Experiencing the Internet

Ever get bored? Me neither. I never waste time doing stupid things on the internet. I especially would never watch this:


I just moved into a new house and due to the despair haunting this place and the shock of the sudden change I have neglected to devotedly unpack my things. Much of my time has been spent sleeping to recover physically and emotionally from the move. But since I'm fascinated by Internet culture, some of the remaining time has been spent going through this list made by (incidentally) a Portland man:

GREG RUTTER'S DEFINITIVE LIST OF THE 99 THINGS YOU SHOULD HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED ON THE INTERNET UNLESS YOU'RE A LOSER OR OLD OR SOMETHING

I was perusing one of my new roommates' bookshelves and found a book about Internet culture. Naturally I picked it up and immediately checked the copyright date. 1997. Ouch. Rutter's list (combined with his sequel) is a pretty comprehensive list of Internet phenomena since the rise of the Web 2.0 at the turn of the century. Before the media and user interactivity that defines Web 2.0, the Internet culture available was limited to hyperlinks, chain emails, and the occasional forum. Here's a timeline for your consideration:

• 1998: Google is founded
• 1999: Napster is launched
• 2001: Wikipedia is launched
• 2003: 4chan and MySpace are launched
• 2004: Facebook and Flickr are launched. World or Warcraft is released
• 2005: YouTube is launched
• 2006: Number of live websites hits 92 million

That's right. YouTube - a site that contributes more to your vitality than some of your organs - is only five years old! Dynamic Internet culture has just blossomed in the last ten years. We are witnessing groundbreaking history in the making! My point is that this will be in your kids' sociology (hyper)textbooks, so you have valid reason to stop whatever you're doing (be it unpacking, laundry, church, homework, showering, parenting, or whatever) and educate yourself with stupid crap like this: