In the physical realm, perhaps the "front office" is where the public visits while the "back office" is where the behind-the-scenes decisions are made. The fron

In the physical realm, perhaps the "front office" is where the public visits while the "back office" is where the behind-the-scenes decisions are made. The front office is public relations while the back office is more like administration. These business terms can then be applied to the Internet to distinguish between public-facing and internal-administrative. Those who grew up thinking digitally are probably more likely to think in terms of internal versus external (or public and private), rather than back and front. At the same time, there is a certain nostalgia to renovating olde terminology in moderne times. "Back room" does have a cozy feeling to it.