The wheel, the printing press, the automobile, electricity, the telephone; all are inventions that changed the world as we knew it. There have been four industrial revolutions in human history and each of them changed the world as we knew it. We are all lucky enough (or unlucky enough, depending on perspective) to be living through the fourth. The creation of the internet, or more specifically, the World Wide Web, ushered in the fourth industrial revolution.
The World Wide Web was invented in 1989 by researchers at the CERN laboratory. Tim Berners-Lee was the researcher who was primarily credited with its invention.
The World Wide Web is responsible for far more inventions that build upon its concept than one may realize. The world's first instant messaging service, AOL, was invented in the same year as the World Wide Web. This allowed users to communicate faster than ever before. Just two years later in 1991, the first webcam was invented. This allowed to people from anywhere in the world to visually connect with each other, another huge step for the web. In 1994, the first online purchase was made when somebody used the World Wide Web to place a pizza hut order. Online shopping has clearly become a major component of the web, with companies like Amazon, ebay, etsy, etc. making a large profit off of online sales.
In 1996, just seven years after the invention of the World Wide Web, Nokia released the first cell phone with internet capabilities. 30 years later, we are even more aware of how gargantuan this invention was. Smart phones are the way of the world now, and anyone who is going to get a smart phone already has one.
In 2002, Xbox Live was created, which allowed users to connect and play video games together. This was another step in advancing a booming video game industry, as it allowed an entirely new way for gamers to play. No more split screen, now users could play with each other from the comfort of their own homes.
In 2004, Mark Zuckerburg launched Facebook. This is widely considered the start of what we would refer to as modern social media. Social media is another massive component of the internet, as there are now 3.96 billion social media users in the world.
Finally, in 2005, YouTube was launched. This marked the first major video streaming service on the web and led to a multitude of other streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and many more.
The benefits of the World Wide Web have been weighed heavily versus its detriments. Even Tim Berners-Lee has said himself that he has mixed feelings about the web. While the web has obvious benefits to society, it comes with plenty of drawbacks. The web has made business, communication, and marketing exponentially easier and more accessible for people all around the globe. However, it has also led to a number of less positive effects on society. Pornography addiction has skyrocketed since the invention of online video streaming, as it only took six years for pornography to make up the majority of video streaming after its invention. Along with this, comes a larger market for the sex trafficking industry. On top of this, the smart phone has been linked to higher rates of depression and anxiety, linked primarily to dopamine addiction.
I personally believe that the World Wide Web is a great invention, but the constant accessibility offered by smart phones has done more harm than good to society. Being a member of the only generation to grow up surrounded by smart phones, I am extremely aware of the effect it has had on my peers. Gen Z commits suicide at a higher rate than any other generation observed. Given that there is a significant link between depression and smart phones, it follows logically that smart phones are also related to the high suicide rates in Gen Z. In summary, the World Wide Web itself is a fantastic invention. However, due to the addictive nature of smart phones, and the constant access to the web that they offer, it has become an invention that does more harm than good.
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