I've tried…and failed a number of times to explain what the internet (and by extension, what I do) to my son. This is the closest I've managed to get, and yes, it's full of holes, but I encourage you to also post your own version ideally on your blog or in the comments.

The internet is the way in which computers talk to each other.

If your computer at home wants to see a picture of Peppa Pig, it can ask a computer in London, and that computer in London responds back with the picture of Peppa Pig.

If the picture you want to see is Darth Vadar but is on a computer in Paris, France, then the computer will take a little longer to reply since it has further to travel.

If there's a video of tractors that everyone wants to watch, and a computer in America has it, it might take even longer to send the video back to your computer, because the computer in America is really busy replying to everyone else, and everyone has to take turns. That's why, sometimes you'll see the blank screen.

Drafts may be incomplete or entirely abandoned, so please forgive me. If you find an issue with a draft, or would like to see me write about something specifically, please try raising an issue.