What the Internet Is and How Digital Footprints Form

Hello, digital explorer! Every day you might watch a learning video, send a message to your class group, or look up homework material on the internet. But what is the internet, really? Let's learn it step by step.

The internet is a giant network

The internet is a network that connects billions of computers, phones and other devices all over the world. Imagine a road network that connects every house and school in Indonesia. On this road, what travels is not cars but data: text, photos, sounds and videos.

Example: Rani's message to the class group

1. Rani types "Remember to bring your science book tomorrow!" on her phone.
2. The message is split into small pieces called data packets.
3. The packets leave through the home Wi-Fi or the mobile network signal.
4. The packets stop at a big computer owned by the messaging app. This computer is called a server.
5. The server forwards the packets to her classmates' phones, where the pieces are put back together into the whole message.

All of that happens in about one second! It is like a relay race on the school field: the baton passes from hand to hand until it reaches the finish line.

Every step leaves a trace

When you walk on the beach, your feet leave footprints in the sand. The internet works the same way. Everything you do online leaves a digital footprint. There are two kinds:

• Active footprints: traces you make on purpose, for example uploading a photo, writing a comment or sending a message.
• Passive footprints: traces recorded without you noticing, for example your search history, the videos you watch or your phone's location.

Footprints in the sand are washed away by the waves, but digital footprints can be stored for a very long time. Even a photo you have deleted may already have been saved or screenshotted by someone else.

Remember: before you post something, ask yourself, "Would I still be happy if my teacher, my parents, or I myself five years from now saw this?"

In the next lesson, you will become a detective who tracks the digital footprints of a boy named Dimas.