Over the past ten years, our love for the Internet has transformed more than just our daily routines. By 2020, 99% of adults ages between 16 and 44 years old were recent Internet users, with modern necessities like social media and online shopping proving popular across generations.

In this guide, we’ll cover the ways in which the Internet has changed the way we live, especially when we compare trends and habits seen through previous generations.

What would life be like without the Internet?

There are so many ways in which we rely upon the Internet throughout every day. From instant messaging to sending emails for work, communication forms a huge part of this dependence.

Without online services to aid our social and professional lives, we’d also be going back to paper cheque books and perhaps even writing letters.

Above all, shopping and spending habits have been completely transformed by Internet shopping. In fact, overall online retail spending skyrocketed by nearly 88% in March 2021 alone, even though it already accounted for over half of all retail spend two years prior.

What else do we use the Internet for?

• Travel

Even if you’ve not booked a holiday online before, you can guarantee that someone helping you to book in a travel shop will be using the Internet to finalise a booking. Train tickets, hotel stays, spa packages and much more are all easily booked online.

• Financial services

Whether you prefer to use open banking solutions or an iOS app for one bank, using the Internet makes it so much easier to manage your money.

• Research

From school students to university professors, almost any academic relies on a strong connection to the Internet to access their materials, often stored on a unique, secure server.

• Healthcare

With the Covid-19 pandemic transforming healthcare administration in the UK, more and more medical practices have turned to online bookings only. Furthermore, information and advice on your own healthcare and prescriptions can be accessed through NHS online services.

• Employment

Many employers use cloud systems to keep their staff connected online, but even those seeking a job rely on the Internet to get started. Platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed serve a useful purpose by advertising jobs and allowing Internet users to apply easily and quickly.

• Marketing

Online shopping might sometimes be plagued with adverts, but these serve a crucial purpose. Companies invest massively in online marketing, mostly because it’s one of the most successful ways to drive new customers to a website.

It’s easy to identify an almost total reliance on the Internet. Without easy online access, simple everyday processes would turn into longer endeavours – and instant gratification would be much harder to achieve.