World Wide Web

:For the world's first web browser, see WorldWideWeb.

Basic terms

Hypertext is viewed using a program called a web browser which retrieves pieces of information, called "documents" or "web pages", from web servers and displays them, typically on a computer monitor. One can then follow hyperlinks on each page to other documents or even send information back to the server to interact with it. The act of following hyperlinks is often called "surfing" or "browsing" the Web. Web pages are often arranged in collections of related material called "websites."

Related Topics:
Hypertext - Web browser - Web page - Web server - Computer monitor - Hyperlink - Browsing - Website

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The phrase "surfing the Internet" was first popularized in print by Jean Armour Polly, a librarian, in an article called Surfing the INTERNET, published in the Wilson Library Bulletin in June, 1992. Although Polly developed the phrase independently, slightly earlier uses of similar terms have been found on the Usenet from 1991 and 1992, and some recollections claim it was also used verbally in the hacker community for a couple years before that. Polly is famous as "NetMom" in the world of Internet.

Related Topics:
Jean Armour Polly - NetMom

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For more information on the distinction between the World Wide Web and the Internet itself — as in everyday use the two are sometimes confused — see Dark internet where this is discussed in more detail.

Related Topics:
Internet - Dark internet

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Although the English word worldwide is normally written as one word (without a space or hyphen), the proper name World Wide Web and abbreviation WWW are now well-established even in formal English. The earliest references to the Web called it the WorldWideWeb (an example of computer programmers' fondness for intercaps) or the World-Wide Web (with a hyphen, this version of the name is the closest to normal English usage).

Related Topics:
English - Intercaps

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Interestingly, "WWW" is one of the few acronyms that takes longer to say than what it is "short" for.

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