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it must be summer. You think there weren't memes on the internet before 4chan? All you're doing with this comment is showing your age. I'm you first started usi

it must be summer. You think there weren't memes on the internet before 4chan? All you're doing with this comment is showing your age. I'm you first started using the internet in the early 2000s. The internet and places for people to gather and fool around on it existed long before 4chan.

mikeash 11y ago
Today is Friday, September 8032nd, 1993. I love the idea that a site dedicated to explaining image macros is somehow a comprehensive repository of "internet culture." A ton of "internet culture" is not image-based because it originates from a time when downloading images was so slow and difficult that you'd only do it for content that was truly worth the effort, like pictures of Neptune taken by Voyager 2, or photos of naked ladies.
- astrange 11y ago
  Is there really much connection from modern Internet culture to back then? Do you really remember any of those memes? James "Kibo" Parry may have invented trolling, but nobody knows that guy now. By the way, here's the only Usenet joke I remember: * <- Perth
  - mikeash 11y ago
    It makes me sad to see culture equated to simply a collection of catchphrases. Some of the stuff is still around, and embedded so deeply it probably doesn't come to your mind just because it feels like part of the environment. For example, do you ever use emoticons? :D That's a fundamental part of Internet culture that originates from long before it was practical to send images around as part of casual conversation. Another example would be acronyms like LOL or ROFL. Some have died out, but LOL is still extremely common. How about this one. Ever see people quote parts of other people's comments by leading them with a > character, then reply bit by bit? It's pretty common, and is enshrined in the markup support of sites like Reddit. That's ancient Usenet culture. Heck, the very use of the word "trolling" as a way of describing someone who deliberately antagonizes people online is a piece of internet culture from that time. The originator may be forgotten, but nearly everyone knows what a "troll" is. Long after all the current "memes" are forgotten, I wager people will still know what emoticons are or what LOL means. That's culture too.

mikeash 11y ago

Today is Friday, September 8032nd, 1993. I love the idea that a site dedicated to explaining image macros is somehow a comprehensive repository of "internet culture." A ton of "internet culture" is not image-based because it originates from a time when downloading images was so slow and difficult that you'd only do it for content that was truly worth the effort, like pictures of Neptune taken by Voyager 2, or photos of naked ladies.

astrange 11y ago
Is there really much connection from modern Internet culture to back then? Do you really remember any of those memes? James "Kibo" Parry may have invented trolling, but nobody knows that guy now. By the way, here's the only Usenet joke I remember: * <- Perth
- mikeash 11y ago
  It makes me sad to see culture equated to simply a collection of catchphrases. Some of the stuff is still around, and embedded so deeply it probably doesn't come to your mind just because it feels like part of the environment. For example, do you ever use emoticons? :D That's a fundamental part of Internet culture that originates from long before it was practical to send images around as part of casual conversation. Another example would be acronyms like LOL or ROFL. Some have died out, but LOL is still extremely common. How about this one. Ever see people quote parts of other people's comments by leading them with a > character, then reply bit by bit? It's pretty common, and is enshrined in the markup support of sites like Reddit. That's ancient Usenet culture. Heck, the very use of the word "trolling" as a way of describing someone who deliberately antagonizes people online is a piece of internet culture from that time. The originator may be forgotten, but nearly everyone knows what a "troll" is. Long after all the current "memes" are forgotten, I wager people will still know what emoticons are or what LOL means. That's culture too.