The internet has made its way into the world and the world will never be the same after the introduction of this phenomenon into the people’s lives, as it affected every aspect of the people’s lives. They have altered the way we conduct our lives, employ our minds and relate to our environment. Originally conceived as a telecommunications infrastructure for the exchange of information between government and academic institutions, the internet has evolved into the world’s most influential information technology. They have favoured its advancement as being a result of the increased connection that seems to make information readily available while distances have lost their meaning. In this regard, opportunities and challenges that the internet has brought along include altering social interaction and relationships as well as the perception of time and space given that information is now easily accessed online in real time.
Indeed, this digital revolution has interfered with all sectors of human activity. In social context, have been used to foster innovation and create new business models, directly impacting and disrupting the conventional markets. In education, it has embraced new learning and knowledge acquisition techniques. In entertainment, it has brought new forms of media, and rig changing patterns of media consumption. Politics and activism have also been affected in a big way by the internet and its direct impact on the processes of running campaigns, as well as the direct interaction of citizens with authorities. It is, however, important to note that this kind of connectivity comes with some problems especially concerning privacy and security given the current trend of making most aspects of our lives go online.

The availability of the internet and increased global access have led to the development of the New Economy, or the New Economy, an environment that differs from the traditional markets and their constraints. In this new economy competition is global and the barriers to entry in businesses have dramatically dropped which gives small firms a chance to venture into trading across the globe. Amazon and Alibaba, for instance, have played major roles in revolutionizing this through their e-commerce platforms where customers can access products from around the world. The customer can now buy products or even access services they need, at the comfort of their homes through the available and easily accessible online platforms. This convenience has prompted the rise in demand for online shopping, for this reason; logistics and supply chain management has been opened up for innovation.
It is therefore important to realize that the digital economy is more than just about the purchase and sale of products and goods but it covers services too. Digitization and the internet have led to the creation of more decentralized work opportunities that are popular to the current generation. The companies like Uber, Airbnb and Freelancer have changed the traditional value system where services were offered directly by such companies to customers. This has also opened the provision of services on peer-to-peer bases thus allowing individuals to sell services that would have been hard to do before due to their lack of a large capital base. There is also a vast increase in flexibility in employment as many people mainly prefer working freelancers and contract employees rather than the standard employment contracts. This has major impacts and potential for change in systems of employment and the welfare of employee’s social systems for social security.
Also, the digital economy has helped in the emergence of endogenous business models, potentially fundamental to support the creation of entirely new economies. Examples of businesses that are using the internet as its means of generating its income include use of subscriptions, premium model, in app purchase among others. The capability to gather and coordinate large scale information has also led to ‘Tailored promotions’, which have come to form the foundation of the new economy. Other industry leaders such as Google and Facebook have based their business on the efficiency of these apt algorithms to present advertisements with enhanced relevance to the users. As this has brought out issues to do with privacy alongside data protection the efficiency and efficacy of such advertising techniques cannot be questioned when it comes to promoting economic activity.

The uptake of the internet has been nothing short of a revolution in the manner that communication occurs as the world is brought closer than ever before – the global village. Email, for instance, was among the first innovations that revolutionized the way people passed on messages, elements that were much slow and time-consuming compared to the current email technology. The additional to telephones, new types of communication tools such as instant messaging and video conferencing have also improved how people communicate to a level where they can converse in real time even when they are separated by large distances. All these technologies not only affected personal communication but also businesses, and diplomacy around the world. Businesses can communicate with workers, partners, or other stakeholders from across the world, and diplomats can have discussions with other diplomats without having to spend money on traveling, which is far more cost effective and sustainable.
Of all the innovations associated with the internet, social media could easily be said to be the one that has impacted on communication the most. Social sites like face book, tweeter, Instagram have stretched the social relations among strangers as people post about their won experiences and events in the lives of their many friends and followers. They have emerged as central in many of the life events that people experience or react to starting from birthdays and marriages to terror attacks and political events. Social media has also created the culture of extraordinary individuals known as influencers who have the ability to accumulate numerous followers and later make an effective use of those followers for commercial or even social change. But the invasion of social media has not been without its vices; wrong informa¬tion has been on the frequent circulation, and also the mental strain one has to endure because of the endless comparison with what others are portraying.
In addition, political agendas and social causes have taken on social media as one of their key strategic assets. SA has the ability to rally groups of people, inform and educate them on a particular topic, and in some occasions sway voting. The applicability of social media has been seen in differing movements like the Arab spring and Me Too. However, this power is not deprived of responsibility, and there is an ongoing discussion about the seemingly uncontrolled influence of social media on the population and democracy. Possibly, the issue of where freedom of speech starts and where it ends, and when it starts causing harm is well understood, the place where the free speech ends and where potential harm begins has not been well understood, and as this social platform matures so will its policies and practices regulating it.

