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Issue Description
In the past two decades, a drastic information revolution has taken place. The advent of the world wide web 15 years ago made the world a smaller place, while today the internet is increasingly user-driven, with content in the form of blogs, networking sites and wikis. However, as well as being a powerful tool for sharing ideas and information, the internet can also be a dangerous place. This book looks at internet trends and online dangers.
The information comes from a wide range of sources and includes government reports and statistics, newspaper reports, features, magazine articles and surveys, literature from lobby groups and charitable organisations.
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Key Facts
- More than 304 million people now have broadband access worldwide, out of a total of 1.24 billion Internet users, though it’s worth remembering that this also shows that any kind of access is still a relative privilege: as of 2007, 81% of the world’s population has no home connection. (page 1)
- The most popular online activity in Europe, according to an EIAA survey, was searching, followed by email and communicating via social networking sites. (page 3)
- Over 75% of 11-year-olds now have their own television, games console and mobile phone. Some 15% of 13- to 15-year-olds and 7% of 10-year-olds also have their own webcam. (page 4)
- Nearly half of all children who have access to the Internet have their own personal profile on a social networking site, according to Ofcom research. (page 9)
- As many as four and a half million young people (71%) would not want a college, university or potential employer to conduct an Internet search on them unless they could first remove content from social networking sites, according to research by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). But almost six in ten have never considered that what they put online now might be permanent and could be accessed years into the future. (page 10)
- British youth are really prolific texters with 50% sending more than six every day. (page 13)
- The 30.6 million Britons active online in June 2007 spent a total of 31.8 billion minutes surfing the web and using Internet-related applications – an average of 17 hours 21 minutes per active Briton online. (page 15)
- Many young people are effectively being ‘raised online’ spending in excess of 20 hours a week using sites such as Bebo, MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, according to research. (page 27)
- Cybercrime is on the rise with a UK victim hit every 10 seconds. (page 35)
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: The Changing Web
The Internet, 15 years of the world wide web, The communications revolution, Web 2.0, Internet’s a family affair, Blogging, Ofcom research identifies social networking profiles, Social networking and your electronic footprint, Social networking is going mobile, Mobile Life Report 2008: the connected world, What do Britons spend the most time doing online?, ‘Nerdic’ is fastest-growing language, Internet connectivity, Government aims to bridge digital divide, School work plagued by net plagiarism, Time to trust the digital generation says think tank, Online TV, video and movie consumption almost doubles, Microsoft to get touchy with next OS, Gates convinced speech will replace keyboards, Internet ‘to hit full capacity by 2010’, Tim Berners-Lee: the web that thinks.
Chapter Two: Risks and Dangers
A generation of youth are being ‘raised online’, UK kids take online risks behind closed doors, Safer children in a digital world, Online shopping reaches record high, Internet shopping, People ‘losing control of personal information’, Ofcom research highlights identity fraud worry, Phishing explained, Spyware and adware, Cybercrime committed every 10 seconds, Downloading, Wi-Fi hijacking common crime, Censoring of Internet is ‘spreading like virus’, Addiction to Internet ‘is an illness’, Online gaming addiction, Chinese gamer dies after three-day session.
Key Facts
Glossary
Index
Additional Resources
Acknowledgements
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The Study Guide for: The Internet Revolution - Volume 158
Each book in the Issues series has a study guide. These four-page guides provide a variety of discussion points and other activities to suit a wide range of ability levels and interests.
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £1.95
ISBN: 978 1 86168 474 5
