A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is an address used to identify the location of information on the internet. In the provided context, it is the string entered into a browser’s address bar to request data from a server and open a page. More than a technical pointer, a URL is described as a kind of address that signals that someone is “there,” making early websites feel like places to visit. In the early internet, browsing often began by typing an address and arriving at a personal site containing self-introductions, diaries, guestbooks, and link collections. Following links from one site to another created a sense of exploration, as if moving through a network of small, individually made places.
The context also shows that URLs can matter as part of the artwork itself. In JODI’s work, not only the visible page but also the address and source code become part of the piece, demonstrating that a URL can function as an artistic element rather than just a locator. Another passage notes that a URI or tokenURI may be mutable, meaning the destination it points to can change over time. This suggests that web addresses are not always fixed references. Based on the provided material, URL should be understood as both a practical locator and a culturally meaningful marker of place, movement, and change on the internet.