With the technology and particularly the emergence of the internet in the modern society, the whole idea of the classes and libraries can be considered a thing of the past. It has broadened, cheapened, and democratized education in ways previously unpredictable. Thus, such elements as web sites and digital libraries have made it possible for a person having a PC and an access to the Internet to read as many books and other sources as he or she wants, something that was hardly possible several decades ago, as the majority of these sources were kept in special scholarly centers and universities. It also has made knowledge accessible to people of all levels and all ages, which means people from all different categories can and actually should improve themselves. Further, it has contributed to the growth of collaboration learning and the students and staff members can share information, resources and even teach one another via use of the internet regardless of their location.
 This revolution can be seen by the recent appearances of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and, e-learning platforms such as Coursera, edX, and Khan Academy. These platforms provide courses from the most reputable universities and institutions and thus enhancing the availability of quality education to the entire world. They also give multiple lessons, from guided teaching lessons to quizzes, and reviews from other students with a variety of learning types. Online education is rather flexible and, therefore, learners can optimize their plans to get their education around other significant personal activities. 
 Still, the change in education in the global context, especially, the increase in the number of online classes has also created discussion around digital inequality in education. Although the internet has the potential to provide a great utility in equalizing the ground, existing inequalities in using technology need internet to make it worse. There is also a major controversy on the merit of online learning as against the traditional method of classroom learning. Thus, as the education sector remains an essential segment that is constantly experiencing changes and shifts, it will be vital to solve these challenges and achieve the goals of improving education with the help of internet resources. 

They are in the entertainment and media industry and the internet has dramatically changed how they operate is irrefutable. Print media has been replaced by online newspapers and magazines, TV and radios have been replaced by online streaming services like Netflix, Hulu etc., Music streaming has replaced compact discs and cassettes by apps like Spotify, apple music etc. These platforms have not only revolutionized when and how, but also what, we watch and listen to. They have led to a new age and delivery of contents more diverse and specific in genres and sub-genres. Consumers are also producers because of the internet where creative consumer-produced products are posted on the internet and viewed all over the world through channels such as YouTube and TikTok.
However, it can be said that the internet not only affects entertaining media but also news media. The accessibility to the information through the internet is immense and social networks and virtual newspapers and magazines are now major sources of information. While this battle has evolved, it has posed a threat to the conventional journalism approach press by creating new competition to cover and achieve its goals in the shortest time possible. The internet has also encouraged the concept of citizen journalism through which people concrete report on events and share stories that may not be reported by other media houses. 
 

 It is one of the most burning problems in the world, where the idea of free and open access to the Internet is becoming a daily reality. In the era of social networks that allow people to share details about their lives with friends, relatives, and coworkers; online shopping and cloud storage services, the threats to privacy are growing. Identity theft has become rampant majorly due to cyber criminals who tend to attack either an individual or an organization. Another area that has also attracted controversies regards the collection and utilization of information about individuals by enterprises, due to increasing concern and consciousness of people about their related electronic identity.  
 As seen, the conflict between privacy/convenience and safety/ security on the one part and the advantages of the Internet on the other is rather subtle. Markets laws like the General Data Protection Regulation in the EU have objectives of protecting the consumer’s rights but policing these markets rules is not easy. In the light of these considerations, the enhancement of the cyber security measures and the definition of the ethical data practices will be the critical factors for improving the trust in the Internet as any secure environments. 
 

 Without any doubt, Internet has become an essential part of each person’s life and present benefits and threats. And it has drastically transformed business, communications, education, leisure and even politics and social interactions. The advantages of such wired world are enormous providing great access to information and markets and to other people. But, as we have witnessed in this paper, this connectivity also poses threats especially in the areas of privacy and security. 
 Thus, further development should be done duly considering all these shortcomings and difficulties on the way. It is important that effort is made to keep the Internet a force for good helping people innovate and be connected while at the same time protecting our rights and security. This remains an fascinating tale about the most dramatic social invention of the past three decades that we are all actively participating in the creation of the internet’s next chapter. It would be possible then to get to an environment where the digital and physical are harmoniously integrated into a society that is as one due to the influence caused by the internet.