Negative consequences of the internet

Internet is a new and big tool for communication, entertainment and education. However, some people do not know how to use properly this new technology and at the end the media consumes all their time and lives. This way, I think that the excessive and bad use of the internet brings negative consequences over people`s social life and their physical and psychological health.

Internet takes people to solitude and to finish with genuine social relations that already exist or it can also prevent to establish new relationships. Some years ago, people gathered to have fun in parks and bars, and children used to play in streets with their friends. But nowadays, people have other ways to have fun through the media, since they use social networks and chats to establish artificial relations with strange people who change their personalities and lie about their appearance; this way they hide who they really are. Therefore, these kinds of relationships do not bring any real benefits, because it does not allow face to face interaction.

Other consequences that the internet brings are physical inactivity and lack of interest in other important activities. For instance, people do not spend time with their families and friends, because they think they can find everything they need in the internet. Moreover, Internet gives people a pleasure in which they do not need to make any physical effort, spending all their time in the web. This way, they replace what should be their true priorities.

In brief, I can conclude that the internet brings negative effects on people’s social life. It would be nice that people could have a balance among the time spent on internet, their families and their daily activities. For me, that would be an ideal use of the internet.

The effects of globalization in Colombia

Globalization is a process by which economy, culture and politics of a less developed country are influenced or absorbed by a highly developed country. Taking in to account this concept, I think that globalization does not make possible the cultural and economic development of Colombia.

First, Colombia is replicating ways of life of other industrialised countries like the United States. As a consequence, people do not have a proper identity. In Colombia, people follow other fashion styles, sports, music and social attitudes, losing their customs. For instance, the native languages of the indigenous cultures of Colombia are disappearing due to the wrong ideas of globalization. Thus, the languages of the dominant countries have been imposed on these cultures making them disappear. In this sense, William Ospina points out that we pretend to be a colonized society, ashamed of itself and doubtful in assuming the challenge of reacting and developing itself.

Second, Colombia does not have a good technological and scientific advance to compete on the market. It is clear that the most advanced countries in international trade have more capacity to influence the regional markets, because their biggest transnational companies take control of complete sectors. Most of these companies are key for the national production. As a result, the Colombian companies only have one alternative: to check their strategies and policies to achieve some level of competitiveness that allows them at least to survive.

In conclusion, globalization brings lots of negative consequences to our country because opportunities are not homogeneous in the economic field and the cultural development is threatened by the presence of developed countries. It is a policy of arrogance to expect that Colombia must live with political and economic systems that removed its idiosyncrasy and tradition. It occurs because the United States and other developed countries believe unilaterally that this is the best for Colombian people.