10 things to know about the internet

The Internet has changed the way we think, act, communicate and live. When utilized efficiently, the internet can enhance the average user’s online capabilities immensely but when someone is not knowledgeable of the uses of the internet, then it is simply a tool for wasting time. Since technology became a significant part of the new global culture, the digital divide has been apparent in the African American community. The technology learning curve has consistently seen African Americans at the back, catching onto new trends long after they are introduced. In order to combat this issue, I have compiled an e-book that showcases the ‘’Top 10 Things African Americans Need to Know about the Internet” to help them advance in their internet capabilities and expertise.

1. The purpose of the internet is to get information quickly. Information is rapidly becoming one of the newest forms of wealth, the more you know, the wealthier you are. The internet was initially created for the government to provide an easier way to communicate and exchange information. As with many of our technological advancements, it trickled down into the mainstream many years later (nearly a decade) and now we are able to transfer and receive information at astonishing rates. The reason Google (GOOG) is one of the richest companies in the world is because it created a search engine (a website that searches the internet for information, images and websites) that made finding information easier. When companies create websites they use search engine sites as online information points. People come to their websites to find information about the company and from the information received they make decisions on whether or not to do business with that company. When people communicate via the internet, they exchange information at such swift rates that they are able to make more informed and faster decisions.

2. Email is quickly becoming ‘the most popular’ form of communication. If you do not have an Email account, stop what you are doing and open one immediately. Email (Electronic Mail) is quickly becoming the most popular form of communication. Email is a speedy form of contact and is easily recognized by the @ sign in the email address. Contrary to popular belief, email does not usually have www in the address, which is reserved for web pages only. With the Google generation (people born in the late 80’s and early 90’s) starting to get out into the workforce, we are beginning to see people who use email as their central form of communication. Email was created initially with the internet and the first email was sent in 1971. Email really took off with the internet boom in the 90’s and free email programs (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL) came soon after. Email can be used to send messages such as letters but also can be used to send attachments which can include pictures, music, videos, word documents, spreadsheets and many other files.

3. A website is easier to have than you think. A website is your online residence. It’s your place to let people know about you, your business and/or whatever you feel is relevant that other people should know. There are many options when it comes to getting a website and quite a few of them are free. There are blogger sites (blogger.com) where you get to speak your mind, there are personal sites such as Myspace (myspace.com), windows live (live.com) and Yahoo360 (360.Yahoo.com), where you can show your pictures, post information and personal videos. There are also do-it-yourself sites that help you create websites that are very similar to what you see when you go to any business website. Website builders such as Yahoo geocities (geocities.yahoo.com) are free online services that help you create your own webpage without needing to know any thing about web programming.

4. The internet allows anyone to express themselves. The internet has become a place where people can express themselves in many ways. Web based services such as blogs, podcasts, online-newsletters, websites; online-video, online-radio and many more have provided people with ways to get their opinions and messages out to the masses. Many people use blogs (blogger.com) where they can write their opinions, post pictures, music and videos so that people can read and view them. The sites are easy to setup and take little web expertise. Podcasts are slightly more difficult in that they are audio or video recordings that are sent out via RSS feeds to podcasts listeners. The term podcast came from Ipod users loading up custom recordings to their Ipods to listen to instead of the traditional music from sites such as Itunes. Online newsletters are easy to create in that they are simple 1 - 5 page websites that are created in a style similar to traditional newsletters. Online radio is a new sensation that has been made available to the masses by live365.com. You are able to load up your favorite songs as well as your own and send out a web link that is your own personal station. Online video sites such as google video (video.google.com) and Youtube (youtube.com) have become popular because people can create their own videos and load them up for others to see. They also are able to use customized code to posts the videos throughout the internet and of course this is all free.

5. The internet allows for convenience. The internet has made many services that we use daily very easy and convenient. Let me focus on a few, online banking is a very convenient and helpful tool in organizing your banking needs. You are able to see your accounts, transfer funds, balance accounts, pay bills and a variety of other services all from the internet. This gives you access to your accounts anytime and does not limit you to the bankers’ hours. Paypal.com is a service that lets you conduct sales transactions via the internet and not have to use traditional payment methods. For example if you want to transfer money to someone for their services then you can pay them via your Paypal account and the funds will be deposited directly into their Paypal account. Paypal also is a useful option when paying for products and services online, when you are purchasing things online you can use your Paypal account (which is connected to your personal bank account) and pay for these services securely. Online travel sites such as expedia.com, travelzoo.com, orbitz.com, hotels.com, and priceline.com give you the capabilities to create your own vacation all in one place. You can find deals on hotels, airfare, rental cars and many other amenities all while surfing the internet. You can pay for all these services online as well and never have to talk to a travel agent again. Online Education is quickly becoming a more convenient way to better your self. Many people are not able to attend traditional classrooms and therefore need schools to conform to their schedule instead of them conforming to the school’s schedule. Online universities such as the University of Phoenix (phoenix.edu), aiuonline.com and Capella University (capella.edu) provide great online learning degrees and courses. Finally, for people who want to hear good preaching and teaching, there are online gospel sites such as streamingfaith.com and oneplace.com that have numerous offerings from a range of preachers.

