Rather than being a medium for western culture alone, the internet Essay

Rather than being a medium for western culture alone, the internet actually helps promote and strengthen the societies - Essay Example Governance and Democratization Early this year, Egypt and parts of the Arab world experienced one of their most successful revolutions in history. This revolution was organized with the help of the internet and specifically social networking tools. The people of Egypt organized themselves and through proper coordination and communication, they were able to change their country in a manner never witnessed before in any country. This revolutionary event was seen by many as what can be achieved through people power. Without the internet the Egyptian revolution would probably have taken a very different route than it did. The Egyptians were able to push for proper leadership and their democratic rights because the internet empowered them to do so. Another country that has made major gains in the democratization process is China (Lagerkvist, 2010). The country’s leadership is slowly but surely becoming more democratic as citizens become more empowered to fight for their rights usin g information technology tools such as the internet. Through the internet, citizens in a country are able to know how they are being governed. Many governments have adopted the use of the internet in service dissemination. This means that citizens can access the services from the comfort of wherever they are. The internet also empowers the people to communicate more effectively with their leaders. They can give feedback on the kind of services they want and they can use the same technology to demand for changes where they deem fit to do so. In other words, the internet has enabled citizens in different countries keep track of how their governments are doing their work and this helps in the overall development of the nations (Kalathil and Boas, 2003). Learning and Development Education is key to development and this is evidenced by the rate at which countries having high literacy levels have developed. Many nations in Asia, Africa and South America have for a long time been classifie d at the bottom in terms of literacy. However, the situation is slowly changing as more and more people from these countries seek education in different ways. The internet has played a major role in revolutionalizing the learning and development in nations outside the West. Many learning institutions in these countries have incorporated online learning into their programmes (Schell, 2007). This makes learning more effective, thus giving students the kind of education they need to lead productive lives in future. Those seeking higher education do not have to travel long distances to do so. Renowned institutions in the west have high class programmes which they offer online. This makes it easy for individuals in other countries to access the education offered in these institutions from wherever they are. These improved educational opportunities empower societies in non-western countries to develop at the same level as their counterparts living in western nations (Howard and Jones, 200 4). Business and Economic Development Most third world countries have had to struggle with the problem of unemployment for a very long time. Many youths in these parts of the world had been without any meaningful source of income before the internet age. However, things have drastically changed for the better in terms of employment opportunities among the young