Internet

=== Social networking and entertainment ===
{{See also|Social networking service#Social impact}}
Many people use the World Wide Web to access news, weather and sports reports, to plan and book vacations and to pursue their personal interests. People use [[online chat|chat]], messaging and email to make and stay in touch with friends worldwide, sometimes in the same way as some previously had [[pen pal]]s. Social networking services such as [[Facebook]] have created new ways to socialize and interact. Users of these sites are able to add a wide variety of information to pages, pursue common interests, and connect with others. It is also possible to find existing acquaintances, to allow communication among existing groups of people. Sites like [[LinkedIn]] foster commercial and business connections. YouTube and [[Flickr]] specialize in users' videos and photographs. Social networking services are also widely used by businesses and other organizations to promote their brands, to market to their customers and to encourage posts to "[[Viral marketing|go viral]]". "Black hat" social media techniques are also employed by some organizations, such as [[Spamming|spam]] accounts and [[astroturfing]].

A risk for both individuals and organizations writing posts (especially public posts) on social networking services, is that especially foolish or controversial posts occasionally lead to an unexpected and possibly large-scale backlash on social media from other Internet users. This is also a risk in relation to controversial ''offline'' behavior, if it is widely made known. The nature of this backlash can range widely from counter-arguments and public mockery, through insults and [[hate speech]], to, in extreme cases, rape and death [[Computer crime#Online harassment|threats]]. The [[online disinhibition effect]] describes the tendency of many individuals to behave more stridently or offensively online than they would in person. A significant number of [[feminist]] women have been the target of various forms of [[harassment]] in response to posts they have made on social media, and Twitter in particular has been criticised in the past for not doing enough to aid victims of online abuse.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23477130 |title=Twitter 'report abuse' button calls after rape threats |last=Moore |first=Keith |date=27 July 2013 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=7 December 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904014545/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23477130 |archive-date=4 September 2014 }}</ref>

For organizations, such a backlash can cause overall [[public relations|brand damage]], especially if reported by the media. However, this is not always the case, as any brand damage in the eyes of people with an opposing opinion to that presented by the organization could sometimes be outweighed by strengthening the brand in the eyes of others. Furthermore, if an organization or individual gives in to demands that others perceive as wrong-headed, that can then provoke a counter-backlash.

Some websites, such as [[Reddit]], have rules forbidding the posting of [[personal information]] of individuals (also known as [[doxxing]]), due to concerns about such postings leading to mobs of large numbers of Internet users directing harassment at the specific individuals thereby identified. In particular, the Reddit rule forbidding the posting of personal information is widely understood to imply that all identifying photos and names must be [[censored]] in Facebook [[screenshots]] posted to Reddit. However, the interpretation of this rule in relation to public Twitter posts is less clear, and in any case, like-minded people online have many other ways they can use to direct each other's attention to public social media posts they disagree with.

Children also face dangers online such as [[cyberbullying]] and [[Child grooming|approaches by sexual predators]], who sometimes pose as children themselves. Children may also encounter material that they may find upsetting, or material that their parents consider to be not age-appropriate. Due to naivety, they may also post personal information about themselves online, which could put them or their families at risk unless warned not to do so. Many parents choose to enable [[Content-control software|Internet filtering]] or supervise their children's online activities in an attempt to protect their children from inappropriate material on the Internet. The most popular social networking services, such as Facebook and Twitter, commonly forbid users under the age of 13. However, these policies are typically trivial to circumvent by registering an account with a false birth date, and a significant number of children aged under 13 join such sites anyway. Social networking services for younger children, which claim to provide better levels of protection for children, also exist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2010/10/11/social-networks-children/ |title=5 Fun and Safe Social Networks for Children |date=11 October 2010 |access-date=7 December 2014 |website=[[Mashable]] |last=Kessler |first=Sarah |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220082237/http://mashable.com/2010/10/11/social-networks-children/ |archive-date=20 December 2014 }}</ref>

The Internet has been a major outlet for leisure activity since its inception, with entertaining [[social experiment]]s such as [[Multi-user dungeon|MUD]]s and [[MOO]]s being conducted on university servers, and humor-related [[Usenet]] groups receiving much traffic.<ref name="StudFiles">{{Cite web |title=Communication in our life |url=https://studfile.net/preview/2987063/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=StudFiles |language=ru}}</ref> Many [[Internet forums]] have sections devoted to games and funny videos.<ref name="StudFiles" /> The [[Internet pornography]] and [[online gambling]] industries have taken advantage of the World Wide Web. Although many governments have attempted to restrict both industries' use of the Internet, in general, this has failed to stop their widespread popularity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/SmallBiz/story?id=4151592|title=Do It Yourself! Amateur Porn Stars Make Bank|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111230075056/https://abcnews.go.com/Business/SmallBiz/story?id=4151592 |archive-date=30 December 2011|first=Russell|last=Goldman|website=ABC News|date=22 January 2008}}</ref>

