The thing I love most about the internet is the ability to communicate with people all over the planet. That's really what the web and the internet is all about: simple and straightforward communication.
Nothing compares to the thrill of creating my own web sites, on which I "talk" to thousands of visitors every single day. I get an opportunity to explain my opinions, viewpoints and share information which may even be helpful. my words are not changed by any editor or boss; every article (with a few exceptions) has been written by me to help others understand some issue, data or topic.
My web site has a guestbook, which individuals can use to tell me what they think of my writings and opinions. in the 3 years since I began creating my sites, over one thousand people have left entries thanking me for my words, expressing praise for the effort or informing me of how my editorials help them somehow.
These thouands notes of kindness outweigh a million-fold the dozen or so entries which ridiculed my efforts or attempted somehow to belittle me or my opinions. With so many positive comments, it's become very satisfying to hit the delete keyu on those evil little bombs left by people with nothing better to do than tear someone down.
When I arrived home from work on September 11th, the first thing that I did was begin writing about the attacks. Before long, I had started a website, and began posting other articles by hundreds of individuals with their thoughts and contributions. I included graphics, photos and articles from all over the world; eventually the site expanded to over a thousand pages. The effort of putting this together, researching and writing, helped stabilize me in what appeared to be a very unstable and hostile world.
When my wife became very ill and it became apparent that she would be unable to travel outside our apartment for months or even years, I turned to the internet for help. I showed her how to create a website, how to use Paint Shop Pro, and how to communicate with others. At first she used the internet only enough satisfy me, but before a month had passed, she was creating her own web site which informed others how to survive asthma and it's side effects. She wrote about her struggles with that terrible disease, as well as the five days she spent in a coma and the many different techniques tried to handle her condition. Thousands of people have signed her guestbook, and she has expanded her horizons and created a dozen different websites on many different toptics. in fact, my lovely wife now is working to become a professional webmaster herself, and I think she will soon be even better than I am at this trade.
I believe that these efforts have expanded my horizons to the entire planet, and I have no doubt that the internet saved my wife's life. It enabled her to communicate with others, even provide a helping hand now and then, even though she could not leave the house for physical reasons.
And, of course, the internet changed me beyond my wildest dreams. I now write one article (minimum) every single day, something that would have been unheard of years ago. I communicate regularly with people I have never (and will never) meet. The internet has enabled me to feel better about my fellow man and has gone a long way to convince me that man is good, and that evil is not normal.
And that's what the internet has done for me.