The Impact of the Internet in America

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The Impact of the Internet in America

The prevalence of the internet has had a tremendous impact on American society in terms of physical health and emotional well-being. In the following pages, I will attempt to briefly highlight some of the positive and negative impacts I feel today’s internet technology has had on people living in The United States of America.

Public internet access can be found in most libraries or internet cafes. Internet Service Providers offer access to individuals in their homes as well as schools and businesses. To begin with, I utilized a popular website, Ask Jeeves http://ask.com, to help locate a definition of what exactly is the internet. “The Internet, sometimes called simply ‘The Net,’ is a worldwide system of computer networks - a network of networks in which users at any one computer can, if they have permission, get information from any other computer (and sometimes talk directly to users at other computers). The Internet is a public, cooperative, and self-sustaining facility accessible to hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The most widely used part of the Internet is the World Wide Web (often abbreviated ‘WWW’ or called ‘the Web’). Using the Web, you have access to millions of pages of information.”[1]

The key phrase, “access to millions of pages of information,”1 placing health and wellness information literally at the fingertips of average Americans, has empowered people to take charge of their own health and well-being. “More than 6 million people turn to the Internet every day for health information.”[2] The enormous amount of information available on the internet to the public extends to a variety of topics including: diagnosis and condition information, treatment i...

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...pon any of the information provided on this site for medical diagnosis or treatment. Please consult your primary health care provider about any personal health concerns.

[5] Information access on 02-23-04, http://www.nichcy.org/pubs/factshe/fs7txt.htm.

[6] See Walgreens Pharmacy online at: http://www.walgreens.com/

[7] Information access on 02-23-04, http://www.acrlnec.org/sigs/itig/tc_mar22_02.htm, “A Library at the Bedside: Healthcare Information and PDAs.” Kathleen Bauer, Librarian Cushing/Whitney Medical Library Yale School of Medicine.

[8] Information access on 02-23-04, Gonsalves, Antone. “Overseas Outsourcing Leads To Identity Theft Risks” Internet Week.Com February 12, 2004 http://www.internetweek.com/breakingNews/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=17603388

[9] Rubenking, Janet. “Identity Theft: What, Me Worry?”. PC Magazine March 3, 2004 p. 75-77.

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