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How would you introduce someone to the internet?

FunfetusFunfetus
edited March 2009 in Everything Else
I have a friend from work who doesn't use the internet. He's a pretty smart guy, in the sense that he thinks well, but he doesn't have much of an education, and he hasn't been fortunate enough to have been exposed, while growing up, to a lot of the things that most of us take for granted. He's actually started using the internet a little recently, and it's like this whole other world for him. I've been trying to explain to him not just what the internet IS, but what it MEANS. And it made me think --

Assume you know a person who has no knowledge whatsoever of the internet. Assume they have a reasonable knowledge of computers. And assume that you want to teach them about the internet -- not just what it is, not just technologically, but socially, culturally, and sociologically. You want them to understand the heights and the depths. To understand it the way we do. All you can do is write down five URLs and send them off. Search engines and reference sources like Wikipedia are off limits.

What five sites best encapsulate the essence of the internet?

Comments

  • CremlianCremlian
    PORN, YOUTUBE, GOOGLE, WIKIPEDIA, PORN... Thread over.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    You think you can explain the entire internet to someone in just five URLs?

    Ask them what they're looking for and show them how to find it, once they've got the hang of that, just help them progress as they need it and point out neat things you come across that might help them.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    PORN, YOUTUBE, GOOGLE, WIKIPEDIA, PORN.
    Hm. Well, I specifically excluded search engines and wikipedia. Porn is good, though. That's what most of the internet is. Now that I think of it, though, Google (though more the services than the search engine) and Wikipedia are excellent examples of what the internet is, and what it's capable of. I just didn't want to hear answers like "with google and wikipedia, you can find out everything about the internet".
    You think you can explain the entire internet to someone in just five URLs?
    I think that you absolutely cannot explain the entire internet in only five URLs. That's what makes it interesting. What are the five sites that would give a person the best sense of what the internet is?
    Ask them what they're looking for and show them how to find it,
    Maybe I should have been more clear -- I'm not looking for practical advice. I'm looking for people's opinions about how to express what the internet is in a very limited amount of information. I thought the results would be revealing.
  • ZeehatZeehat
    Tell him that this place-- call it chan of the fourth degree... Don't ever go there- after viewing, you find out you will die in seven days ;-)
  • ChurbaChurba
    Well, in essence, It's a raw resource. It is what you make it. You want information, it's there. You want to buy stuff, you can. You want something to wank yourself silly to? It's there. You want people's opinions on a particular topic? It's there. Want people who can answer your questions? They're there.
    It's like a lump of raw metal. With the right tools and skills, you can make it into whatever you want, within reason - You're obviously not going to make it into, say, diamonds - It's not magical, infinite, or all things to all people - but with the right tools and skills, it still has the potential to be a hell of a lot of very useful things.
  • NeitoNeito
    edited March 2009
    The internet in a nutshell.
    If you're surprised by what this is, you haven't been interneting enough.
    Post edited by Neito on
  • KoholintKoholint
    Well, to be the first person to actually do what you asked:
    Youtube.com, SomethingAwful.com, news site of your choice... argh. Hmm... I think Wikipedia is actually a very good example of what the internet is, so I'll add that anyway. What else? Well I guess Facebook is also pretty important socially, but so is Twitter. I guess you can pick your favorite there too.
  • NeitoNeito
    Forums.SomethingAwful.com
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    You have to approach this conceptually. Don't think about specific sites; rather, think about the categories of things that the internet accomplishes, and go from there.

    To that end, I would use:

    Wikipedia - the essence of the Internet: a collection of shared knowledge, updated and maintained by the people who access that information.
    Youtube - User-created content, and also demonstrates why TV is obsolete
    Amazon - Online shopping. There are other places that showcase this as well, but you can get everything short of groceries on Amazon.
    Google - Not just the search engine, but the Google apps as well. It'll introduce someone to the concept of alternative software solutions.
    4chan - If Wikipedia is the crowning jewel of the Internet, 4chan is its anus. It's every bit as necessary.