6. The internet can be a source of revenue – The internet has taken great strides in putting the power of e-commerce into the hands of the common internet user. There are millions of ways to make money on the internet ranging from selling products, to selling information, to selling advertisements, to selling services. Sites such as Google Adsense (www.google.com/adsense) allow you to add Google Ads to your site and when people click on those ads you get money from Google. Sites such as Ebay allow you to sell products via their site. Ebay (www.ebay.com) has millions of people that use the site daily and they are looking for numerous things, therefore it is very likely that whatever you want to sell on their will be purchased. Cafepress.com allows people to take their logos and apply them to items such as t-shirts, office supplies, sweaters, baby clothing, hats and a variety of other items that you can sell. The service is free and you don’t have to have any products, they supply all the products and take care of the transaction, all you do is add your logo to the items and wait for your check.

7. Internet Explorer is not the only browser. Many people are familiar with Internet Explorer as a web browser and they are also familiar with the problems that Internet Explorer has such as viruses and spyware not being blocked by the browser. Well there is a new browser called Firefox that is free and a very good replacement for Internet Explorer. Firefox (www.mozilla.com) is a browser that has all the capabilities of Internet Explorer but is not the target of nearly as many attacks that Internet Explorer has had to deal with. Firefox lets you look at many web pages within one window using a technique called tabbed browsing and it also integrates with various email clients and RSS readers.

8. Get to know Google products. Google.com has quickly become one of the largest internet companies in the world. Based on a great search engine, Google has become an internet advertising giant. With the desire to categorize and store all of the world’s content, Google offers a diverse array of products that compliment its search engine features. With the advertising reach that Google has, the more services it offers, the more opportunities it has to provide ads in front of people. Let’s take a look at the most popular Google services for the average user. Gmail is the email service that allows you to store all your emails since it comes with 2GB (a lot) of space. Within Gmail is Google Chat which you can talk to people who are also Gmail users and not have to use a separate chat client but just talk within the website. Google Docs include a word processor and spreadsheet software. It’s similar to having Microsoft Word and Excel but being able to use it online and save it online for access anywhere. The features of Google Docs are not as complex as Microsoft but it’s very useful for the average user. Google Calendar is a very useful calendar that can import other calendars and also notify you of appointments via email or text. You can also see other Google user calendars to keep up with family members and friends. Google Picasa is an online photo sharing tool where you can upload your photos and share them with your friends, very similar to Yahoo Flickr. This tool can sync with your home computer and update your photos online as you add them to your computer. Google News is a great site that searches all the newspaper, blog, and websites about particular topics and provides a webpage that has all the information for you to read at once. You can customize the page to the layout what you want and read your updated news at your leisure. Google Maps is very similar to Mapquest and Yahoo Maps. It provides directions and locations of addresses for your convenience. Google Adsense was explained above in number 6. Google Adwords are a great way to increase traffic to your site. You input keywords that your site is about and your advertisement is put on sites that have this type of information. People are able to click on your ads and come directly to your site. You pay per click and not just for having your ads out there. Google Earth is a great tool that lets you look anywhere on the earth and zoom in for an in depth view.

9. Myspace.com – Myspace.com has taken the internet world by storm. It has quickly become the online meeting place for any and everyone that uses the internet. It readily became a place for people to connect with celebrities as well as friends when it became popular in 2003. With an estimated 120 million users it’s definitely a site that has great potential for anyone that utilizes it. Myspace gives users the ability to setup their own page that contains information, videos, pictures, music and a variety of other things. Users also have the ability to search for other users, join groups with other users that may share the same interest, connect with other users via myspace email, send bulletins to other users with quick information, setup events that you can invite other users to and finally add users to their list of friends to maintain contact. The demographics of the users range from young teenagers to senior citizens, all races, religions, creeds and beliefs. Myspace gives users the advantages of reaching numerous people with the click of a mouse and distributing information to millions around the world. Myspace also has disadvantages such as child internet predators and user accounts being compromised.

10. Free software is always a good thing. With the price of software these days, it’s always good to find alternatives or low cost software that can perform at or above the same level of the expensive software. Download.com is a site that offers a variety of software for free or reduced prices, usually has free trial downloads for testing and has a rating system so that you can see what others thought of the software prior to purchasing it. The site has a great search feature that lets you find software based on topic, title, or popularity.