Module 1 Concept 25: Identity and location

Advanced Internet users understand the technical system of the Internet, principally its numerical addressing and word-based naming overlay and the way data passes between points in this system. They also understand that this knowledge can assist them in managing their Internet use, and in recognising new cultural developments around the creation of identities that exist in part in physical life and in part in the virtual world.

In this concept we are once again addressing the importance of basic knowledge. It is so important to understand how things work at a base level, so that if things go wrong, you can strip back the technology to find the problem. Understanding that for packets of information to travel from one part of the internet to another, you need fixed known end points.

The whole idea of knowledge travelling to servers and bouncing off routers all happens for a reason. Packets of information travelling through servers and routers all takes time. Why does it take time? Understanding and knowledge in this field will only make you more valuable in the field of internet use.The internet is only as good as the framework and protocols behind it, and without this, the whole thing would collapse and become unusable.

Although on one level the internet will never be controlled, on another level, a rigid set of rules and protocols must be maintained.