One Time On The Internet

How many chairs equate to a real US dollar? Tonight we go sleuthing for the stories of currencies of in-game economies and why people spend real money for digital items. From the modern video game EVE Online to the children’s game of yesteryear - Habbo Hotel. Get ready for stories only the internet could devise.

In 2006, not long after YouTube was created, a vlog popped up called lonelygirl15 from a girl named Bree who just wanted to connect with the outside world. Four and a half months later, it became known as one of the first “internet hoaxes”, creating a War of The Worlds moment that modern culture had not seen before. Join us as we dive deep into the history of this phenomenon with co-creator Mesh Flinders.

Quick content warning! This episode contains discussions about or directly relating to cyberbullying and suicide, topics potentially sensitive for you or others. This week we’re diving into two stories about MySpace that defined the social network of the time. First, MySpace celebrities! The rise of the Influencer was popularized in this era and MySpace was a major platform for that. And for our second piece, we discuss the dawn of cyberbullying, and specifically, the Megan Meier story, and how it led to change.

In a world where meeting romantic partners online is the norm, we dive into two stories under this topic. First, where it all began, with the one of the world’s first known computer dating applications. And the second, in which a website designed to explicitly facilitate people looking to cheat on their spouses goes horribly wrong in more ways than anyone could imagine.

On this episode we cover two wildly disparate corners of fan fiction: "My Immortal", the Harry Potter fanfic that was massively popular, and serial killer fan fiction, featuring some of the most widely known killers in interesting situations.

For our very first episode, Bijan, Rowan, Harry, and Saige explore MMOs. One story's about Corrupted Blood, the WoW in-game pandemic that foreshadowed things to come, and then worlds.com, one of the original MMOs that's still around today... but maybe for not the reason you expect.

One Time On The Internet -

Dead MMOs, Reddit mysteries, old Social Networks, and everything else you love about the internet... or wish you knew more about. Welcome to One Time On The Internet where we explore the weird and wonderful of internet history.