Online Entertainment

Online entertainment has grown rapidly in the past few years, due to the increase in the amount of people spending more time on the internet. The entertainment business has taken full advantage of this, and as a result, it is now easier than ever to watch films, listen to or download music, play games, and connect with friends over the internet.

            Downloading

The ability to download certain things off the internet is probably on of the most useful purposes of the internet, as it allows you to download it to your PC, tablet or smartphone, meaning you will constantly have access to the content, wherever you are, and as you have physically downloaded it onto your device, it means once the download is complete, you will not have to be connected to the internet to listen to, watch, or play the downloaded content. The massive increase in popularity of downloading music has lead to a change in the way in which we record music sales. It used to be based on how many CD’s were bought from shops, but now, it is based on downloads as so many more people are downloading music straight to their device, opposed to buying the CD and having to upload it through their computer. This also makes it a lot easy to document and keep track of who is selling the most singles etc. However, it is not just music that you can download; films, games, apps, books and podcasts are all available for download, so as long as you have internet access and a compatible device, you have access to millions of forms of entertainment.

            On the other hand, with the huge increase in popularity of downloads, comes the huge problem concerning illegal downloading. This is where people upload content on to websites, which allows other people to download it for free, meaning that the people who actually own the content are missing out on millions of pounds every year. Many people have argued that it cannot be seen as theft or stealing as the people who upload it to these illegal websites and allow people to download it for free, have obviously purchased the content themselves, meaning that it is technically theirs, and they can do what they want with it, however, the music industry in particular are trying to put a stop to it, saying that you wouldn’t just walk into a shop, and walk out with a handful of CD’s without paying, so why do it over the internet?

            Personally, I use iTunes to download music onto my phone, as illegal downloading can actually be a lot more hassle, and takes longer, whereas with iTunes, as soon as you have paid for your content, it downloads it straight to your music library, and you also have reassurance in the fact that it will be good quality, unlike some illegal  downloads.

Social Entertainment

 Websites such as Vine and Instagram can’t really be classed at Social Networking, but instead, as Social Entertainment Websites. This is because they are mainly about creating photos and videos for your own entertainment but they also allow you to share them with friends, which make them social websites. People can also comment and ‘like’ what you upload, giving you feedback on your videos and pictures.

            Vine has been particularly successful, becoming an overnight favourite for all ages. It specialises in allowing you to make funny and creative videos, a lot of which have now gone viral. It is hugely popular with the younger generation, as before they were really only ever able to share their thoughts and experiences through still photos, but now they can show people exactly what they are seeing, straight away.

            However, there is now fierce competition between Vine and Instagram, with Instagram being the original favourite, but has recently been criticized for ‘copying’ vine, after launching the option to record videos as well as pictures very soon after Vine became popular, due to its video recording and editing feature. There are also privacy issues with both sites, as although there is the option to set your account to ‘private’, meaning that only people and accounts that you approve of can see your details and posts, the use of ‘hashtags’ means that anyone who searches a particular hashtag that you have tagged in your photo or video, can see it.  There is also the risk of minors stumbling across inappropriate content, as it is vey hard to monitor every post that people upload and make sure it is suituable for everyone.

            Personally, I use both Instagram and Vine, and rarely encounter problems with either of them, but I can undertand how some people would. The only slight worry I have , is the issue of privacy, as I do not want people I do not know being able to access photos or videos of me, so I am always very careful with what I post online.