Why We Are Thankful For The Internet | Between the Dots
At the community centre , near to where I live, we like many similar community ventures run silver surfers for older people to learn how to use the internet. One lady, ( well at least one I know ) enjoyed the classes and went regularly, until the tutor started the lessons on the Internet and how to use it, when she insisted that she wanted nothing to do with the Internet and was never going to use it. Meanwhile, others of her age are skyping their grandchildren in Australia and catching up with their friends on Facebook.
Of course we are unfortunately aware of the perils of the internet , but strong , regularly used and updated security software protects from most problems for most domestic users ..and also businesses. Another problem can be when due to government policy, people who do not have access to the internet and will not have it either, for the simple reason that they cannot afford the equipment and costs of getting online, are forced to find a way to use it eg for applying for benefits and jobs.
However, generally, at this period of thinking about Thanksgiving, one of the things I certainly give thanks for is the Internet.
Indeed, if able to afford the initial and running costs, the internet actually saves money , as the best shopping deals are to be found there and also, utility companies often offer their best deals online, and discounts for managing your account online. Thanks to the internet, you can shop for anything you need, compare prices and have it delivered, including groceries from all the major supermarkets and you can buy your Christmas and birthday presents without leaving home.
The difference that the internet has made to the lives of everyone from children to the elderly and perhaps especially, isolated and housebound people is amazing, with us now being able to take part in social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and various forums and groups for every interest from art to zoos. Social and political campaigning, which is such a huge part of the fightback against the welfare cuts is no longer limited to those who can physically manage to go on marches, the internet is full of online activism and protest groups, although there is a question around how effective this really is and that people also do have to do more than just tick lots of online buttons. There are also opportunities to volunteer online, ideal perhaps for job hunters, for whom job hunting itself is almost in effect a full time job, especially with the increased pressure and rules set by the Job centers, with benefit claimants suffering sanctions in the form of removal of benefits if they don't appear to be doing enough to look for jobs. Volunteering builds contacts and helps to build up experience or keep fresh the skills you have. Online volunteering is also a way for perhaps the older or less active person to still feel they have skills to offer and use such as in befriending services.
As a person with disabilities affected by welfare reform I have been able to gain not just valuable information and advice, but support from belonging to groups and forums of people in the same or similar situations to myself. Indeed, that was the motivation for this blog, to bring together advice and resources that I had found so that they can be used by other people in similar situations to myself, older and or disabled but having to look for work
I mentioned grandparents skyping their grandchildren, and although the internet has made the world a far smaller place for families separated by distance, it is not just family members and people whom we already know that we connect with on the internet. Social media such as Facebook with its groups for every interest imaginable (and some not ) brings people together across the world who have never met and quite likely never will. I am connected to Facebook friends I will probably never meet but are none the less dear friends, through such interests as music, books and politics. I have 'met' so many wonderful people, and learned so much from 'speaking' with them online. Yes, things are very tough for the unemployed and sick and disabled people in the UK, but we are not the only place in the world where people sell their jewellery to pay the electricity bill and come home to find the phone has been cut off while they were out.....
I have a friend who for whatever reason cannot at the end of an online chat bear the words ' bye bye' ..I don't know why and feel no need at all to ever ask her...we have other words for it, and not words that seem perhaps ... so final .
There is a lot of debate about whether internet friend's are really friends , well, for many years and often still today people had pen friends and wrote letters to each other for years, yet never met. With my internet friends, I know that we do all the things friends do. We share things, we learn to spot each others different attitudes, we have discussed things, we see a different viewpoint, we notice if the other isn't around...and we 'listen' to what we write in comments, learn to know when to answer, when maybe not to and...we care...., all the things that friends do.I know that we would miss each other very much if we were not there anymore and that our lives are better for each other.
I even know of internet friends where one saved the live of another in a friendship that started with emails and led to a British journalist rescuing her friend, Iraqi academic May Witwit , told in the story Talking About Jane Austen In Baghdad Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad: The True Story of an Unlikely Friendship
.There is no doubt at all that internet access is it could be said almost essential now for the job hunter. Online can be found everything from advice about how to write your CV,free CV reviews when you have done it or need a review, job hunting advice, interview tips and of course job boards such as Monster, CV Library , Indeed, etc, etc, and networking opportunities via social network sites with LinkedIn being most associated with careers. Facebook has many groups and pages for job searching , ...even Twitter is a valuable resource for job hunters.
Should you need to update your skills or learn new ones for getting a job, or just fancy learning something new, the internet has lots of resources for free online courses, especially helpful as so much funding for adult education at colleges has been cut.
And lastly, but certainly very importantly, is that increasingly the internet has become a means for unemployed people, especially but most certainly not limited to, those who are older and or disabled and are forced to look for work, to be able to make a living from internet based opportunities or get ideas and advice about turning skills and hobbies into an income... Be Happy, Make Money: How To Turn Your Skills, Talents, Hobbies & Ideas Into Multiple Income Streams: How to Turn Your Skills, Talents, Hobbies and Ideas into Multiple Income Streams
, such as eg, selling your photography if you are good at taking pictures
