The Internet: Essential for Our Humanity?

2. Essential to Our Humanity? • For millennia, air, water, food and shelter have been the essential elements for human existence. Future historians may decide to add the Internet to the list as its reach is on the verge of becoming universal. • Humans have only begun to utilize the Internet, much the same as when we were roaming the Earth in animal furs. The future is exciting, scary and barely realized…as it has always been.

3. Origins of the Internet and World Wide Web • A popular misconception is the “Internet” and the “World Wide Web” are synonymous. The Internet is the technology by which the Web is accessed and on which we search for and find information online. • It was during the late 1960s when ARPANET, or Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, was created, and then it adopted TCP/IP, or Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol, January 1, 1983, the “birthday” of the Internet. • Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the World Wide Web during 1990. Love it or hate it or simply tolerate it as a necessary tool for your job and life, the Internet is now truly a global system, although it doesn’t serve everyone yet.

4. Mary Meeker, the “Queen of the Internet,” Rules • Because the Internet and the World Wide Web have become essential to commerce in all forms and business communications and a major advertising medium, the world welcomes Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report every June. • With so much information, it may be difficult to focus on the significance of the current and future status of the Internet and Web for you, the local TV account executive, and your prospects and clients. • The continued growth of the Internet and Web is an opportunity for you and them to augment the use of TV (and other media) to penetrate the market even further and connect with consumers in new ways that result in more sales.

5. Reaching for All Corners of the World • 2018 was the first year global Internet users exceeded 50% of the world’s population, increasing from 49% and 3.6 billion humans during 2017 to 51% and 3.8 billion. That still leaves approximately another 3.8 billion without access to the Internet. • Global Internet use increased 6% during 2018, which indicated some slowing of access as 2017 recorded a 7% increase. • It’s not surprising that the Asia-Pacific region had the largest number of Internet users, or approximately 2.014 billion of the 3.8 billion, as 5 of the top 10 countries in the world by Internet users were in that region during 2018.

6. Americans Online • North America and Europe, however, had the largest penetrations of Internet users in their regions, with a 90% adult penetration rate in the US as of January 2019. • According to the Pew Research Center, 77% of Americans are online daily: 26% almost constantly and another 43% several times a day, with the largest percentage of the “almost constantly” among adults 18–29 and 30–49. • As measured by education and income, Pew reports the largest percentages are those who are a college grad+, or 34%, and with an income of $75,000 or more, or 35%.

7. Smartphones: The Future Access Point • Where new Internet users may have the greatest impact are on smartphone sales (since access via a mobile device is sprinting ahead of desktop/laptop devices) and e-commerce, which could be a boon for those living in isolated parts of the world. • Global shipments of new smartphones declined 2.4% during 2018, to a total of 1.41 billion, and then another 5% during Q1 2019. Manufacturers are dreaming of those numbers rapidly accelerating with a universal expansion of Internet access. • A smartphone will be a more convenient and versatile option than a stationary desktop computer – new Internet users will simply skip that step so many us had to take before moving into the mobile channel.

8. A New Platform for Learning • As the cost of a traditional, campus-based college degree has increased and students assume a sometime unmanageable debt for higher education, online learning continues to be an option for many. • The latest data from the U.S. Department of Education indicates all of the institutions in the private/for-profit online universities category experienced the largest decline in enrollment from 2016 to 2017, or -6%. • By contrast, 33% of fall 2017 students were enrolled in at least one distance education class, a two-percentage-point increase from fall 2016 – and as total enrollment at higher education institutions decreased by approximately 0.5%.

9. The New Workspace Space • The world of work (and business) would come to a screeching halt without the use of the Internet and a host of systems, apps and technologies (Slack, Office, Dropbox, Trello, etc.) that allow more people to work remotely as employees or self-employed. • According to research data from Owl Labs, 16% of global companies are totally remote and 40% are what it defines as “hybrid,” or both onsite and remote work available to their employees as well as a combination of both. • According to October 2018 research from Edelman Intelligence (for Upwork and Freelancers Union), 35% of Americans worked freelance during 2018, a total of 56.7 million individuals.

10. The Maturation of Regulation and Protecting Personal Data • Recent events, especially during the 2016 elections and since, have resulted in more governments scrutinizing Web content and how Web-based companies self-regulate themselves. • During Q1 2019, Facebook removed approximately 70 million pieces of identified hate speech before users reported them. YouTube removed approximately 7 million videos because they violated community guidelines before users first viewed them. • Another Pew Research Center survey, however, found 88% of respondents said the Internet has been mostly good for them, compared to 90% in a 2014 survey, while 70% said it is mostly good for society, compared to 76% during 2014.

11. Still a Vulnerable Target • During 2018, 447 million sensitive records were exposed during security breaches. This was a 126% increase from 2017’s 198 million records. • It also resulted in more data centers experiencing downtown during 2018, or 31% of such operations compared to 25% during 2017. • According to ThreatMetrix’s H2 2018 Cybercrime Report, 103 million of the 244 million total globally human-initiated attacks were via mobile.

12. Internet Advertising Continues to Increase • Although online retail sales were only 15% of all 2018 retail sales, total Internet advertising surpassed $100 billion for the first time during 2018 (or $107.5 billion), and is forecast to reach $123.1 billion during 2019 and $160.8 billion by 2023. • By comparison, total 2018 TV advertising was $71.0 billion and will remain relatively flat for 2019, at $70.6 billion, and 2023, at $72.2 billion. • TV’s strength, however, still continues to be its delivery of the most emotionally compelling messages and is often the catalyst for driving consumers to the Web to share content and research products.

13. The Internet Overhead • During 2018, the Earth’s population increased 1.07% to 7.71 billion, so now there are approximately 3.91 billion people who are “Internetless” – a situation many of today’s visionaries are trying to rectify. • Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are now competing to place thousands of satellites in Earth orbit to beam the Internet to “everyone.” Musk launched the first 60 of his projected 12,000 satellites during May 2019. • Other companies with similar plans or have initiated their first launches include OneWeb, Telesat, Facebook, Boeing and LeoSat of Luxembourg.

14. The Potential for Good • Undoubtedly, the business, commercial and media worlds as well as most governments are anxious to see the remainder of the human population gain access to the Internet. • Although some countries will continue to ban or limit their citizens’ access to the Internet even when it becomes available to everyone everywhere, the future growth of Internet is more likely to be a positive trend. • The instantaneous sharing of more information about ourselves, our cultures, our dreams and our creativity and innovations can only improve our understanding of each other and decrease the tensions in the world.