The document outlines the evolution of the internet and its significant impact on daily life, emphasizing its role as a primary source of information, entertainment, and shopping. It highlights advancements in internet accessibility, including the shift to mobile devices and the rise of smart interconnected devices, which enhance consumer habits online. Additionally, it discusses the trends in online shopping and the importance of search engines in shaping consumer behavior.

1. Technology:
Impacting Lives
The Evolution Of The Internet

2. Introduction: The Internet Today
Technology plays a major part in modern society.
As the internet has become more and more accessible over recent
years, it has become one of our primary sources of information,
entertainment and retail.
Across the globe, individuals are able to browse the internet on
desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones. The latter allow us
to access the web from physically anywhere: at home, at our
workplaces, on transport etc. and we commonly rely on the internet
in these situations for work and entertainment.

3. Access To The Internet

4. Access To The Internet: New Advances
The Internet’s development from it’s conception can be split
into several ‘epochs’ , with the first (1969-1991) being viewed as
purely technical - used for the sharing of information.
It wasn’t until the second epoch which ended in 1995 (when the
internet was commercialised) that the internet’s status and use
moved towards what we’re familiar with today.
Since then, the number of internet users has increased
enormously, and accompanying this, internet speeds have
increased dramatically. Today, communities are promoting and
using 5G networks - which offer higher speeds and a more
reliable connection for devices.
Download speeds for 3G, 4G and 5G.
(5G.co.uk, 2019).

5. Access To The Internet: Daily Life
Internet use has become embedded into our daily lives, we depend on it for an enormous
number of activities for both work and leisure (such as listening to music, gaming, email
communication, reading, researching, and shopping).
When assessing the impact of the internet in everyday life, we can’t ignore the huge effects of
social media on our online activities. Social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and
Pinterest provide a platform for communication and information sharing, and also for
advertising. With more and more people having near unlimited access to the internet, logging
in to social media sites has become part of many people’s daily routines.

6. Digital Devices Used By
Audiences

7. Digital Devices: Portability
Most of us carry smart phones everywhere - keeping us tethered to the internet at almost any
time. Upholding a culture of always being ‘on’ and connected (Greengard, 2015).
Moreover, the portable nature of modern smartphones enables us to be this connected, and
it’s worth noting that laptops and tablets are becoming more lightweight and portable too,
and the increased connectivity and internet speeds (as aforementioned) also enable to us to
be linked to the internet wherever we are.
These feed back into the idea that the accessibility of the internet is the main factor when
considering its impact on modern society.

8. Digital Devices: Interconnectivity
‘Smart’ Devices aren’t smart within
themselves, but become smart when
connected to a network, usually a wifi
network (Miller, 2015).
We should consider the bigger picture with
such devices: One could trigger an action in
another and so on.
We can connect a whole host of devices to
make them ‘smart’, such as thermostats,
speakers, fitbits and even parking meters.
Devices connected to the central hub.
(Miller, 2015)

9. Digital Devices: Smart Speakers
Amazon’s Alexa devices are a prime example of how
‘smart’ devices interconnect, with 1 in 4 homes having a
smart speaker (Stine, 2019).
Connected to our wifi, we can link these to smart TVs,
smart phones, headphones, thermostats and even fire
detectors.
Not only can this interconnectivity enable these devices to
be a bigger source of information and entertainment and
have voice search capabilities, they also present another
platform for radio ads and other audio advertising.
Amazon Echo Plus Alexa Speaker
(Forbes, 2020)

10. How Consumers Search For
Information

11. Search Engines
The internet is an enormous source of information, and search engines (such as Google and
Bing) act as the gatekeepers of information, allowing individuals to search for key terms and
find relevant websites. (Schroeder, 2018)
Search engine use has become an intrinsic part of everyday life, with millions using them to
search for recipes, online stores, bus timetables, recommendations etc every day. All of which
can be accessed by anyone with a working internet connection.

12. Search Engines: Bias
We can think of Google as a ‘for profit library’ (Kelsey, 2017) that
controls what links we see when using any particular search
query.
There are a number of ranking factors that dictate where
particular websites appear in search results for particular search
terms. These include headings on webpages, the page’s
popularity, meta descriptions and image alt tags, among
hundreds of other factors, many of which are unknown.

13. What Consumers Buy Online

14. 63% Of purchases begin online
(thinkwithgoogle.com, 2018)
Buying goods and services online is now commonplace.
Many individuals research products and brands, as well as compare
prices online before making a purchase.