    I want to throw in some sort of news aggregator as well, but I think Google sufficiently covers that.
  • Josh BytesJosh Bytes
    Craigslist is another good one to add to the list. Some kind of social networking site Myspace, Facebook, Twitter.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    edited March 2009
    Wikipedia - the essence of the Internet: a collection of shared knowledge, updated and maintained by the people who access that information.
    Youtube - User-created content, and also demonstrates why TV is obsolete
    Amazon - Online shopping. There are other places that showcase this as well, but you can get everything short of groceries on Amazon.
    Google - Not just the search engine, but the Google apps as well. It'll introduce someone to the concept of alternative software solutions.
    4chan - If Wikipedia is the crowning jewel of the Internet, 4chan is its anus. It's every bit as necessary.
    This is a very good list, and pretty much exactly what I was getting at, though I didn't manage to express it so clearly. And I was waiting for someone to say 4chan (acknowledgements to Zeehat as well). 4chan is the the black heart of the internet. The collective id of the first world nerd youth.
    Post edited by Funfetus on
  • DkongDkong
    edited March 2009
    not just what it is, not just technologically, but socially, culturally, and sociologically.
    Fuck giving 5 URLs...what you need is shit like "99 things everyone should have seen" (even though a lot of stuff on that list was garbage), history of memes and big internet videos, etc. Then show him social networking sites ala myspace and facebook. Then you need to show him Google and all the apps associated with it. Wikipedia is a must. Shopping sites ala Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist are a must. Youtube as a whole is a must.
    Post edited by Dkong on
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    edited March 2009
    Google.com is all there needs to be said about this. Gives you Gmail and RSS, search for something you like, you will inevitable stumble across Wikipedia and YouTube. Over long or short he will discover Amazon and eBay. And somehow I don't think it is possible to flee from 4chan or porn.
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • ......
    You have to approach this conceptually. Don't think about specific sites; rather, think about the categories of things that the internet accomplishes, and go from there.
    This was my thinking when I opened this thread, and that list pretty much conveys my 'important' points. Knowledge, news, media, shopping and culture. Basically I would be suggesting stuff like Wikipedia, other encyclopaedias, dictionaries, [insert favourite newspaper], Google News, Google reader, [insert news site concerning interests], Youtube, Last.fm, Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, 4chan, TPB, forums, lists concerning internet culture. By then you have sampled the 1% of the internet that's not porn I think.
  • AprecheApreche
    Well, apparently everyone in this thread needs to be introduced to the Internet. All you people have been discussing just the web. People have to realize that while http is the most popular web application, it is not the only one. I mean, has there even been a mention of e-mail in this thread at all? Instant messaging? VOIP? Skype? IRC? ssh? VNC? Streaming video? FTP?

    There is no doubt that the web is completely dominant, even overlaying other Internet protocols like e-mail, but it is important to understand that the web and the Internet are not the same thing.
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    edited March 2009
    Well, apparently everyone in this thread needs to be introduced to the Internet. All you people have been discussing just the web. People have to realize that while http is the most popular web application, it is not the only one. I mean, has there even been a mention of e-mail in this thread at all? Instant messaging? VOIP? Skype? IRC? ssh? VNC? Streaming video? FTP?

    There is no doubt that the web is completely dominant, even overlaying other Internet protocols like e-mail, but it is important to understand that the web and the Internet are not the same thing.
    I was sort of assuming that Funfetus was referring to the web and not the entire concept of the Internet. Generally, when most people talk about "the Internet," they mean the web specifically. It's sort of how people use "Darwinism" to refer to evolution, even though the two are not the same thing.
    Post edited by TheWhaleShark on
  • RymRym
    I should point out that Internet should be capitalized as a proper noun in almost every case. Use the following as an example sentence:

    The Internet is an internet.
  • ......
    Well, apparently everyone in this thread needs to be introduced to the Internet.
    On the contrary. Go read Funfetus' post. He asks for 5 sites, nothing about 5 protocols.
    What five sites best encapsulate the essence of the internet?
    I specifically didn't mention Google Mail because of my personally labelling it as just a mail service that happens to have a website as one of its front-ends.

    Here, have your cookie.
  • DkongDkong
    edited March 2009
    . I mean, has there even been a mention of e-mail in this thread at all?
    2 posts above you:
    ...Gives you Gmail...
    On the contrary. Go read Funfetus' post. He asks for 5 sites, nothing about 5 protocols.
    QFT.
    Streaming video?
    Youtube doesn't count?
    Post edited by Dkong on
  • Josh BytesJosh Bytes
    edited March 2009
    Don't forget Web 2.0 and the infamous Intertubes. I personally like Dave's personal term of the Internet referring to it as the Intertron.
    Post edited by Josh Bytes on
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