The Internet Is ... Aging?
The Internet Is ... Aging?
Uh oh. We're getting older.
Today we’re going to be hit in the face with how rapidly the Internet, and therefore we, are aging.
The Daily Rabbit Hole: For less than $1 million, and taking 18 days to shoot, Sharknado was born.
“I will give him credit for the idea of throwing propane bombs into a tornado.”
This is worth a read.
I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet by following along with this newsletter, or just reading the title of today’s entry, but the Internet is aging. Here are a few things that are a few years further removed from today than you probably realized.
Kim Kardashian “Breaks the Internet” - (9 years ago)
One does not simply … create a two decade meme - (19 years ago in January)
The entire Bee Movie script phenomenon - (7 years ago)
Hitler rants - (17 years ago)
Charlie Sheen is Winning - (12 years ago)
The ‘Wait, What?’ Vortex: Someone spent 11 years building a Line Rider course, and apparently there is like a whole community around this game (which has been reverse engineered since you last played).
There’s a LOT to unpack here. Also, if you are unfamiliar with what Line Rider is … start here.
Entering Adulthood …
On the list of things you may not have realized, is that the “social” Internet was born in 2003 with the launch of MySpace - over 20 years ago.
I’ve had a unique vantage point of the Internet’s progress, having worked at Twitter and all, and something I’ve noted time and time again is that since 2003 you can almost perfectly track the Internet as a whole against the development of a person.
2003-2008: What is this new world? Everything is exciting! (Pre-k)
2008-12: Haha I laugh at dumb jokes and stir up a bit of controlled chaos! (5-9)
2012-2015: Pre-teen hopefulness (9-12)
2015-2019: Teenage angst (12-16)
2020: An early post high-school gap year to explore humanity (17)
2021-2023: Faux philosophy part of the college years (e.g. “that’s so deep!” meanwhile, it’s just a basic human truth) (18-20)
The jury is still out on what a mature Internet will look like, but thank goodness it’ll have to get a job soon.
Also, I probably ought to write a more comprehensive essay on this topic. Like the Line Rider story, there’s much more to unpack here.