This article is aimed at that group of people who feel a little overwhelmed by all the concepts and functionalities that digitalization forces us to handle and that are not always clear. Our aim is to shed light on basic ideas as a first step to understanding the entire process of accelerated digitalization in which our society is immersed.
Fundamentals of Web 2.0 and social networks.
The key concepts and fundamentals of the Internet that we are going to explain to you are the following:
What is the Internet?
How does the internet work?
How does a website work?
What is a search engine?
What types of websites are social networks?
What is the Internet?
The Internet is basically a network of computers connected worldwide. Through this network we have access to services such as the World Wide Web (the websites we consult daily), email, file sharing, telephony, digital television and many others.
The Internet works thanks to the connections of telecommunications operators, we are not going to go into detail, but the key is to take advantage of the telephone infrastructure to connect large computers (servers) where the services are hosted and which we access from our devices, whether fixed, such as computers or televisions, or mobile, such as smartphones or tablets.
How does the Internet work?
The computer network that forms the Internet is governed by technical protocols. The general protocol is called TCP/IP and is based on identifying each connected computer with a number called IP . Through this system, the global network is provided with logic so that communications between computers are possible.
Other protocols are those that affect communications, such as email (SMTP), file transfers (FTP or P2P) or the one that affects our access to web pages, HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol), through which our devices know how to find the service we request and allows us to link some pages with others.
How to design a web page
How does a website work?
A web page is a set of files, generated by an html code, which we have access to through an internet connection. These files are public and anyone can access them using a browser. The browser is a program that reads the html files and displays them in a user-friendly way.
For a web page to be available, a series of elements are needed:
Domain : This is the name that the browser will look for to show us the website. This name translates the IP number of the address into a 'nice' name, which is memorable and identifies the service. An example is this very website you are reading: cursosfemxa.es . There are independent international organizations that guarantee the registration of website names. In Spain, the ESNIC is the entity in charge of managing .es domains.
Hosting : This is the service through which we 'host' the files that make up our website on a server (a very powerful computer specialized in providing access to websites). This access could be achieved by having a computer connected 24 hours a day, but it is more effective and cheaper to contract these services to specialized companies that have large data centers dedicated to this purpose.
HTML files : This is the set of files that browsers decipher when they access the server to show us text, images, videos, sounds, etc. and that make up web pages.
What is a search engine?
It is a website that provides a very specific service: it finds websites related to the concepts we ask for in each search.
Search engines are not a collection of information files about a company, nor do they provide a service, for example, for viewing videos. They are based on an algorithm that is activated when we make a request and that, based on certain criteria, establishes a ranking of the best web pages referring to the keyword we have entered.
The best known is Google, and all companies want to appear in the top positions in their searches. The set of techniques that are applied to try to appear as high as possible in the ranking of Google (or other search engines) is called 'web positioning'.
Its importance is so high that many people confuse Google with the navigation program or application (the best known are Chrome, Firefox or Explorer), and instead of writing an address (domain) in the navigation bar, they do it in this search engine, so the references found can be misleading when finding a certain website.
Social networks are a type of service that can operate from websites or mobile kuwait travel agency whatsapp number apps and that, through a subscription to a database, connect us with other users, whom we have the possibility of following. An algorithm then 'moves' our activity and our publications, so that they can be more or less visible to the entire database.
Social networks are the clearest example of the evolution of the Internet . At first, websites were static and unidirectional. This means that they only provided us with information without the possibility of interaction. Today, all users can become content creators and make comments, share other people's posts and use online services.
The ability of websites to provide services and serve as communication channels was what was called Web 2.0.
The ability of social media to influence our lives is extremely important. Millions of people around the world use them every day, so all companies strive to be relevant, trying to gain as many followers as possible and using the internal advertising features of each network.
infographic contribution of social networks to business
Each social network is different, it has a target audience and its algorithm 'orders' the activity and visibility of the posts. If you want to start using them, learn how they work and their possibilities, not only for personal use but also for business marketing, and find out about the type of content and orientation of each network . There are more visual ones like Instagram or Pinterest, those that work as information channels, like Twitter or Telegram, specialized in types of content, like video on YouTube or Tik Tok, and generalist ones, like Facebook.
As you can see, the entire technological system that involves the use of the Internet is very broad. It is not necessary to know all its details, but knowing the basics of Web 2.0 is important for living in today's society . Digitalized services are becoming more common and knowing how to carry out online procedures or invoice electronically will be essential in a few months.
If you are still a bit worried about this whole digital framework, we recommend that you take some training with a specialized tutor who will guide you and give you enough confidence and independence to start using all the services that the Internet provides today.
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