An actual map of the Internet

Some of you may have heard of XKCD. It's a brilliant commentary on life, science, technology and everything in between. It has been around a long time and not lost any of its edge. One of its more well known entries, and that's saying something because there have been a few, are the maps of on-line communities done in 2007 and then again in 2010, with the size of the community represented by comparative volume of web traffic to the site. I have included both below, with the 2007 version presented first. They're big, with the first one over 1000 pixels wide and the second over 3000 pixels wide, mimicking the exponential growth of the Internet itself. Not only that, they include a whole lot, especially the second version. If you look at them both closely it is quite amazing to see how much they - in other words, the Internet - change in just three short years. Many once-powerful and influential sites shrink to almost nothing, while ones that were barely born rise to dominate. The most glaring example: Compare the relative size of Facebook to MySpace in the first one. Even Friendster (remember them?) is bigger than Facebook! But look at Faebook in the second. And then look at MySpace.

Online communities: 2007 version

Online communities: 2010 version

But as much as I am a fan of XKCD, the map below by DeviantArt artist Jay Simons is the most impressive one I've ever seen. It's not complete, or even to scale in some instances as the author notes on the map itself, but it is still beyond impressive. It's huge, at almost 5000 pixels wide by just over 3000 high. You could spend a looong time just looking through it to see if you recognize any sites that eat up good chunks of your time. It provides a whole host of other information as well; it lists the top technology companies, codes countries by Internet penetration, lists the top 500 websites according to Alexa.com, has a website timeline, language breakdown, there is just a ton of information here. And in very, very, VERY tiny print acknowledges XKCD's maps but in a demeaning way which mars the otherwise stellar job. Take a look below, and prepare to become enraptured. I was anyway.

His site, linked above, has other maps that are zoomed in areas of the above large map, but they pale in comparison. This one gives a visual, and gives some perspective, as to how huge the Internet actually is.

One other thing since I'm on the subject: the word 'Internet,' when referring to the one we all use, is always capitalized. Just wanted to throw that out there.