The Web Is Not The Internet (You're Probably Getting That Wrong)

The Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same thing. They’re not synonyms. They don’t even serve the same function. And yet, people keep getting it wrong. By Abraham Riesman via Motherboard

You know how England is in the United Kingdom, but the United Kingdom isn’t England? But people often slip up and act like they’re the same thing? And you can end up sounding like an idiot if you say call some Scottish dude English?

The Internet and the World Wide Web are kind of like that. They’re not the same thing. They’re not synonyms. They don’t even serve the same function. And, just like our theoretical mixup with a tartan-wearing Scottish separatist, when you get the distinction wrong, you can inadvertently sound like a dummy. I mean, most of the time, they can be used synonymously and no one will care, but if you’re talking about history or technical stuff and you want to be accurate or a know-it-all or beat a computer at Jeopardy, you should know the difference.

Case in point: a few days ago, I wrote a story about the first photo on the World Wide Web (hereafter known as “the Web” — that term is an acceptable synonym for the World Wide Web) and it spread far around the Web.

A sampling of confusion.

Continue having your mind blown at Motherboard