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It's a Small Net After All: Difference between revisions
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Even though the Internet has technically (kinda, sorta) existed since the 1960s, not everyone foresaw the impact it would have. And writers ''still'' seem to have trouble getting their heads around it.
One result is that for a long time it
Another is that, even now, TV shows never seem to really grasp just how ''big'' the Internet is.
One example of this is that [[Google]] comes off as a [[Magical Database]]: on the first try with a search engine, you will either get all the relevant documents and no irrelevant ones, or you will get a canonical response that the thing you're looking for does not exist on the Internet. Never has someone typed something in and gotten ten billion mostly irrelevant hits (well, almost never—see examples). And one false click never buries you in a quicksand pit of [[The Internet Is for Porn|porn popups]].
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Another is that there is exactly one instant messaging service. And everyone is a subscriber. And everyone knows everyone else's handle. You can message anyone you want at any time without having to install new software, subscribe to a new service, or even search for their screen name.
And speaking of screen names, everyone gets something short, pithy, relevant, and unique. No one is ever "JAnderson789" or "buffyfan2001". Even if you want a short, really hip handle, it will be available as if it were reserved for you. And no one names themselves after characters from other TV shows. Also, everyone has exactly one online identity, which is their email address, instant messaging handle, their handle on every bulletin board, the underground identity by which they're known in the illegal hacking community, and the name they use on
{{examples}}▼
After more than two decades of the Internet being part of modern society, this trope is slowly becoming [[Discredited Trope|discredited]] -- but it is not going easily, or willingly. The fantasy Net of this trope is entirely too handy and too easy for hack writers to give it up until even [[Executive Meddling|network executives start saying, "that's ''wrong''."]]
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' averts this one. Late in the series, Sakaki types in a search engine "cats", a super-generic search term, and gets thousands and thousands of random matches; then she types "Iriomote cat", also a rather generic search term, and it looks like one of the very first matches is a news article about {{spoiler|an Iriomote mountain cat that died after getting run over by a car, who also seems to be Mayaa's mother}}.
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