What is the internet?
The internet is amazing and easy to explore on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Here are some tips on how to get started.
The internet is the world’s largest library, shopping mall, information centre and social meeting point, all rolled into one. You can connect with friends and family, find information, buy goods, pay bills, play games, watch movies and much more over the internet. Best of all, you don’t need much to get started.
How to access the internet
To access the internet, you’ll need an internet service, also called broadband. You can get this from an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or from a mobile phone plan provider. When you are connected to the internet, you are online.
The web browser
The other thing you need is a web browser program, also known as an application or app. Every desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone has one built in. Depending on the device, the web browser will be called:
- Microsoft Edge
- Mozilla Firefox
- Google Chrome
- Apple Safari.
If you click or tap on the icon for the web browser app on your computer or smart device, the browser will open.
Typing in a web address
Once the browser opens:
- click in the Address bar
- type in the web address of the site you want to visit. For example, https://www.abc.net.au/news/sport will open the ABC website's sports page
- press Enter on your keyboard.
Web links and navigation
Some text and images on a web page are specially encoded to be web links. When you click on a web link, it will take you to a new web page, usually related to the text of the link or the contents of the image you click on. You can tell if something is a web link if:
- the text looks different or is a different colour to the text around it, for example, most text web links are blue or underlined
- when you move the mouse pointer over the text or image, the pointer changes from an arrow to a pointing finger.
While clicking on a link takes you to a new page, you can always go back to the previous page. Click on the browser's Back button (usually a left arrow, found in the top of the screen alongside the address bar) to return to the previous page.
Performing a search
You’re not expected to remember the address of every site on the internet! There are special websites known as search engines that will help you find websites on the internet. There are two ways to perform a web search:
- type the web address of a search engine (such as www.google.com.au) into your web browser address bar, then make your search from the search engine’s website
- simply type the name or a description of what you’re searching for into the address bar of the web browser and press the Enter key.
The search engine will respond with web links to sites that it thinks may be of interest to you.
Some common internet terms
- Search engine – a directory of websites. It's a bit like the Yellow Pages, but for the internet
- Web address – the address where you can find a specific website. For example, www.abc.net.au is a web address. All web addresses are unique
- Web browser – the program you open on your computer or other device to start using the internet
- Web link – An image, button, or line of text on a web page that you can click on to take you to another section, page, or website
- Web page – a single page of information on a website. All websites are made up of one or more web pages.
- Website – a set of web pages belonging to an individual or company that can be viewed on the internet.