Webmaster - Really?

I was pondering one day what it might be like to have a complete vision of the Internet universe. As many similar web developers do, I spend a tremendous amount of time at this career and now that I've been doing this for over 13 years full time, I've began to wonder what a completely devoted student of the Internet might see.

Without thinking about the term "Webmaster", I asked who is a master of the Internet. Who is the Buddha of the ever expanding Internet? What does he or she see, how do they act? Then I quickly decided there's a good chance we haven't seen them yet. Looking through the Internet (ironic, isn't it) for a list of the greatest people of all time, while any list would be disputed by someone, few would dispute some shared characteristics of people highlighted. As I tried to skim and globalize those characteristics, I kept reverting to this idea, desire for a vision of what an Internet Guru looks and thinks like.

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants"
-Isaac Newton

Not only on people's lists of greats, but certainly accurate and humbling in this context. Perhaps in understanding who will eventually find the essence of the Internet, an understanding of the birth of the Internet will illuminate it's masters.

Then I came across "Who Is Who In The Internet World" and it was definitely a great list of pioneers. But that certainly helped crystallize my vision of an individual who just didn't do something great or invent something that changed or affected millions or billions of people -- it was more about someone who can see what the Internet is from any aspect, feel the flow of people and lives through the system, see past the pages, deep into the data of what drives the information.

Maybe I'm just describing what I would like to be - not famous for doing something on the Internet, but someone who feels confident in their travels through this mighty Internet universe. While I can say I couldn't imagine doing anything else, I don't think I can rightfully call myself a webmaster yet. Maybe someday.