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Internet World Wide Web

How the internet changed the world: M&C Saatchi, Havas Media, Arena and Lida discuss

By Angela Haggerty, Reporter

m&c saatchi

|

internet article

March 12, 2014 | 8 min read

As the world marked the 25th anniversary of the world wide web, The Drum spoke to some industry experts to find out how they believe the internet changed the world.

Christian Purser, chief digital officer at M&C Saatchi

Love and sex Dating sites, and apps like Tindr and Grindr have soared in popularity of late, and the internet is fast becoming the preferred means of meeting someone new. With one in every three marriages in the UK now stemming from online dating, it seems bar side pick-up lines and face to face flirting are no longer the go-to dating tactics. Clocking off Yes, smartphones mean employees can check their Facebook whether it’s been blocked from the network or not. But overall, people are more productive in the workplace (and outside it) because they’re never really ‘switched off’. In the last two decades, productivity in the work place has increased by an average of 84 per cent per hour; from email, to the Blackberry, to iPhones, Hangouts and LinkedIn, we have constant access to colleagues and key documents that 30 years ago we would have had to wait until 9.00am the next morning to deal with. A mixed blessing... Everyone’s a newshound With 76% of the UK now accessing news through our mobiles, we expect up-to-the-second breaking stories delivered to us through social media - and we give as good as we get. A mash up of big broadcaster and personal Twitter feeds, and shares on Facebook from friends and family means we’re never out of the loop for long. Young people are more socially aware Largely due to information being so accessible, Generation X is more concerned with issues such as climate change, recycling and fair trade than the generation before. The world over, Generation Z appears to be following suit, with 75 per cent of Singaporean teens pushing their parents to purchase eco-friendly products, and 70 per cent of their Aussie counterparts actively attempting to reduce energy consumption. Death of the high street While tumbleweed blows along empty streets, online spending in the UK cleared £10bn for the first time ever in November 2013. The range of items available through the internet is ever-growing, and with consumer reviews influencing consumer decisions, and m-commerce making it all-too-easy to click and buy, shopping from your sofa is fast becoming the norm.

Paul Frampton, CEO at Havas Media

1.) Increased GDP and commerce growing the economy significantly over this period and enabled new (e-commerce only) brands to exist with little or no overheads.2.) Created transparency and public conversation around important social issues that didn't exist previously, whilst simultaneously broadening the horizons of all those connected. 3.) Connected the world together across borders leading to new relationships & partnerships , both personal, professional and virtual.4.) Provided a platform for emerging talent to gain fame, traction and wealth (budding artists, journalists, celebrities.. normal people). 5.) Improved quality of life and well-being for people by providing instant access to information, the ability to answer queries within seconds and to predict and give people more of what they want (this part of the journey has only just begun...).

Mark Holden, head of futures at Arena

Network effects are faster, bigger and more substantial . Communication technologies that shape our lives have always relied on network effects – a telephone is only useful if used by everyone else. The internet has amplified this hugely. Email and social networking are two obvious examples, and they’ve made it possible to usefully share information, between individuals, across the world, very easily and quickly, with just about anyone. It’s happened within a decade, and that’s unprecedented. It’s hard to imagine life, or business, now without email.Without the internet, the credit crunch wouldn’t have happened the way it did Of any sector, the internet has arguably shaped the financial services most dramatically. It’s enabled true 24-hour, real-time, software-driven trading of complex financial instruments across borders. And without it, some of the crucial catalysts for the credit crunch (e.g. global derivatives trading) may never have bubbled and burst at such scale and speed.It’s made powerful new industries, and broken others Across two decades, parts of the business world look entirely different. Apple is fundamentally reliant on its status as the world’s most valuable company on the Internet, particularly mobile web access. The media industries, retail, financial services, telecommunications are just a few sectors that have changed completely for those who do business in them, and for their end users.We can share and build ideas like never before In the internet age, an idea can be conceived, made and shared globally in less than a week. This impacts nearly everything: how we experience popular culture (e.g. memes and virals), how new businesses grow and disrupt others, how we research and share knowledge, how political ideas gain support, and much more.We now live mediated lives For many, the internet is totally woven into our daily lives and we are reliant on it. And as a result we are living mediated lives: we shape our identities for the Internet, we learn about the world around us, we rely on Internet-driven information and services, and we’re leaving a digital echo of everything we do for others to see, in a way we’ve never seen before.

Adam Reader, social media manager, LIDA

We’re now better connected to the people we know (and even the people we don’t) than we’ve ever been The rise of social media has meant conversations between friends, family and acquaintances can flow much easier regardless of where in the world you are. This is not always a good thing though as the two way nature of social means that sometimes uninvited conversations can occur.We’re always connected The internet has become omnipresent in the West and increasingly so in the East. There is no clearer reflection of this shift towards an always on culture than the huge increase in smartphone usage. The internet is no longer confined to the desktop, people can access the web whenever, and wherever they want. While the benefits of better connectivity are clear, there is a flipside; being ‘always on’ can negatively impact our downtime, with many of us finding it difficult to switch off and enjoy the ‘real’ world.We’re much better informed The Google generation, unlike generations before, have an enormous amount of power in their ability to find and consume information that was previously the reserve of the elite and the educated. This abundance of information is not without its pitfalls. There is a lot of scope for misinterpretation and the validity of the information is not always clear. Dr Google can only diagnose your condition so far. In most cases it’s probably best to pay a visit to your GP.We’ve become much more inquisitive This is a direct result of us being much better informed. Latest Google trends show that search behaviour is more question based that ever before. A behaviour Google itself is happy to encourage; positioning the search engine behemoth as you’re online gateway.We have higher expectations Whether it’s a better deal on car insurance because we can compare providers more easily or a resolution to a tweeted customer service complaint, we’re demanding more from businesses and services providers and we expect it now. Faster is not always better, however, the reliance on email and more recently social media has added pressure on businesses to respond to their clients and customers almost immediately. This in turn increases the margin for error as employees rush to respond, often without collating all the information to provide the most effective answer/solution.We’re now under constant surveillance Be it a brand looking to build a customer profile for their own CRM program or intelligence agencies keeping tabs in the name of national security; every click, every online transaction, every photo shared is stored on a database and can be accessed by those with the power and desire to do so.We’re much more data savvy/suspicious Because we’re better informed, we know that the things we share and do online are being tracked. - Whistle blowers like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden have brought to our attention just how some of this personal data is being used but we’re still not sure of the full extent. The implication of this is that the desire for transparency is greater than it’s ever been before.
Internet World Wide Web

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