Undoubtedly, nowadays Internet is an indispensable tool in every aspect of our life. We make friends via social media like Facebook, watch TV series through Netflix, and make our work done in front of computers. Trend is that we don’t have to take trouble with looking up books or else, Internet is so resourceful that it has everything in store for us. It’s so convenient when you are companied with Internet.

None the less, many times we may get confused with the convenience Internet brings to us. While surfing through Internet, we are introduced to Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, various forms of social network. We have to face limitless advertisements, answers that only experts can tell whether true or not, and almost every website asks you to make a registration, some of them never explain how to make use of the site explicitly.

In the event that you are having trouble with similar confusions, then here I have some tips for you that can be of good help. Actually, so long as you keep these metrics in mind when using Internet, you will find it easy to enjoy a comfortable experience with Internet.

Basic Tip One: Make it clear what your needs are when using Internet

Complication is born the moment a netizen has no idea what he or she virtually wants from the Internet. As I have described above, the content on Internet is so plentiful. But always we merely use a small portion of the abundance. That is to say, we have spent too much time on some meaningless entertainment: funny videos on YouTube, funny images on Reddit, and pointless interaction on Facebook, whatsoever.

It’s time that you realize what your original purpose is the day you start using Internet: study, news, work, knowing people, or all of them? You are advised to make a list of your needs, with which you can find corresponding resource accordingly. For instance, my list shows that I need to get answers for some questions often, and then I have choices like Yahoo Answer, Quora, Reddit Community, among which, based on my appetite, I selected Quora as the website I refer to in the first place. In that condition, I spared much effort in deciding where to find my answer on Internet. The case applies to other needs like music, social media etc.

Besides, there exist priorities among those needs. For me, the preference goes to acquiring knowledge from Internet, then communicating with my friends online, enjoy movie and music comes next. Consequently, when I sit in front of the computer, or taking my phone out of my pocket, I know I have to deal with the top priority first.

Basic Tip Two: Get useful directions for some complicated online product

Many online products can be very useful. They act as good tools for netizens. However, not all the products are easy to get start with, especially for those who are relatively old and meet Internet late in their life. Sometimes you just don’t how to apply for a Capital One credit card online, don’t know how to check your phone balance on Verizon or AT&T official website. You want to make use of them, but it seems too complicated.

If you have encountered such problems, you are in need of help from others. Well, aside from asking for help from your friends or colleagues, you can seek assistance from Internet itself. There are many places you can refer to when you are looking for directions on an online product website: Wikipedia, Quora, or just Google. These are different kinds of choices for you to make your problems done. Wikipedia offers a basic introduction for a product; you can ask questions on Quora; and Google can search everything for you.

Another example, YouTube is a Google product where you can enjoy almost all the videos on Internet. However, to fully enjoy YouTube resources, you need to activate a Google account on YouTube. Truly it is very easy for those who are familiar with Internet. But for people who haven’t used YouTube or Internet before, it’s really not that easy. To my eyes, you can just use Google: Type in Activate YouTube in the search box and you will see useful search results listed below, where you can find an explicit explanation on YouTube Activation.

Basic Tip Three: Learn how to make full use of Search Engine (Google)

In Tip Two, I have made an example of making use of Google. Actually it’s not enough. Google can offer you much more than that. It is so regretful if you still have no idea how to make full use of Search Engines as good as Google. Here I’d like to make some examples of Google Advanced Search.

Filetype: Use Google filetye function to command Google search specific type of files for you. For instance, you want to find a resume sample for the industry of IT Engineer in the format of PDF, so you can type "filetype:pdf IT Engineer Resume" into the search box. Then you will be presented with all the relative files in PDF format.

Site: Google site function is a command asking Google to search a specific site for you. Enter "site:nba.com Lebron James" into the Google search box, and you can see all the search results about Lebron James in www.nba.com, the official website of NBA.

Intitle: Intitle function is a good tool for you to search all the WebPages with specific keyword in their titles. Just input "intitle:Apple", then Google will present you with all the search results with Apple in their titles.

Basically these functions are enough for common use, but Google Advanced Search has much more surprise in store for you. I’d like to compose another article on this topic.

Basic Tip Four: Make a good management of your online accounts

Although there is news that Google is making research on passwordless account, technology for online account is not so advanced yet that you still have to create accounts for different websites, which can be very bothering.

The scene keeps emerge in the back of mind that one of my old relatives, who has reached his 60’s, got into a panic when he was faced with the reality that he had to register so many accounts for so many different kinds of websites. As for us, who have known Internet from a young age, we may not be in panic. However, we can forget some accounts or passwords as well, just because there are too many of them, and we are not using all of them every single day.

Then how should we deal with it? I told my old relative one way to make him worry less. Well, I told him to create a unique User Name for all the accounts, as well as a single phone number and single email address. As for the password, I advised him to think of a simple law applies to all the accounts. For example, a fixed series of number followed by some letters abbreviated for the website names, so you don’t have to remember all the accounts.

For those accounts very significant and sensitive like the online bank account, I advise you to set passwords that are very strong, write them down and find some secure place to hide it. As we all have smart phones today, we can download a password management APP. That can be very helpful.

Basic Tip Five: Prevent yourself from Internet addiction

Although I am writing an article about using Internet here, I have to point it out that Internet is not everything in our life. Ever since the emergence of smart phone, especially the iPhone, we have become accustomed to spending too much time on Internet, much less those who are addicted to it. Instead of sitting in front of computers, or focusing your eyes on smart phones, playing games and browsing Instagram, you’ve got many other meaningful things to do: meeting your friends, reading books, taking your children to a park, playing basketball to exercise yourself. We can spare some time for Internet daily, because we need it, but we don’t have to spend all day on it, which can be a waste of time.

If you want to make the most of Internet, you need to stop being with it all day long, and make full use of it effectively.