The goal of this vocabulary page is to provide the students with some select technical terms that they will need in order to understand the Internet sociologically. As such, the definitions attempt to link the vocabulary to sociological ideas and concepts.
Application Often abbreviated to “apps”, especially when we think of them on mobile phones. Applications are programs that allow you to do things on the computer or the Internet. There are many types of apps. Microsoft word and Firefox are software applications, for example. They present GUIs for the user to work directly with their computing hardware. Google search, e-mail, and wikis are web applications that allow users to take more advantage of the Internet.
Browser Software applications that read HTML and allow the user to navigate the web. Through GUIs, browsers allow the user to easily find websites (using web addresses) and move through the different pages on a website (through hyperlinks). For much of the history of web browsers, Internet Explorer has been the most popular web browser. Other popular web browsers are Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.
Cloud Computing Refers to using software and retrieving data not installed on a device, but instead stored on a central, second-party computer. Internet companies such as Amazon and Google have begun offering customers space “in the cloud”, where documents can be stored. A customer can then access this information from any mobile device without worrying about downloading software to each device or carrying around data on a flash drive.
Crowdsourcing
....
Cybercrime Refers to any crime that involves ICTs - generally the Internet, mobile phones, and computers. Sociologically speaking, cybercrime involves acts of deviance in which a society has decided to pass laws against. Types of cybercrimes include bullying (cyberbullying), the illegal copying and sharing of content such as music and video (copyright infringement), and child pornography.
Digital Divide The gaps between the “haves” and the “have nots” of the information society. This term was popular in the 1990's as the popularity of personal computers and the Internet exploded and the upper classes, whites, males, and the young were using technology while other groups were not. The gap between the haves and have-nots has decreased in the past several decades within wealthier countries. However, the gap between rich and poor countries is still wide, with most people in poor countries unable to use the Internet or other computer technology on a regular basis.
Digital Native A term used to describe a cohort of people who were born during the "digital age". Roughly, this would be people born in the mid-80's or later. Scholars have interest in this group because the way in which they think, interact, and perceive the world may be fundamentally different than people born before the digital age.
DNS (domain name system) Rules for structuring Internet addresses in the following way username@host.subdomain. This system allows people to use common (English) language to connect different addresses on the web without having to learn IP addresses, but instead using domain names.
GUI (graphic user interface) A program designed to make the use of a computer easier and to alleviate the user from learning the original coding and commands of a program. The first computer to use graphic user interfaces may have the Macintosh developed by Apple Computers. By using a "mouse" users could simply click on visual icons on the computer screen in order to access various applications. The development of GUIs and the mouse made it much easier for the average person to use a computer.
HTML (hypertext mark-up language) A computer language made up of a set of symbols or codes that tells the web browser how to display a Web page's words and images, and how to link between pages and documents.
HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) Set of rules for transferring hypertext (world wide web) documents. Most web addresses begin with HTTP:, and most web addresses use the hypertext transfer protocol
HTTPS (hypertext transfer protocol secure) Protocol used for transferring encrypted information. HTTPS can protect the user from many forms of cybercrime, especially on e-commerce sites or sites that require the input of personal information.
ICTs (information communication technologies) These include the Internet, computers, mobile phones, and other devices that allow people to communicate. Even fax machines and telephones can be considered ICTs, but much of the research is focused on the Internet, computers, and mobile phones.
Internet A network that connects networks, a global connection of hundreds of thousands of public and private computer networks using TCP/IP protocol. Scholars explore the importance of the Internet as a technology (the material infrastructure and the coding), a medium (how it has effected the way society communicates), and a social phenomenon (how it has effected culture, community, identity, deviance, inequality).
IP (Internet protocol) address Every computer running TCP/IP has an address that is called an IP Address. An IP address is a 32-bit number that uniquely identifies every computer connected to the Internet. An IP address can look something like this: 255.123.1.99. If you would like to know your IP address, go to http://www.whatismyip.com/. Web browsers and DNS makes memorizing such numbers unnecessary. By typing a web address (which is a combination of the transfer protocol, usually HTTP: and DNS name) we can easily finds files on the Internet, or “surf the web”.
