THE INTERNET AND TODAY’S YOUTH

In a busy and fun loving place like Lagos, most people in the state, especially the students of Nigeria Institute of Journalism Ogba are audience of the media (internet) both in school and in their various homes for various years. This exposure must have influence them to be users of the internet.

The internet, the largest information technology provides easy access to information, thereby turning the world into a global village. Though during the period of inventing the internet, the main purpose was to share information and protect the information from external destructions.

Indeed the objective of the internet is to share files among computers connected together, but upon the invention of the computer many other importance was coupled along. Uses like storage of data and information, sharing of this information; later research making was (because at first it was only information sent to an individual that he or she can view).

During an interview with a Nigerian Institute of journalism N.I.J, Ogba student, Macaulay Bukunmi, he said “Hmmmmmn I use the internet, infact I will say I am an addict. Use it to update my knowledge do my project and I facebook a lot. But presently I am downloading a movie as you can see”.

The internet is seen as a medium where series of files or data can be process by others. Everyone wants a medium whereby they can pass across information, ideas, knowledge etc. And where series of research about a thing can be done and the internet is what they are using for it. Though the internet is of great advantage to the Nigerian youths but it also come with a lot of disadvantages too as it tend to make most of them lazy.

Speaking to another student of N.I.J, Eniola obamiyi who said “my sister, hmmmn I am very busy person, for now I just go online to research for my project”.

Most youths no longer go to library to consult books, resulting to some of them copying directly from the internet. They copy in such a way that some of them don’t even boarder to read through and most of them do not boarder to edit all the junks they copied, forgetting that these things were written by people like them and some of the writers are not even professionals, so NOT ALL that is on the internet is correct.

“To me, the internet, especially the social network is not only to just chat with friends but I also use it to monitor. During the last election I used sites like twitter to know and report what happened at polling units across the country” said A 24 year old social worker in southern Nigeria, Esther Eshiet.

One of the ways majorities of youths, not only the Nigerian youth’s use the internet is networking. Youth’s use of social networking sites has risen significantly. Nigerian youths now in the name of BROWSING visit the internet mainly go to social network sites like facebook, yahoo, badoo, naijapals, nairaland, twitter, hi5, friendstar, myspace, etc. All what majority of them is after is networking! Networking!! Networking!!!

All this brought about the craze for Black Berry (or any other phone that can access the internet) and it enhances what is called “RUNS” among the female Nigerian youths. And it gave rise to internet fraud known as yahoo yahoo!