The internet evolved from experimental packet-switched networks into a global network of networks. The World Wide Web developed later as a system for accessing linked information through the internet, and social media followed as interactive web platforms enabled users to create, share and respond to content.
A common misconception is that the internet and web are the same. The internet is infrastructure connecting devices through shared protocols; the web is one service operating on it, alongside email.
| Stage | Development and significance |
|---|---|
| Early innovation, 1960s | Paul Baran and Donald Davies independently developed packet switching: data is divided into packets and routed efficiently across a network. |
| ARPANET, 1969 | The US Advanced Research Projects Agency Network connected research institutions. Its first four nodes demonstrated communication between geographically separated computers. |
| TCP/IP, 1970s-1983 | Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn helped develop TCP/IP, allowing different networks to exchange data. ARPANET adopted it in 1983, a key internet milestone. |
| WWW, 1989-1991 | At CERN, Tim Berners-Lee developed the web using URLs, HTTP and HTML, making linked information easier to publish and access through browsers. |
| Public, commercial and social web, 1990s onward | Mosaic improved accessibility; search engines and online publishing expanded. Faster connections, mobile devices and interactive platforms later enabled user-generated content on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. |
This evolution illustrates change through continuity and transformation. Protocols improved communication systems, while participatory platforms changed expression, identity and power by shifting users from mainly information consumers to creators and participants. These changes produced impacts and implications for users, platform companies and traditional media organizations.
For IB Digital Society SL and HL, link this to syllabus area 3.4F, evolution of the internet and the web. In an exam response, establish accurate chronology, distinguish infrastructure from service, and explain impacts and implications rather than merely listing inventions.
