Myths, over the many centuries have formed an integral part of who we are. How we relate to our very own history, how we explain things. In the most popular of spaces today, the internet, you will find a plethora of myths.
Which brings us to this article. Below you will find a list of 8 of the biggest myths about the internet.
- Avoid Adult Content
One of the biggest myths has to be about adult websites. If you’ve been on the internet for any real length of time, then you’ve probably already been told that adult sites have viruses on them. But the truth is, that this is not true. Adult sites do have viruses, but no more than your typical website.
GDataCompany conducted a malware report on the top 10 category of websites that you should avoid. From this study, it was found that only 5% of those sites were pornography, with the highest percentages (20%) being in the telecommunications and technology field. So, for you adults out there, you need not worry, when browsing through the wide variety of adult themed web pages.
- Your ISP Is Not Your Friend
It’s your ISP (Internet Service Provider) that grants you access to the internet. Your ISP is able to log every piece of data that is accessed through it. So, every little email, picture, video or website that you’ve ever viewed while on the internet has been catalogued by your ISP. For this reason, people are under the impression that they should fear.
However, this is anything but the truth. Although your ISP is capable of keeping tabs on anything you do, they don’t, simply because it would be far too expensive to do so. For this reason, you need not worry about whatever kinks you may have. That said, your ISP does track suspected cases of child pornography or terrorism.
- Shopping Online Is the Norm
This is anything but the truth.
During the past pandemic, which turned the world upside down, primarily due to all the restrictions that were forced on the people. Many people were, as a result, forced to carry out various transactions online. This lead to a massive spike in amount of online shopping activity, however, this naturally didn’t last.
As the restrictions on peoples movement was eventually lifted, this lead to ecommerce purchases of all kinds going into a slow decline, this also affected the number of people on the internet in general. Ultimately, ecommerce activity dropped by 1.5% when compared to the year before it.
Online shopping statistics typically doesn’t factor in the completion of a sale. Which is especially important, as the abandonment rate for shopping carts on mobile devices alone is close to 85%. This means that a lot of people still prize traditional shopping above everything else, with traditional shopping continuing to rise, possibly, in the near future.
- Marketers Prefer TikTok Over Instagram
This is another untruth.
TikTok has witnessed tremendous growth over the past couple of years, with a lot of marketers now taking to the platform. While marketers can expect TikTok’s ad reach to cover in excess of 19 million 18+ users, Instagram has a reach in excess of 28 million for users of the same age range.
This means, while you can expect to reach around 30% of the platforms social media audience, Instagram is capable of reaching a hefty 42% of a similar audience. This makes Instagram still the most profitable in its arena, which is why marketers prioritize it.
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However, this may not always be the case. In the past year alone, when looking at quarter on quarter change, there has been reports of a decline of 3.5% for Instagram, while TikTok has risen by a whopping 11% in the same period. This means, in the next couple of years, TikTok could potentially up seat Instagram, but not right now.
- Everything Is True, Online
There are so many misguided web surfers that believe all the information they read online. The unfortunate reality is, not everything you read online is the truth. You can never trust anything you read, regardless of where you read it, without credible sources to support it first.
- You Can Get Rich Online
Money comes from passion, if you truly love whatever it is you’re doing, then you can make money from it. So you should never fall prey to this myth. You can find an unlimited number of spam emails and advertisements that promise to help you get rich online.
The internet can be used very effectively as a tool to help you improve your business (whether real or virtual), through publicity, but don’t expect to make large sums of money by scrolling through twitter or filling in a couple of surveys. Nowadays you have influencers who are able to make money through their social media status. But this takes a lot of time and effort to build up.
That aside, the internet isn’t this magically place where you can turn water to wine. Money needs to be cultivated, just as it does in the real world.
- Cryptocurrencies Are Booming
This is another untruth. Cryptocurrencies have been in and out of the public eye for the past decade now, with a recent boom occurring less than 12 months ago; the hype has since subsided however. And while these developments should be monitored, they aren’t nearly as common as you may think. With less than 10% of all web surfers not even owning any cryptocurrency.
- People Spend More Time Online
This is false. Despite more people accessing and connecting to the internet, the reality is that there has been a decrease in the amount of time people spend on it. Down by 7%, which is around 30 minutes less per day, last year alone. This is likely the result of developments that occurred in the past, such as a large number of people being forced to work directly from home. However, current trends doesn’t suggest people are abandoning the internet – in reality it’s actually the opposite.
–AUTHOR INFO—
Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website https://www.compuchenna.co.uk.
