I use a lot of services on the internet; book appointments, contact people and buy goods and services. I haven’t thought about how much I do things online before and how much time and effort it saves me.
I live in a slightly smaller town and I have noticed that finding some specific things or services here is sometimes difficult. It is much easier to just search for the product online and order it at the nearest post office. Of course, I would love to buy everything possible from a local entrepreneur, but unfortunately that is not possible.
It was also interesting to read my fellow students’ blogs on the subject. Almost everyone used a lot of internet services, and certainly the majority of Finns today use e.g. Kela and Omakanta. However, shopping onlinet divided my fellow student quite a lot. Many blogs said that they don’t want to buy products from foreign websites. Of course, it’s great if you want to support Finnish production, but I think that for many people, it’s more about the fact that these online stores are simply not trusted. Of course, you have to familiarize yourself with the shops and products, but there are also many good and reliable shops abroad.
The Digital Competence Wheel test was really useful and interesting to do. I learned a lot about my own skills and now I know what I should develop in my online behavior.
