#internet history

[shortterm-emory]

So I was made to feel old today...

[prokopetz]

The thing that always throws me about Internet history is that YouTube was bought out by Google only eighteen months after it launched, and Google began implementing ads and content filtering less than a year after the acquisition. The initial free-for-all phase of YouTube's existence always feels like it was a lot longer than that – and, like, I was 22 when YouTube first came online, so I don't even have the excuse of the distorted chronology of childhood to account for it!

[abtheb]

[homestarrunner]

Happy 20th birthday to the one and only Trogdor the Burninator

[found-in-retro-game-mags]

Check out these new pictures made from punctuation. (Electronic Entertainer #12, Dec. 1994)

[gateway-2000]

btw the reason it was super popular to hate furries in the 2000s - 2010s (and now);was because "furry" is and always has been synonymous with gay, trans or some other flavor of queer. it has nothing to do with the costumes or art.

the furry community has been an integral part of the online queer community. it has been a a pivotal and safe way for queer ppl to express themselves online without being identified by IRL homo/transphobes that could discriminate against and harm them. being able to blend creativity and escapism seamlessly with expression of sexuality and gender without having to conform to a norm has been literally vital in many queers lives.

so yea anyway furries are awesome, they literally helped me realize i was trans and bi by meeting other trans furries in furry social networks. my first exposure to trans terms like genderqueer, nonbinary, neutrois, and trans man were from other furries. ive been a furry since 2010 and im still planning on owning a fursuit :3

[arconinternet]

The Internet for Beginners (Video, 1998)

You can watch it in your browser here.

[transgender-tech-support]

Tech Fun Fact #7

The term “kin”, in contexts of fictionkin or otherkin, actually originated from a Lord of the Rings forum! Some members of the forum felt as if they where spiritually elves from the series, and thus coined the term “Elfkin”. When other kintypes appeared, Elfkins assigned them as “Otherkin”, which is where the term comes from!

[manichewitz]

we gotta bring back livejournal and wordpress and forums and weird little blogsites that aren't connected to any social media presence at all its just people online doing online things. the internet is so small now bc we're all squished into the same sites. we used to be so spread out. we used to be a proper decentralised digital culture

[catbountry]

Does anybody remember the origin of this gif? I've seen it online since probably 1998-1999 and it used to be everywhere, but I never knew who made it, where it's from, or if it has an official or even agreed upon name.

EDIT: The gif has been ruined by my attempt to upload it, you can see it better on my Twitter.

[prokopetz]

Given my argument that forum culture circa 2000 was, in many respects, a direct response to the shortcomings of trying to use IRC chat as the backbone of a persistent online community, seeing Discord basically evolving into a centralised forum hosting service feels like history repeating in the dumbest possible way.

[touchoffleece]

Why Ao3 is the way works and runs is so important to fandom

We got ourselves a new fanfiction purge in fanfiction website going on. Wattpad (which unlike Ao3) makes it's money via selling fanfiction via Ads and thus have to work (and to an extent were already working under before this) under Capitalism ideals of what is "profitable" and "unproblematic" introduced an AI flagging system and has flagged, shadow banned, and deleted some works over there the last few days. In other words increased moderation tools has caused a purge on fanfictions over on Wattpad due to being labeled "problematic". Masterpost on the summary of things from the r/Wattpad subreddit

If there's anything people take away from this is 1.) This is why and Ao3 was made. To preserve fanfictions no matter if they are labeled "problematic". 2.) Ao3 Donation Drives aren't the evil certain people make them out to be and help sites run free from a worry of money and censorship letting writers and readers focus on the art of writing. 3.) AI tools as they are now are too unrefined to use en masse, and come off more as lazy and cutting corners for corporations, business owners, and individuals who want to save money.

[whereserpentswalk]

There's a giant being below the earth. He's pale and scrawny, and how countless arms of all doffrent sizes and lengths. He touches clusters of wires and cords, leading him to every computer screen in the world. He sees them all at once.

He watches over humanity’s newest creation. He cares for it. Sometimes he makes sure changes happening behind the scenes. Sometimes he has to call up someone who really doesn't want to get a call from something as powerful as him. Mostly he just watches though.

He cares for every website. Every screen. Every user. They're all wonderful and unique. He wishes he could archive them all. Wishes they were all as famous as they were to him.

He cultivates his network as if it were a garden and a grand work of art that he will someday complete. We don't know what it will look like when it's ready. It'll likely be ready when all of us are dead, and this thing that is now horrifyingly young has become unknowably ancient. And then it will be time.

[found-in-retro-game-mags]

Holiday Gift Ideas For Your Online Sweetie (Electronic Entertainment #12, Dec. 1994)

[brettdoesdiscourse]

Rest in peace, Omegle. I know a lot of people clown on the site, but I genuinely had a lot of fun on there. It was an amazing place to roleplay. It was an amazing place to meet new people. I met one of my best friends when I was younger on Omegle. I'm wishing her the best and I'm wishing Leif K-Brooks the best in their journey going forward. It sucks that something they were so passionate about can no longer function, but thank you for all the good times. o7