Connect!

The internet is the medium to connect whether through a computer desktop, laptop, iPad, iPhone, ordinary mobile phone...  to people in the same country or to any part of the globe, to a friend or to a stranger, to the people of today or to the next generation.  There are applications developed like "LivesOn" which is a kind of "Afterlife Online Service". (connectingdirectors.com, thedigitalbeyond.com). 

The internet is all about endless communication through words; in simple or "flashy" sentences in poetry, newsletters, books, melodies, pictures, videos... using contemporary style, formal or casual about anything real or imagined, on any kind of topic from science to engineering, kitchen garden to thesis writing tools, parenting to Pope's homilies...

The internet is in our hands. Connectivity is almost free (www.all-free-isp.com/); unlimited access and speed would require a monetary investment the cost of which depends on internet tariff or the terms and conditions set by telecommunications providers. Access to internet can be anywhere through Wi-Fi wireless networking technology.

Internet is a power for good, so why not use it?  Trust and openness take time, just like meeting somebody in person.  Common sense applies regarding what data to share online, with whom, at what time, for what purpose and in what way to people who are almost strangers.  In media, there is nothing private… even if the message is deleted, it can stay forever!  Connect with loving intelligence!

Magnify What is True, Good and Beautiful!

In the hands of genuine human persons, the internet enhances truth, goodness and beauty for "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his own soul? (Mark 8:36)". The dedication of computer software developers is far beyond the monetary compensation...  The passion to be at the service of humanity withstands the personal sacrifices invested in a project.

The internetwork has achieved a lot and it is still developing... In 1971, the swiftest and cheapest way to communicate was through electronic mail, popularly known as e-mail. (http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/10/08/the-first-email-was-sent-40-years-ago-this-month/).  Then in 1992, it was the Short Message Service of mobile phone companies.  It has reached four billion users in 20 years. 

Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook launched in July 2004 became very popular for its rapid communication service.  Uploads and downloads of data take only few minutes!  To date, there are more than 1.23 billion users, out of which 665 million use Facebook daily to connect with family members, relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues in order to share their joys and concerns in life.

Social media such as Facebook can be a force for social change.  Facebook was painted red in April 2014 as a way to tell the Supreme Court of the Philippines to uphold the constitutions: to Stand for Life! At midnight of April 3, my Facebook account looked like this:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=824958480851314&set=a.167739113239924.46324.100000115081906&type=1&theater

What was wrong in Reproductive Health Law, otherwise known as RH Law was exposed by media.  Pro-Life won! (http://thepinoycatholic.blogspot.com/2014/04/supreme-court-decision-on-rh-actually.html)

Learn like a small child again!

Little children are curious.  They keep asking questions until they receive an answer.  In the use of technology, the young ones dare.  In the United Kingdom, one in five children ages five to seven use the internet without parental supervision (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1218581/Children-young-using-internet-parental-supervision.html). 

Older people are hesitant.  But even the Church was adamant in the use of media.  It was only on the 4th of December 1963 through Vatican Council II decree on Social Communication that explicitly stated "Media are God's gifts".  As in any gift, we don't benefit unless we use it.

The children and the youth maximize its use.  For adults in the third world and the Church leaders ("digital immigrants"), learning the language of internet has just officially started through the first tweet of Pope Benedict XVI on the 12th of December 2012 (http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/12/world/europe/vatican-pope-twitter/).  

To be a child again in the field of communications is never too late, although there are always guilt-feelings in grown-ups in the seemingly useless time spent on the internet.  But this is the only way to meet the digital natives; they who have been born after the advent of communication's technology.(http://www.techopedia.com/definition/28094/digital-native).

"Keep asking questions until you receive an answer!"

The Little Princeby Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Next:  What are the different ways in using the internet?