With a persistently troubled economy and record unemployment rates, much of the talk in recent years has been about the loss of jobs. And as bad as things have been, it probably would be a lot worse without the Internet.
So, what about the jobs that have been created in recent years as the Internet has risen to dominate our communication channels? From email, to Instant Messages, website, blogs, social media and gaming – there are very few corners of 21st Century society that aren’t touched by the Internet’s far-reaching tentacles.
As a result of the rapid and expansive growth of the Internet, a number of businesses popped into existence when entrepreneurs grabbed the reins and created opportunities that have now grown into full-fledged mini-industries.
Here are the top 5 businesses spawned by the Internet:
Web development – All of the compelling visuals and engaging design of websites and blogs don’t happen by chance. Professionals with specialized skills are behind every one of those websites – well, the ones worth looking at anyway.
SEO optimization – There is an entire skill-set dedicated entirely to trying to figure out how Google’s mysterious algorithm ranks websites in search results. Companies pay top dollar to firm’s with the demonstrated ability to get their websites onto the front pages of Google and keep them there.
Free term papers – Consider it the cliff notes of the Internet generation. A plethora of websites have popped up all over the Internet offering research paper content on a myriad of subjects. These sites are used for everything from inspiration to plagiarism; so much so that software programs that can scour the Internet to determine if a submitted term paper is a copy.
Auction sites – Website such as eBay sparked huge interest in buying and selling on the Internet. With this websites, entrepreneurs were given the ability to run a retail operation with virtually no overhead. Consumers were able to find great deals on products or even become sellers themselves.
Online classifieds – From Craigslist to untold dating sites, the advent of online classified ads has spurred a sea change in how people search out everything from sofas to lovers. So deep-reaching is the popularity of the Internet-subset, the age-old bastions of traditional media (i.e. newspapers) have had their bottom lines rocked to the core as a result.
These examples are by no means intended to be a comprehensive list of all of the businesses that have been created by the Internet. These businesses; however, demonstrate well the power of the Internet to transform the way we work, play and live.
