Really just a series of tubes. note
"The Internet is a communications tool used the world over where people can come together to bitch about movies and share pornography."
The thing you're using right now.
The internet is a massive group of interconnected computers world-wide (including yours!) that allows users to send and receive various types of information, usually hypertext
documents (via Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol) and other files (through various TCP/IP protocols). This technology has revolutionized all forms of media communication, from newspapers to movies to video-games. It's hard to find a business, industry, or art form without an internet presence these days. And the internet is gigantic, at over 1 billion websites and counting, meaning you can get lost on sites like Wikipedia, Facebook, YouTube, and TV Tropes rather easily.
Initially conceived (by DARPA) as a way for The United States military to connect its distinct computer networks, the internet was made public in the late 1980s. During the '90s, it started becoming mainstream and, by the turn of the millennium, the internet became a cultural icon, representing a new era of global communication and technological advancement.
In the United States, nearly all consumers access the internet through one of several major Internet Service Providers. These ISPs charge a monthly fee for a prescribed level of access, called bandwidth, with rates that vary from state-to-state. Outside of the United States, private companies still control most access to the Internet, but some countries have mandated free, public internet access for use by the general population.
See also: New Media Tropes and Trope Namers.
Sub-categories:
- Blog
- Fora
- Friending Network
- Online Games
- Online Personas
- Virtual Worlds
- Web Originals
- Websites
- Wikis
Tropes:
- The Alternet
- Cyberspace
- Caps Lock
- Dating Service Disaster
- Digital Piracy Is Evil
- Digital Piracy Is Okay
- #EngineeredHashtag
- Everything Is Online
- Fictional Social Network
- Flame War
- Hack the Traffic Lights
- #HashtagForLaughs
- Hotlinked Image Switch
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!
- Instant Web Hit
- Internet Backdraft
- Internet Incorporated
- The Internet Is for Cats
- The Internet Is for Porn
- It's a Small Net After All
- Social Media Before Reason
- The Metaverse
- Murder.com
- New Media Are Evil
- Slow-Loading Internet Image
- Voice with an Internet Connection
- The Web Always Existed
