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An Internaut is a technically capable and scientifically knowledgeable user of the Internet. The term is a portmanteau of Internet and Argonaut, similar to Astronaut.

The term Internaut generally refers to a veteran user of the Internet, having deep academic or professional knowledge of the system, or accumulated savvy acquired through years of online experience. An Internaut knows a great deal about the Internet and its technologies, history and politics.

In contrast to the Internaut, who possesses technical knowledge, the [[Cybernaut]] is someone who is skilled in immersive Internet use, without necessarily being highly familiar with the technologies and history of the system.

==Origins of the term Internaut==
The term Internaut was derived from the term Arpanaut, which referred to users of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPAnet Arapanet], which was the forerunner of the [[Internet]].

The Arpanet was first created in 1969. However, the ideas behind it were formulated as early as 1962 by J.C.R. Licklider in a series of memos describing his concept of an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergalactic_Computer_Network Intergalactic Computer Network]. Licklider's imaginative use of the term "Intergalactic" probably led to the idea of network "astronauts."

During the 1970s, the select club of Arpanet users referred to themselves as Arpanauts. They were also so called in 1980 by the inventors of Usenet (as noted in [http://neil.franklin.ch/Netizen/ch.4_Arpa2Usenet this document]).

In the 1980s, when the Internet emerged, the participants in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Engineering_Task_Force
Internet Engineering Task Force] (which first met in 1986) began referring to themselves as Internauts. The term was later expanded to all members of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Society Internet Society] (founded in 1992). In the [http://www.w3.org/Conferences/INET93/Program.html Program Notes] to the 1993 Conference of the Intenet Society, Vinton Cerf wrote: 

:"Dear Internaut,
:It is with the greatest pleasure that I invite you to attend and participate in INET'93…. As many of you are intensely aware, the exploding Internet community is a global phenomenon, brought about in large measure through the personal and collaborative efforts of thousands of people committed to making global computer networking a reality."

==See Also==
*[[Cybernaut]]
*[[Netizen]]
*[[User]]

==External Links==
*Wikipedia article about Internaut: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internaut
*Wisegeek article on the difference between Cybernaut and Internaut: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-internaut.htm

[[Category:Cyberculture]]