Use the internet to your advantage...

Of all the animals Mother Nature created, man was the only animal she bestowed the gift of brain on; or rather, the ability to reason. And what a gift that turned out to be! It was this gift that made man different from all the other animals. From the earliest times, man made good use of this gift and used it adroitly to keep him always one step ahead of all the other animals.Since the earliest known times man has always been in the search for the new, for the better and for the more convenient. He started with the invention of fire and the wheel, and has never looked back since. He went on to invent the internet and all the other smart technology inventions using this very wonderful gift.

Of all his inventions, the internet was the most wide reaching and all pervasive. Unlike inventions specific to a particular field, the internet which is basically inter-connectivity between computers worldwide, reached each and every home and was one of those inventions which was used by almost everyone (almost) irrespective of their age, sex or nationality. Today, the internet has opened a lot of avenues for communication, expression, networking and much much more. This blessing to mankind has made us more open, more visible...and generally more 'out there'. 

This wonderful invention though, like everything else around us, comes with its own pros and cons. While this is the easiest and the cheapest mode of communication in today's world, it is also something that puts us quite a lot in the public eye. So while it is true that this is the preferred mode of expression for a lot of people today, there are a few things that need to be kept in mind while being on the internet.

In this day and age, we all have an extension of our personality - a parallel, online personality. We have all heard and read a lot about how one has to be careful as to what they put on the internet, or rather, what all they are associated with on the internet. It is a known fact today that most of the people find most other people on the internet only, be it prospective employers or prospective brides or grooms or even business acquaintances or colleagues at work. It is all the more important therefore, to have as clean an image of oneself on the internet as one prefers to have in real life. 

Although it is true that certain social networking sites like Facebook are meant for people to have their own personal page, how 'personal' one can get is best left to the person himself. It is important to never forget that the content put on the internet once is there to stay forever. There are always ways of retrieving the same at any given point of time, however distant in the future it may be. It is only prudent then that a lot of thought be put into what goes up on the internet about us.

In fact, why not go one step further and try to use the internet to one's advantage by putting up content about oneself that one wants to highlight? That's what most of the celebrities and otherwise famous people do today. They have learnt the art of letting the internet work for them such that it suits their personal agenda - be it promoting their latest movies or their new shows or even taking a stand for or against something. If one is smart enough, this wild beast which is the internet, can surely be tamed by using it for one's personal advancement - the brilliant gift by mother nature at its best!
So the next time you feel like putting some compromising photo on the net or making some nasty comment to someone or about someone on the net, think a bit......can you try to turn the situation in your favour instead of painting yourself in bad light for eternity?? Well, you are the architect of your own life, after all....