THE OTHER OPTION
...Teenzcrew, myspace, Afroscholars, Hi5, TakingITglobal, Nigerianvillagesquare, Wikipedia, to mention but a few are the fastest growing online networks on the internet today. Internet communication resources are incredibly popular with 106million users of myspace and over a million video clips on YouTube, half of which are educational.
Everyone seems to have lots of negative things to say about the internet, the recent insistent high rate of cyber fraud not helping matters. But do I dare say that there are vast positive opportunities and possibilities on the internet that goes beyond youthful online dating or “yahoo yahoo” scam emails which some Nigerian youths that go online seems to engage in.
I know of a living youth who got a scholarship opportunity online which enabled him further his education abroad. A young teenager also once stumbled into an online writing club which later turned out to be a forum where her writing skills was developed by interacting with more experienced writers and later got a publishing deal. These are just a few examples of success stories from some young internet users.
There are several other things that can be done on the internet, such as hosting an online radio show, or build a website that address issues and problems you are most passionate about and proffer solutions. Internet also offers opportunity to people to showcase their wares and do online sales such as artworks, books etc. one can also join educational forum, make academic research, learn and debate about global issues to broaden their horizon. Entertainment zones are also available to meet the interest of fun-minded people. On the internet, there is always something to meet everyone’s area of interest. It is now left for users to define their interest and maximize the available resources.
However, using the internet also comes with its own challenges, such as the frequent junks that pops-up while you are working online, not having a secured access, slow internet service provider and for an average Nigerian youth, the expensive and limited access to the internet.
The internet is not only the widest used source of information but also the most accessible with one sixth of the world’s population online. Schools, teenage groups, religious groups and other institutions in Nigeria should encourage more young people to explore the positive sides of the internet which is the world’s largest library and resource centre and celebrate.