Another area of leisure activity on the Internet is [[multiplayer gaming]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://internetgames.about.com/od/gamingnews/a/trendsdecade.htm|title=Top Online Game Trends of the Decade|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929074221/http://internetgames.about.com/od/gamingnews/a/trendsdecade.htm |archive-date=29 September 2011|first=Dave|last=Spohn|website=About.com|date=15 December 2009}}</ref> This form of recreation creates communities, where people of all ages and origins enjoy the fast-paced world of multiplayer games. These range from [[MMORPG]] to [[first-person shooter]]s, from [[role-playing video game]]s to [[online gambling]]. While online gaming has been around since the 1970s, modern modes of online gaming began with subscription services such as [[GameSpy Arcade|GameSpy]] and [[MPlayer.com|MPlayer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://internetgames.about.com/od/gamingnews/a/timeline.htm|title=Internet Game Timeline: 1963–2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060425091409/http://internetgames.about.com/od/gamingnews/a/timeline.htm|archive-date=25 April 2006|first=Dave|last=Spohn|website=About.com|date=2 June 2011}}</ref> Non-subscribers were limited to certain types of game play or certain games. Many people use the Internet to access and download music, movies and other works for their enjoyment and relaxation. Free and fee-based services exist for all of these activities, using centralized servers and distributed peer-to-peer technologies. Some of these sources exercise more care with respect to the original artists' copyrights than others.

Internet usage has been correlated to users' loneliness.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Carole Hughes |author2=Boston College |url=https://www2.bc.edu/~hughesc/abstract.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107031736/https://www2.bc.edu/~hughesc/abstract.html |archive-date=7 November 2015 |title=The Relationship Between Internet Use and Loneliness Among College Students |publisher=Boston College |access-date=11 August 2011}}</ref> Lonely people tend to use the Internet as an outlet for their feelings and to share their stories with others, such as in the "[[I am lonely will anyone speak to me]]" thread.

A 2017 book claimed that the Internet consolidates most aspects of human endeavor into singular arenas of which all of humanity are potential members and competitors, with fundamentally negative [[Digital media use and mental health|impacts on mental health]] as a result. While successes in each field of activity are pervasively visible and trumpeted, they are reserved for an extremely thin sliver of the world's most exceptional, leaving everyone else behind. Whereas, before the Internet, expectations of success in any field were supported by reasonable probabilities of achievement at the village, suburb, city or even state level, the same expectations in the Internet world are virtually certain to bring disappointment today: there is always someone else, somewhere on the planet, who can do better and take the now one-and-only top spot.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barker|first=Eric|title=Barking Up the Wrong Tree|publisher=HarperCollins|date=2017|isbn=978-0-06-241604-9|pages=235–236}}</ref>

[[Cybersectarianism]] is a new organizational form that involves, "highly dispersed small groups of practitioners that may remain largely anonymous within the larger social context and operate in relative secrecy, while still linked remotely to a larger network of believers who share a set of practices and texts, and often a common devotion to a particular leader. Overseas supporters provide funding and support; domestic practitioners distribute tracts, participate in acts of resistance, and share information on the internal situation with outsiders. Collectively, members and practitioners of such sects construct viable virtual communities of faith, exchanging personal testimonies and engaging in the collective study via email, online chat rooms, and web-based message boards."<ref>{{cite book|first=Patricia M.|last=Thornton|chapter=The New Cybersects: Resistance and Repression in the Reform era|editor1-first=Elizabeth |editor1-last=Perry|editor2-first=Mark|editor2-last=Selden|title=Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance|edition=2|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge|year=2003|pages=149–150|isbn=978-0-415-56074-0}}</ref> In particular, the British government has raised concerns about the prospect of young British Muslims being indoctrinated into Islamic extremism by material on the Internet, being persuaded to join [[terrorist]] groups such as the so-called "[[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State]]", and then potentially committing acts of terrorism on returning to Britain after fighting in Syria or Iraq.

[[Cyberslacking]] can become a drain on corporate resources; the average UK employee spent 57 minutes a day surfing the Web while at work, according to a 2003 study by Peninsula Business Services.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/net-abuse-hits-small-city-firms-1-892163 |title=Net abuse hits small city firms |work=The Scotsman |date=11 September 2003 |access-date=7 August 2009 |location=Edinburgh |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020041820/http://www.scotsman.com/news/net-abuse-hits-small-city-firms-1-892163 |archive-date=20 October 2012 }}</ref> [[Internet addiction disorder]] is excessive computer use that interferes with daily life. [[Nicholas G. Carr]] believes that Internet use has other [[Psychological effects of Internet use|effects on individuals]], for instance improving skills of scan-reading and [[Interference theory|interfering]] with the deep thinking that leads to true creativity.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/shallowswhatinte0000carr/page/276|title=The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains|first=Nicholas G.|last=Carr|author-link=Nicholas G. Carr|publisher=W.W. Norton|year=2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/shallowswhatinte0000carr/page/276 276]|isbn=978-0-393-07222-8}}</ref>