Lurker
--- Mashup
---
---
Packet Switching
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) ---
Portal (see web portal)
---- Protocol On a network, protocols determine what conventions programs need to obey for computers to be able to pass information one to another. The Internet runs on TCP/IP protocol. Protocols are “machine speak”. When you type HTTP:, you are telling your computer and the computer for which you are requesting information to speak in the HTTP: language. Other types of protocols include HTTPS:// and FTP
Search Engine Search engines are web applications that allow a user to find information on the web without knowing the domain name or IP address. If we think of the Internet as a network of networks, then in order to navigate this network we must know each address for the website we wish to go to. Search engines allow us to use to type in a series of keywords for a listing of websites (IP addresses) that we may wish to visit. By far the most popular search engine is Google. However, other search engines include Bing (from Microsoft) and Yahoo Search.
Semantic web (see Web 3.0)
TCP/IP (Transmission Control/Internet Protocol) The protocol through which machines connected to the Internet use to communicate with each other. There were many other types of protocols developed, but the TCP/IP protocol worked so well upon its initial use that it became the industry standard.
Tiny URL
---
URL (uniform resource locater) Set of codes that specify the location of files on web servers. A URL indicates the type of resources being accessed, the address of the server, and the location of the file (say more here)
Virtual Community
VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol)
---
Web Portal A website that functions as a gateway to other websites. Web portals such as Yahoo! and AOL act as points of entry for many web users.
Web 1.0 The name given to early versions of the web. Earlier web pages were less interactive, and only allowed a visitor to read or watch content.
Web 2.0 The modern Internet, in which interactivity is fostered through social networking sites, blogs, and wikis
Web 3.0 Often called the semantic web. Currently, computers can only follow the commands of humans For example, suppose you have to write a paper that discusses the improper behavior of Karl Marx. You would need to tell a software application to find the websites that discusses Karl Marx. And then you read these websites and pull out the relevant information from each website to complete your paper. However, software applications do not allow you to simply tell the computer to look for articles that present Karl Marx in an unfavorable light. This is because web pages, while coded in HTML, can only be read by humans. Web 3.0 web pages will have code that allows machines to “read” a web page and analyze a web pages.
WWW (World Wide Web) Collection of graphically designed Internet sites and pages mainly using HTML, that presents information in text, graphic, video, and audio formats
Vocabulary
The goal of this vocabulary page is to provide the students with some select technical terms that they will need in order to understand the Internet sociologically. As such, the definitions attempt to link the vocabulary to sociological ideas and concepts.
Application
Often abbreviated to “apps”, especially when we think of them on mobile phones. Applications are programs that allow you to do things on the computer or the Internet. There are many types of apps. Microsoft word and Firefox are software applications, for example. They present GUIs for the user to work directly with their computing hardware. Google search, e-mail, and wikis are web applications that allow users to take more advantage of the Internet.
Browser
Software applications that read HTML and allow the user to navigate the web. Through GUIs, browsers allow the user to easily find websites (using web addresses) and move through the different pages on a website (through hyperlinks). For much of the history of web browsers, Internet Explorer has been the most popular web browser. Other popular web browsers are Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.
Cloud Computing
Refers to using software and retrieving data not installed on a device, but instead stored on a central, second-party computer. Internet companies such as Amazon and Google have begun offering customers space “in the cloud”, where documents can be stored. A customer can then access this information from any mobile device without worrying about downloading software to each device or carrying around data on a flash drive.
Crowdsourcing
....
Cybercrime
Refers to any crime that involves ICTs - generally the Internet, mobile phones, and computers. Sociologically speaking, cybercrime involves acts of deviance in which a society has decided to pass laws against. Types of cybercrimes include bullying (cyberbullying), the illegal copying and sharing of content such as music and video (copyright infringement), and child pornography.
Digital Divide
The gaps between the “haves” and the “have nots” of the information society. This term was popular in the 1990's as the popularity of personal computers and the Internet exploded and the upper classes, whites, males, and the young were using technology while other groups were not. The gap between the haves and have-nots has decreased in the past several decades within wealthier countries. However, the gap between rich and poor countries is still wide, with most people in poor countries unable to use the Internet or other computer technology on a regular basis.
Digital Native
A term used to describe a cohort of people who were born during the "digital age". Roughly, this would be people born in the mid-80's or later. Scholars have interest in this group because the way in which they think, interact, and perceive the world may be fundamentally different than people born before the digital age.
