How Many Licks Does It Take to Get to the Center of the Internet?

How many pages are there on the internet is a question right up there with “How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?” Kevin Kelly of Wired magazine, estimates it to be in the trillions but the most common answer seems to be “the world may never know.”

It’s easier to leave it at that than try to comprehend a number that seemingly ranks with the stars in the sky, the sands on the beach and the hairs on anyone but Mr. Clean’s head. But the group founded by internet guru/inventor Tim Berners-Lee aims to find out.

The World Wide Web Foundation recently announced that they intend to make it their job to measure the web. With a $1 million grant from Google the foundation plans to catalog the contents of the internet. It’s more than just a giant site map though. The World Wide Web Index will be “the world’s first multi-dimensional measure of the Web and its impact on people in a large number of countries. It will be a composite index, incorporating political, economic, social, and developmental indicators, as well as indicators of Web connectivity and infrastructure.”

The idea is not only to observe what’s on the internet but the impact it makes on society. All of the information will be collected, sorted, indexed and presented in an impartial annual publication beginning in 2012. This will allow for international comparisons of trends and analytics across time to gauge technical conditions in all of the countries across the world and how they affect the political, economic and social structure of the region. Aside from being a powerful analytical tool, the foundation looks to highlight the web as more than just technology and acknowledge the humanity connected to it.

Learn more about the project here.


By Heather Fairchild - Heather is a multimedia developer with experience in web, film, photography and animation as well as traditional fine arts like painting and sculpting. In addition to writing for TechCareersBlog.com, she is co-founder of design and promotion company. Heather’s spare time consists of making puppets, teaching Sunday School, building Legos and doing science experiments with her children.