When the Internet was first conceptualized back in the 80s and 90s, no one had an idea how big an influence it would eventually come to have on society at large. From its humble beginnings as a network composed of mostly scientific and military computers, it is now one of the largest institutions in the world.

One of the major characteristics of the Internet that has made it such a big part of modern life is simply its huge reach and potential audience. Many millions of computers and users are connected to and able to access the Internet. This allows for an unmatched breadth of possibilities.

Information has now become much easier to disseminate worldwide. In fact, free and easily available information may very well be the single most attractive feature of the Internet for most of its users. Coupled with search engines that have been constantly improving their technology and algorithms, this means that a user can typically find information on virtually anything. Students turn to the Internet far more than their teachers would want them to, for research and homework help. Even professionals can find that the sheer amount of information, helpful articles available online makes the Internet a valuable resource that cannot be ignored.
Also tied in with this wide availability of the Internet is the major role that it now plays in business and economics. Business has begun to naturally migrate to the online environment in addition to their presence in the physical world. The ease with which the Internet can spread information was not long overlooked by savvy marketers and advertisers. These first online advertisements eventually paved the way for businesses moving wholesale to the Internet, putting up online shops and so on. Financial services are now also being made available online, which makes purchases and other purely online transactions available and very convenient.

The Internet has also affected the social fabric of the world on many levels. One thing that the availability of information on the Internet has done is to make the world a relatively smaller place. That is, being updated on world events is made not only possible, but very easy. In some cases, real-time news is even made available on news websites! This means that the world, in general, is much more well-informed about what is going on in other parts of the world than it used to be.

Social networks such as Friendster and Myspace have also made their impact. The unique possibilities offered by these systems have been explored and taken advantage of by their users.

As a whole, the Internet has delivered (and is continuing to deliver) convenience, information, and connectivity. These three things combine to ensure that the Internet will remain alive and active for a long time yet. In fact, the Internet is one of the big things that can be seen still remaining in the future, and even developing in new and innovative ways.

It is almost impossible to speak of the future of the Internet, on certain terms. If we look back to its origins, we can see that even its creators had no idea of what it was going to become. However, certain trends do make themselves clear, and perhaps some general predictions can be made.

The Internet will continue to expand, reaching more and more of the world at faster and faster speeds. It will continue to find applications in an increasing number of industries, fields, and aspects of modern life. The Internet will continue to be a large part of society, until (perhaps) it is replaced by some unknown successor that would fill its shoes and improve upon it.

But we cannot say anything for certain, again, except to say that the Internet is big, and will continue to be big in the foreseeable future.