Internet Usage

What is the Internet? The Internet, also known as: the Net is the single worldwide computer network that interconnects other computer networks, on which end-user services, such as World Wide Web sites, enabling data and other information to be exchanged the Internet is a worldwide network of thousands of computers and computer networks. It is a public, voluntary, and cooperative effort between the connected institutions and is not owned or operated by any single organization.
The History of Internet The history of the Internet starts in the 1950s and 1960s with the development of computers. This began with point-to-point communication between mainframe computers and terminals, expanded to point-to-point connections between computers and then early research into packet switching.
In 1982 the Internet Protocol Suite was standardized and the concept of a world-wide network of fully interconnected TCP/IP networks called the Internet was introduced. The ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990. Commercial internet service providers began to emerge in the late 1980s and 1990s and the Internet was commercialized in 1995, removing the last restrictions on the use of the Internet to carry commercial traffic.

Since the mid-1990s the Internet has had a drastic impact on culture and commerce, including the rise of near instant communication by electronic mail, instant messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol "phone calls", two-way interactive video calls, and the World Wide Web with its discussion forums, blogs, social networking, and online shopping sites. The research and education community continues to use advanced networks. Increasing amounts of data are transmitted at higher and higher speeds over fiber optic networks operating at 1-Gbps, 10-Gbps, or more. The Internet continues to grow, driven by ever greater amounts of online information and knowledge, commerce, entertainment and social networking.
What is The Internet used For?
Email
People use the Internet to send each other private messages called emails. These messages can contain text, pictures, video or links to websites that your friend wants to share. One of the convenient features of emails, as opposed to traditional letter mailing, is that emails can be sent and received instantly; there is no need to wait days or weeks for the letter to arrive.

Social Networking
Another reason why people use the Internet, which is why internet is mostly used by teenagers in votualevu is for social networking. Sites like MySpace and Twitter, and especially Facebook give people the opportunity to connect with old friends and makin new friends in a fast and convenient way. Now there is no reason to lose connection with your neighboring friends because you moved away for to another neighborhood. They are as close as the click of a mouse.
Research
Another reason people use the Internet is to do research where school children in votualevu can do their research for assignments, surveys, or school projects to gather information on the topic they are trying to do and which is easier to do.

The share of adult internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from 8% in 2005 to 35% now, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project's December 2008 tracking survey.

While media coverage and policy attention focus heavily on how children and young adults use social network sites, adults still make up the bulk of the users of these websites. Adults make up a larger portion of the US population than teens, which is why the 35% number represents a larger number of users than the 65% of online teens who also use online social networks.

Still, younger online adults are much more likely than their older counterparts to use social networks, with 75% of adults 18-24 using these networks, compared to just 7% of adults 65 and older. At its core, use of online social networks is still a phenomenon of the young.

Overall, personal use of social networks seems to be more prevalent than professional use of networks, both in the orientation of the networks that adults choose to use as well as the reasons they give for using the applications. Most adults, like teens, are using online social networks to connect with people they already know.