How much does the Internet Weigh?

How much does the internet weigh? Let’s find out!

You might be surprised to know that the internet has a weight. It doesn’t mean the combined weight of all computers in the world or the theoretical weight of the books needed to contain all the information at every single internet user’s fingertip 24/7. But it means the weight of the physical internet.

How does one go about weighing the internet?

Do you believe that a website has a weight? Everything that exists on the net such as every site, video, document, file, email, comment, and keystroke consists of data. That data possess both energy and physical mass. But, obviously, a bit of data does not weigh a lot. Because its physical data mass is minuscule.

But since you can’t slack data on a scale and weigh it, you need another way to quantify its weight.

One of the first people to attempt to do so is a scientist called Dr. John Kubiatowicz. In 2011 Dr. John Kubiatowicz of the University of California attempted to explain how the internet gains weight as it gains information.

To do so, he used a kindle as an example. As he explained, a Kindle works via a transistor that takes trapped electrons and uses them to tell the difference between the ‘1’ and the ‘0’ of binary code.

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