Life has been easier for these past generations with the aid of the internet. From our entertainment to our online purchases, we have it in a minute with just one tap of our fingers. With one snap like magic. From education to work, all done on a small screen. We have it all for these past generations to who knows when. We know it all like the back of our hands. As if the internet is a part of us since our inception to the world. We attached to the internet like some inherited treasure from the achievements of the past. But what if the internet stopped working? What if we didn’t have the magic brought by the internet?

The internet is a global computer network. It uses the method of using a cable or modem to link two or more computers. For many people all over the world, the internet has opened up a whole new world. There are numerous opportunities available here. It is the epitome of ceaseless innovation and imagination. It has no boundaries and provides enormous economic opportunities for people globally. People may use the internet to enhance their quality of life. It gives people access to items that were previously unavailable. The internet quickly becomes one of the most powerful communication tools and makes the world population dependent. Yet, the internet is not all good.

The internet has shares of toxicity, too, just like any other thing that exist. There has to be a downside with everything we have. The internet may be abused and misused. Although the internet provides us with all of the resources, goods, and services we need right at our fingertips, it also isolates us from the rest of the world. Getting out of the house has become less frequent as we have become accustomed to buying everything online, including food, drinks, commodities, and even paying bills. It can trigger a variety of mental disorders, including social anxiety, psychosis, and even depression.

The internet can also put us into contact with the wrong people. People who take advantage want to defraud us. We expose ourselves to multiple threats when we engage in various activities on the internet. For instance, we are vulnerable to malicious software and viruses infecting our operating system. For that reason, we have a high risk of losing personal information. There are instances where they spread false news, which can trigger fear. It may disrupt the peace in our community.

(source)

The thought of the internet is gone, for good. Yes, not temporary. What would happen? Yes, sure, the disadvantages it brought to people would be gone too. Now that I think about it, I cannot even come up with an idea of what to do if it did stop working its magic because, at this moment, I am using the internet. It is even sadder that I could not even imagine what I would do if ever the internet stopped working. At this time, we are trying to strive for life into the new normal, and the internet becomes a tool for us to have a life and job. We depend on the internet for our education and work. A slight internet disconnections affect our performance in class and work.

One common and the most purpose of the internet is for communication. If people can no longer use the internet, we would certainly go back to the ways of the past generation such as telephone calls or text or even writing letters and sending them via post offices. If that happens, there would be a strain on already overburdened telecommunication networks. It would be very evident that we relied heavily on the internet. Some generations will be more affected by the effects of a world without the internet.

So no more video calls, no more surfing the internet, and, of course, no more social media. The internet gives us convenient entertainment that this generation has woken up from, and the convenience that we depended on for our everyday life would make an uproar. We can not stream movies and music and lose access to vast information. Families could not do face time with those living in the countryside or another country. Besides, we will no have blockchain and cryptocurrency. It would probably be hilarious at some point because people might think that it would be just a temporary loss of connection.

(source)

It is not only a personal problem but also an economic one. Banking services, for instance, rely heavily on the internet since financial data, which typically stored on a server. We would have difficulty in doing bank transfers. Credit cards and debit cards will be made worthless. Furthermore, major corporations such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon will cease operations, resulting in a loss of billions in sales. Hundreds of thousands of workers will be laid off, with Google employing 80,000 full-time employees. We have to go back to monitoring goods on paper if there was no internet connection between airports, airlines, ships, trains, and commercial trucking. As a result of that, the consumption of paper would skyrocket. Because delivering goods to stores would be difficult, the market value of shipped items would also rise. Businesses that rely solely on the internet for ads will be at risk of bankruptcy. Developed economies will lose whole industries, resulting in a severe economic downturn.

Imagining the horror of people losing their business and jobs, which is dependent on the internet from their homes and suddenly the internet stopped and for good. Of course, there would be several people who get unemployed, and instantly at that. Economic crisis would be inevitable but worry not because the world would not end for that reason.

The internet has provided us a lot of opportunities to advance our lifestyles. The internet gives us free access to a great deal of information, entertainment with a click of a mouse, and hundreds of thousands of boundless opportunities for innovation. It made our life easy, effortless even. However, we relied too much on the convenience that the internet has provided us. The internet leads us in forgetting the real meaning of conversations, real ones. It may be a sad reality that some people lose the opportunity to converse freely, in person, without any use of technology, but we can not afford to lose the internet. The loss of the internet would surely bring problems upon our faces, but it is not the end of the world. We would suffer, but there is so much time to catch up with it. We need to believe we can because it’s us who will suffer otherwise. If you are to reflect on it, what would be your life without the internet?

Note: The cover image is created by the author using Canva