15. Online Shopping
In recent years, many online stores have tried to make the online shopping experience more
and more similar to in-person shopping, providing images, pictures and model sizes (for
fashion websites).
Shopping trends show that apparel is the most popular online purchase, with footwear being
the second most popular category (Mohsin, 2019). This online shopping trend can be
attributed to improvements in returns and refund policies, reducing the risk of buying clothes
and shoes online.
The ease of online shopping is improved further with the use of online wallets such as Paypal,
making the action of paying online as smooth as possible.

16. Online Video Consumption

17. Online Video
YouTube began in 2005, bought by Google in 2006, and is now one of the best-known online
video platforms. It is now also technically the second most used search engine. (Kelsey 2017)
We can find a huge amount of information on YouTube, from instructions to make the
perfect victoria sponge, to a video summarising the Spanish Civil War. These videos can be
viewed anywhere in the world - highlighting the rising importance of including subtitles in a
few languages to videos that are anticipated to have a wide reach.
YouTube has also ushered in a new form of celebrity in the form of YouTubers - whose
income comes predominantly from advertising on YouTube itself (Matheson, 2015). These
celebrities can gain a huge following, with many people watching their new content as soon
as it is released.

18. Online Video Formats
There are several different types of video that businesses can upload onto YouTube to
promote their brand and products available:
Explainer videos: Show how your product or service addresses common pain points for your
audience.
Training videos: Demonstrate how customers can use your products or services to gain the
most benefits from them.
Webinars: Educate your audience on a specific theme or topic that they want addressing.
Customer stories: These share your real customers’ obstacles and highlight how they
achieved desired results with your product or service.
(Maya, 2019)

19. Consumer Trends

20. Consumer Trends
Over the last few years, there have been significant technological changes.
Communities have come to expect fast and reliable internet connection: forcing
companies to promise better internet connections. 5G has recently been introduced to
satisfy this consumer desire.
This better connection is so important due to the shift in the devices used by consumers,
and businesses need to take note of what the
Mobile has become more and more dominant, no longer a vessel solely for making and
receiving calls, these devices now enable us to access the internet and stay connected
wherever we are.

21. Summary
We cannot overlook or underestimate the importance of technology in the 21st century.
Looking back on recent trends, it seems that the sheer ease of internet accessibility is driving
more and more consumption.
Looking forward, businesses should turn their attention to mobile and how they can make
the most of people’s online habits using phones as these are likely to become more and
more dominant.
Smart devices and their interconnectivity keep us connected, and provide more channels for
information searches and entertainment - businesses in all sectors can benefit from this
increased internet accessibility by gaining knowledge on and working with their customers’
online behaviours.

22. References
De Looper, C. 7 Of The Best Amazon Alexa Speakers’ Forbes [online] Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-personal-shopper/2020/04/24/7-of-the-best-amazon-alexa-speakers/#719db394
6640 [Accessed: 27 April 2020]
Duling, K. (2018) ‘How The Internet Changed The World’ Cavendish Square Publishing LLC
Greengard, S. (2015) ‘The Internet Of Things’ MIT Press
Haider, J and Sundin, O. (2019) ‘Invisible Search and Online Search Engines:The Ubiquity Of Search In Everyday Life’
Routledge
Halavais, A. (2017) ‘Search Engine Society’ John Wiley & Sons
Kelsey, T. (2017) ‘Introduction To Search Engine Optimization: A Guide For Absolute Beginners’. Apress
Matheson, R. (2015) ‘YouTube Famous: Making It Big On The Internet’. Arcturus Publishing
Maya, L. (2019) ‘YouTube My Business.’ Estalontech

23. References (Cont)
Miller, M. (2015) ‘The Internet Of Things: How Smart TVs, Smart Cars, Smart Homes, and Smart Cities Are Changing The
World’ Que Publishing
Mohsin, Maryam. (2019) 10 Online Shopping Statistics You Need To Know In 2020. Oberlo [online] Available at:
https://www.oberlo.com/blog/online-shopping-statistics [Accessed: 14 April 2020]
Qayam, Adeel. (2019) ‘The Ultimate Guide To Mobile Commerce’. Oberlo [online] Available at:
https://www.oberlo.com/blog/mobile-commerce [Accessed: 14 April 2020]
Schroeder, R. (2018) ‘Social Theory After The Internet’ UCL Press.
Stine, Randy J. (2019) ‘Smart Speakers Grow In Importance’ Radioworld.com [online] Available at:
https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/smart-speakers-grow-in-importance [Accessed 15 April 2020]
Surratt, Carla G. (2017) ‘The Internet and Social Change’ McFarland.
Wright, Tom. (2020) ‘What Drives Online Shopping Habits’. Clark St James Search and Social Media Advertising
[online] Available at: https://clarkstjames.com/e-commerce/what-drives-online-shopping-habits/ [Accessed: 14 April
2020]