way some found the bad impacts and socio-cultural and psychological damages. Two approaches already developed with the society. One approach the internet as a technology the ultimate source to change the society and others think that as it already in its evolutionary process, the social agencies are shaping everything for social needs thus the technology could establish within the society.

 

New technology has three orders of effects. The first is the intended technical effects—the planned improvements in efficiency that justify investments in new technology. The second is the transient effects—the very important organizational adjustments made when a technology is introduced but that eventually disappear. The third is the unintended social effects—the permanent changes in the way social and work activities are organized. Smart executives try to make decisions about technology that win on the first level, minimize losses on the second, and retain flexibility and options on the third. (Keisler, 1986)

 

There are some psychological and interpersonal impacts also seen within the internet users. Internet pornography caused harm within the social environment and it’s also differing society to society. But their nows exist within the World Wide Web and easy access from everywhere through internet. It’s a change dramatically changed and knocked all the society. There where people morale are not to open regarding sex within public domain, but as western values and ethics people need to know their sexual knowledge thus they could prevent their possible sexual problems and easily they could overcome any situation arises.

 

Recent Trend of Internet Users:
 

The recent trends of internet users are mainly to use most of the database from online. The educators mostly depend on their research or study from the internet. The news broadcasting of all the major TV, Radio, and Newspapers are now available in online. People’s lifestyle changed so that they want everything from computer and internet. Even if we see the Wikipedia the online encyclopaedia online the trend also could be realise easily. Wikipedia is continually created and updated which is not easily possible in the printed encyclopaedia. Thus it helps the educators worldwide to achieve the same standard of knowledge from online.

 

Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has grown rapidly into one of the largest reference websites, attracting nearly 78 million visitors monthly as of January 2010. There are more than 91,000 active contributors working on more than 17,000,000 articles in more than 270 languages. As of today, there are 3,530,948 articles in English. Every day, hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world collectively make tens of thousands of edits and create thousands of new articles to augment the knowledge held by the Wikipedia encyclopaedia. (Wikipedia: Statistics.)

 

Different times of history, knowledge exists and the knowledge taken as a device and thus technology invents. Internet is one of the devise which become now the part of life. World can not think without this technology. All communications now became digitalised. Developing countries are also trying to go faster than any other times.

 

Social Networks:

Networking:

Social Networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups and it is possible in person, in the workplace or and educational institutions, it became most popular online. This is because the internet is filled with millions of individuals who are looking to meet other people, to gather and share first-hand information and experiences, developing friendships or professional alliances, finding employment, business marketing, spirituality, news and views etc. The topics and interests are as varied.

 

There are a number of social networking websites that focus on particular interests. The websites without a main focus are "traditional" social networking websites and they offer open memberships where anyone can become a member, no matter what their hobbies, beliefs, or views are. However, once a person is inside a online community, he could begin to create own network of friends and eliminate members that do not share common interests or goals.

 

Now days the popular Social Networks are Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Tagged, etc.

 

This study will find the users statistics of some of these social media/networks.

 

Social networking will be a more popular communication mechanism than either voice or SMS, according to 31 global mobile operators cited in a new report from Airwide Solutions. The report, commissioned by Airwide and performed by research agency mobileSQUARED, asked operators across Europe, North America and in the Asia-Pacific regions what they believed would be the most popular applications and the top forms of communication in 2015. When examined individually, traditional forms of communication still appeared to be at the top of the list. The operators said that 87% would use messaging (SMS/MMS) and 81% would use voice. However, when all the social networking options were combined, they totalled 94%, thus becoming the new majority. (Perez 2010)

 

Summery Numbers of statistics from a website:

 

The greatest overlap between OpenSocial container sites exists between MySpace and Hi5, in which 43% of Hi5 users also use MySpace.

 

Facebook users are 63% female and 36% male whereas the sites integrated with the OpenSocial platform are 61% female and 38% male

 

52% of Facebook users are 18-25, whereas 40% of the users are 18-25 for the five container sites on the OpenSocial platform

 

Facebook users tend to use 2.9 major social networking sites on average whereas users of OpenSocial container sites tend to use 2.7 major social networking sites

 

Interesting that this data shows that Facebook demographic skews female and under 25, compared to other major social networks. That is important information to know if you are building a Facebook application.

 

Social Network Specific Data

 

People on Facebook

 

More than 500 million active users

 

50% of active users log on to Facebook in any given day

 

Average user has 130 friends

 

People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

 

Activity on Facebook

 

There are over 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages)

 

Average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events

 

Average user creates 90 pieces of content each month

 

More than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) shared each month.