DNS (domain name system)
Rules for structuring Internet addresses in the following way username@host.subdomain. This system allows people to use common (English) language to connect different addresses on the web without having to learn IP addresses, but instead using domain names.
GUI (graphic user interface)
A program designed to make the use of a computer easier and to alleviate the user from learning the original coding and commands of a program. The first computer to use graphic user interfaces may have the Macintosh developed by Apple Computers. By using a "mouse" users could simply click on visual icons on the computer screen in order to access various applications. The development of GUIs and the mouse made it much easier for the average person to use a computer.
HTML (hypertext mark-up language)
A computer language made up of a set of symbols or codes that tells the web browser how to display a Web page's words and images, and how to link between pages and documents.
HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol)
Set of rules for transferring hypertext (world wide web) documents. Most web addresses begin with HTTP:, and most web addresses use the hypertext transfer protocol
HTTPS (hypertext transfer protocol secure)
Protocol used for transferring encrypted information. HTTPS can protect the user from many forms of cybercrime, especially on e-commerce sites or sites that require the input of personal information.
ICTs (information communication technologies)
These include the Internet, computers, mobile phones, and other devices that allow people to communicate. Even fax machines and telephones can be considered ICTs, but much of the research is focused on the Internet, computers, and mobile phones.
Internet
A network that connects networks, a global connection of hundreds of thousands of public and private computer networks using TCP/IP protocol. Scholars explore the importance of the Internet as a technology (the material infrastructure and the coding), a medium (how it has effected the way society communicates), and a social phenomenon (how it has effected culture, community, identity, deviance, inequality).
IP (Internet protocol) address
Every computer running TCP/IP has an address that is called an IP Address. An IP address is a 32-bit number that uniquely identifies every computer connected to the Internet. An IP address can look something like this: 255.123.1.99. If you would like to know your IP address, go to http://www.whatismyip.com/. Web browsers and DNS makes memorizing such numbers unnecessary. By typing a web address (which is a combination of the transfer protocol, usually HTTP: and DNS name) we can easily finds files on the Internet, or “surf the web”.
Lurker
---
Mashup
---
---
Packet Switching
Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
---
Portal
(see web portal)
----
Protocol
On a network, protocols determine what conventions programs need to obey for computers to be able to pass information one to another. The Internet runs on TCP/IP protocol. Protocols are “machine speak”. When you type HTTP:, you are telling your computer and the computer for which you are requesting information to speak in the HTTP: language. Other types of protocols include HTTPS:// and FTP
Search Engine
Search engines are web applications that allow a user to find information on the web without knowing the domain name or IP address. If we think of the Internet as a network of networks, then in order to navigate this network we must know each address for the website we wish to go to. Search engines allow us to use to type in a series of keywords for a listing of websites (IP addresses) that we may wish to visit. By far the most popular search engine is Google. However, other search engines include Bing (from Microsoft) and Yahoo Search.
Semantic web
(see Web 3.0)
TCP/IP (Transmission Control/Internet Protocol)
The protocol through which machines connected to the Internet use to communicate with each other. There were many other types of protocols developed, but the TCP/IP protocol worked so well upon its initial use that it became the industry standard.
Tiny URL
---
URL (uniform resource locater)
Set of codes that specify the location of files on web servers. A URL indicates the type of resources being accessed, the address of the server, and the location of the file (say more here)
Virtual Community
VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol)
---
Web Portal
A website that functions as a gateway to other websites. Web portals such as Yahoo! and AOL act as points of entry for many web users.
Web 1.0
The name given to early versions of the web. Earlier web pages were less interactive, and only allowed a visitor to read or watch content.
Web 2.0
The modern Internet, in which interactivity is fostered through social networking sites, blogs, and wikis
Web 3.0
Often called the semantic web. Currently, computers can only follow the commands of humans For example, suppose you have to write a paper that discusses the improper behavior of Karl Marx. You would need to tell a software application to find the websites that discusses Karl Marx. And then you read these websites and pull out the relevant information from each website to complete your paper. However, software applications do not allow you to simply tell the computer to look for articles that present Karl Marx in an unfavorable light. This is because web pages, while coded in HTML, can only be read by humans. Web 3.0 web pages will have code that allows machines to “read” a web page and analyze a web pages.
WWW (World Wide Web)
Collection of graphically designed Internet sites and pages mainly using HTML, that presents information in text, graphic, video, and audio formats