Before the early 1900s, sending letters was the main way people stayed in touch across long distances. Even though the telegraph was invented in the 1800s, it still needed human operators and wasn’t exactly something you had in your living room. Newspapers were around, but they didn’t really take off until the early 1900s. By 1928, things started to shift in a big way with three major radio networks in the U.S. Suddenly, instead of waiting for the mail, people could tune in and get breaking news instantly. Around this time, the telephone was also becoming popular, allowing people to talk to loved ones in real-time—no more waiting for days on letters or using a telegraph. Then came TV, giving people a peek into the lives of others in faraway places. But the real game changer? The Internet.
For people in the early 1900s, the rise of communication tech must have seemed like pure magic. Little did they know what was coming next. Fast forward to the 1960s: ARPANET was developed, which laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Internet. By the 1990s, the Internet exploded, connecting about a third of the world. Suddenly, online communities were forming, people could chat in real-time, and online services started to pop up. Remember those early chat rooms and forums?
Today, the Internet has completely taken over, making older forms of communication almost obsolete. Think about it: humans spent thousands of years in small villages, only knowing what was happening locally. Now, we can send an email, join social media, or browse a forum and instantly connect with people from all over the world. We can make global calls for free, watch live streams of events halfway across the planet, and even share injustices instantly, reaching millions of people with a single post. It’s been amazing for spreading empathy and understanding—but it also leaves us with new challenges, like dealing with information overload.
Telegraph, newspapers, radio, phones, and TV were all groundbreaking in their time. But the Internet? It’s completely changed how we live, learn, and connect in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. Now, we chat with friends instantly on social media, get news alerts within seconds, debate hot topics on forums, and find answers to complex questions with just a quick search. We even stream our TV and radio, on-demand, right to our devices. The world has never been more connected. How will these changes in communication over the last hundred years change humanity?
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