this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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Memes

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[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I mean, back when this was a meme the whole internet was like a single echo chamber, especially in the early days of YouTube and even more so prior.

[–] pjhenry1216@kbin.social 89 points 1 year ago (3 children)

No. No it wasn't. I've been here since YouTube started and have never seen this. People thinking they're experience is everyone's experience is wild.

[–] gonzo0815@sh.itjust.works 23 points 1 year ago

Had a colleague that told me about some memes with a gay porn star. He couldn't grasp that I neither know the guy nor the memes. Allegedly they were all over the internet for years. I've never seen any of them since.

This guy is a libertarian right wing incel, so I'm pretty sure our internet experiences are completely different.

[–] RagnarokOnline@reddthat.com 8 points 1 year ago (5 children)

I mean, there is a shared experience for people who were online when things started. I remember Newgrounds, eBaum’s World, Nyan Cat, Epic Rap Battles of History, StumbleUpon.com.

I imagine you also experienced some or most of that short list to some extent.

[–] pjhenry1216@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago

Eh, maybe. While I am familiar with those things, I don't think I'd ever assume everyone my age and on the Internet would as well. Different strokes for different folks. Moreover, this didn't even take into account age at all. So not only did it appear to strike out with many of the same age, it'll likely strike out with most users who simply weren't on the Internet for that relatively small period of time.

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 11 points 1 year ago

Eh, my mom was on the internet at that time and would know absolutely zero of those things because she didn't visit humor sites. I knew them because that is the stuff I looked for.

Kind of like how most people watched MASH when it was the most popular show ever, but not everyone did.

[–] June@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

Deeply offended at the lack of Homestar Runner in your list.

[–] generalEdo@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Epic rap battles and stumbleupon were my lemmy back then. Spent so much time stumbling and found some very weird stuff.

StumbleUpon was the Golden Age of the Internet, and like all Golden Ages ultimately destroyed by hubris.

[–] Bene7rddso@feddit.de 2 points 1 year ago

All I did on the Internet at that time was flash games and homework, later also "homework"

We think of things like numa numa being everywhere, but can you believe there were people who didn't see it at the time? Wild.

[–] topperharlie@lemmy.world 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

hmmm... I'm pretty sure I've been around since before YouTube started and don't have any idea, so I still think is the case.

I think people tend to not understand how big internet is, even back then. This makes it difficult to know which memes really made it all the way to become THAT popular (and even those are not know by everyone, some people just don't follow memes)

[–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

That would be me. The only thing I did back then was play video games. There was no web browsing unless it was for a game. I didn't even know what a meme was until about ten years ago when I started using Reddit and branched out from gaming related themes.

[–] SnowdenHeroOfOurTime@unilem.org 14 points 1 year ago

Yes let's project our experience onto others

[–] Rusty@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago

I've been using Internet since late 90s and I have no idea what that is

[–] graphite@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Ahh, yes. The golden era of usenet flaming.