 

In a joint research (Hampton, Sessions, Her and Rainie 2009) from Pew Internet a project of Pew research Center found that Social networking services, such as Facebook, provide new opportunities for users to maintain core social networks. Core ties can be highly influential in decision making and exposure to ideas, issues, and opinion. This makes core network members prime targets for marketers and interest groups who may want to use social networking services to influence decision making about consumer products or political opinion.

 

A majority - 71% - of all users of social networking services have listed at least one member of their core network of influentials as a “friend” on a social networking service.

 

The use of social networking services to maintain core networks is highest among 18-22-year-olds. Thirty percent of 18-22-year-olds use a social networking service to maintain contact with 90% or more of their core influentials.

 

YouTube:

 

Hundreds of millions of users from around the world are uploading hundreds of thousands of videos daily—over 24 hours of video are uploaded every minute

 

The equivalent of 150,000+ full-length movies in theatres each week

 

More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than the 3 major US networks created in 60 years

 

70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US

 

YouTube is localized in 25 countries across 38 languages

 

YouTube's demographic is broad: 18-54 years old

 

Other networks
 

All other networks also have a huge users and the very recent data shows that:

 

MySpace Users are 11.3 million identified in Rapleaf where 63% female, 36% male

 

LinkedIn Users are 0.8 million identified in Rapleaf where 38% female, 61% male

 

Friendster Users are 2.3 million identified in Rapleaf where 58% female, 41% male

 

Plaxo Users are 1.3 million identified in Rapleaf where 62% female, 37% male

 

Hi5 Users are 4.5 million users identified in Rapleaf where 60% female, 39% male and they have no advertisement. (Social Media Optimization)

 

Impacts on Americans life:
 

In America the impacts are different than rest of the world but not with a big distance. In a recent survey it was proved that in America there is a major impact on society about 59% and to raise money the major impact is 52%, which is play the major role in politics.

 

Latest Information Entity WikiLeaks
 

How a media can be dangerous and threat for a superpower and how the superpowers become naked to the world people, WIKILEAKS is the only and latest instance. WikiLeaks is an information media — a new kind of media and that makes a freedom of the press issue world wide. Like it or not, WikiLeaks is fundamentally a journalistic entity. Since its inception on 2006, WikiLeaks as an international non profit new media is publishing submissions of otherwise unavailable documents from anonymous news sources and leaks.

 

WikiLeaks is a globally transformative event. Not simply in terms of awakening new people to ‘new’ information, but also in terms of the effect it is having upon global power structures, itself. With ambassadors resigning, diplomats being exposed as liars and tools, political rifts developing between Western imperial allies, and many careers and reputations of elites around the world at great risk, WikiLeaks is creating the potential for an enormous deterioration in the effectiveness of imperialism and domination. That, in itself, is an admirable and worthy goal. That this is already a reality is representative of how truly transformative WikiLeaks is and could be. People, globally, are starting to see their leaders through a lens not filtered by ‘public relations.’ Through mainstream media, it gets filtered through propaganda, which is why it is an essential duty of the alternative media and critical thinkers to place this information in a wider, comprehensive context. This would further erode the effectiveness of empire. (Marshall 2010)

 

It is doubtful whether this type of disclosure could have happened in an 'offline' world. The balance of 'information power' has changed and now one organisation and the many distributed people who support it now have the potential to redefine the relationship that citizens have with the state.
 

Online Relationship and Internet
 

It is now a phenomenon in the society to build most of the relationship through online. The number of these types of relationship are not a millions but it is increasing faster way. Within next couple of years if the whole culture of relationship development depends on online no body would be surprised.

 

Participation in Internet social groups also affords individuals the opportunity to widen their social sphere and to integrate new on-line relationships into their off-line lives. Such opportunities may be particularly important for those who are lonely and without a supportive network of family and friends and for those who experience social anxiety. (McKenn and Bargh 1999).

 

Conclusions:
 

From all the above study it should be concluded that the Internet as a technology is a whole new world emerged at the last 20th century. Everyday, the Internet expands the social, political, and economic activities of people globally and its impact growth on social and cultural life and influenced. Now a day in this new information world there is no geographical boundaries and people are encouraged to participate and contribute drawing on their experiences and resources thus the people changed socio-culturally using the technology. So that it has influenced our society in almost all areas of human endeavours. We found the both way of good and bad impacts on our life but information technology pushed our life forward from where we have no technology to reverse back to the ancient time. We use internet to gamble, buy and sell, make relationship, grow business, daily banking, governmental and judicial activities information, news, TV, radio, video chat, even find bride and grooms and watching movies etc. This is our reality and thus we have changed our day to day social and cultural life. Now it is Digital time. Whether technology is determining and dominating or for social need and favourable environment created by the social agencies technology exist in our life and for its digitalisation we are living in a new era of changing civilisation.