One Time On The Internet

Harambe, DogeCoin, Rebecca Black, Kony2012… all this and more on this weeks episode of The History Of Memes, Part 2.

Memes. An absolute essential part of internet culture that in most cases take on lives of their own. In this first episode of our three-part series on the history of memes, we cover who coined the term, how they began, and the early days of meme culture. ERMAHGERD!

Two stories for ya this week about Reddit. Story #1: Bijan and guest host Ryan Broderick discuss what happened in 2014 when a Reddit user set out to discredit Tumblr by creating a post so hilariously dishonest it became notorious, and as such representative of Reddit culture of the day. And in story #2, Saige and Harry talk about the rise and fall of Unidan, Reddit's version of Steve Irwin with his opening catchphrase "biologist here" and his love of crows.

In 2013 and 2018 respectively, two conventions unfolded and soon became infamous for being the disasters they inflicted upon their fans. In story #1, Bijan and Saige peel back the layers of what happened at DashCon, the unofficial convention for Tumblr... and the now legendary ball-pit. And for story #2, Rowan and Harry discuss TanaCon, the spite convention to rule them all. Sit back, grab your snacks, and enjoy.

What happens when a brand's meme and marketing game is on point (and those brands whose game are not)? For our first story we talk about the first brand to be welcomed by the internet - Denny's - and all the things they did right. For our second story, this episode would not be complete without talking about KFC and all the ways they've broken (and continue to break) the internet. BONUS UPDATE: We learned many new things about Harry tonight. We look forward to your thoughts on it. Also, maybe leave us a comment? WE LOVE COMMENTS!

On this episode, we're talking about the simulation of human intelligence in machines, and how its applications have developed on the web. For our first story we're discussing Cleverbot, an AI chat web page that in 2011 passed the Turing Test. Up next is the story of Bina48, an AI robot from the perspective of a queer African-American that turned our perceptions of AI on its head.

ARGs for short, these games are unlike anything you've ever "played" before. Because they begin as games you don't know you're playing. Popularized by the internet, the game can start with a video, a tweet, a Reddit post. All it takes is for a group of people to play along. And now you have a game. In the first story, we cover the video series Petscop, a walk-through of an unfinished video game that delves into unexpected territory. And for the second story, we're talking about The Sun Vanished, which began with a simple tweet that said "help"

This episode we peel back the pixels on early internet Flash Games and the ensuing chaos of trying to stay alive with massive server bills and Scientology owners. First up, Newgrounds, a user-generated website that began with Flash games like 'Club A Seal' and 'Assassin', but became famous as the home of viral videos like 'Numa Numa Dance'. This is followed by our second story, Neopets, in which the original creators accidentally sold a majority stake in their children's Pokemon-esque company to Scientologists who in turn decided to run their new acquisition using the "80 trillion year-old" organizational management technique developed by an ancient civilization. We wish we were kidding.

Yahoo recently announced that it will be shutting down their “ask site” Yahoo Answers and so on this episode, we pour one out in this Yahooeulogy for the legendary hive-mind site for the internet’s weirdest questions as we tackle two stories about it: First, The history of Yahoo Answers. And second, Ken M, the wholesome troll account that drove the unknown fits of verbal rage.

On this episode we go hunting for the stories where fans took over and made something their own... on the internet. In the first story, Bijan and guest host Anthony Carboni explore video game developers/prankster group Arcane Kids and the Sonic The Hedgehog game they created because Sega would never make it. And in the second story we dive into internet legend, Slender Man and the twist to the horror genre only the internet could invent.