Updated 26 May, 2012, 4:18 pm IST

Why Go Online?

17 Jul, 2010, 1:40 pm IST | by Dushyant Khilnani

Getting first-hand information from anywhere in the world has never been easier.

Why Go Online?

Email and information are the two biggest aspects that draw people to the Internet, and this holds true across all age groups. Contrary to popular belief, research published on the Digital Strategy Consulting website further corroborates the fact that school and college students spend more time exchanging emails and researching information than chatting and interacting on social networks. Ofcourse, compared to professionals and other age groups, young adults spike the social network traffic. Even viewing of online videos is growing immensely, mainly because sharing data online has become easy and quick. All you need is a standard video camera, a YouTube account, and you’re ready to show the world whatever you shoot. Digital tools and online services, and applications are only fueling this rapid growth across all demographics.

What’s most amazing is the speed at which a service gains so much popularity. If people like it, it becomes the next big thing very fast, and if they don’t, it’s history. Online media-sharing sites have come a long way, and are an integral part of the social network. There are many free and paid services that spring up every now and then, and buzzwords like cloud-computing and Internet-on-mobile might be the undercurrents of tomorrow’s Internet outburst in our country. It can be really interesting to know how people use the web, and currently, there’s no dearth of services to engage active users. There are photo and video sharing services like Flickr and YouTube, or Google Docs to store, share and edit documents in the cloud. Then there are websites like 4Shared, eSnips and Box.net, where people upload data for free. These are just examples of how various application areas have taken to the cloud. Be it for data, videos, documents, photos, wherever there is content-sharing, the medium or service spreads like wild fire.

Another set of users, like online and offline merchants and marketers, make the most of this situation to promote their businesses. From small businesses to multi-national companies, a prominent online presence and a good ad campaign could get you places. Though the online marketing space is still at a nascent stage in India, it won’t take long for it to become the mainstay.

While most users access the Internet through their home or office, the use of Internet on mobile phones is also a huge contributor. Getting first-hand information from anywhere in the world at the click of a button has never been easier. Ever heard the terms, ‘Google it’? Whatever you want to look up, search engines are the quickest sources of information today, especially when you have an Internet-enabled phone. That explains why most people use the Internet mainly for information and emails. Whether on your phone or via PC, the Internet is becoming more and more indispensable. Let us know your reasons for using the Internet and how necessary you think it is.

Tags: search engines , search engine marketing , online advertising , online gaming , google docs , could computing , internet in india