25 Things About How The Internet Started That OG’s Will Remember

Unlike the tech-savvy Gen Z, Millennials didn’t experience the era of Snapchat, personal smartphones, or 5G connectivity during their childhood. Instead, we navigated the world of chat rooms, shared a single family computer, and dealt with the agonizingly slow dial-up internet. Even though the early days of the internet now seem like ancient history, it’s essential to remember that the World Wide Web itself began in 1989. Popular platforms like AOL and IRC (Internet Relay Chat) were the talk of the town in the late ’80s, making them more than 30 years old.

#1 How about: the sound of dialup??

Image source: Embarrassed_Spell_28, Christiaan Colen/ flickr (not the actual photo)

#2 Winamp.

Image source: barbarianking9, Nogwater/ flickr (not the actual photo)

#3 Dancing baby.

Image source: Caboose848, jacsejka

#4 Netscape.

Image source: Decent-Product, Paolo Attivissimo / flickr (not the actual photo)

#5 MSN messenger shaking and ringing a bell when your friends wanted your attention.

Image source: fullmetaldagger, Siri louis / unsplash (not the actual photo)

#6 I remember when Amazon was just an online book store.

Image source: UnconstrictedEmu, Robert So / pexels (not the actual photo)

#7 Getting booted off the Internet when someone in the other room picked up the phone.

Image source: AnExpertInThisField

#8 Peanut butter jelly time!

Image source: CH11DW, carfreak0801

#9 Discussion boards for specific topics. (And not aggregated under the same website like reddit) I have fond memories of these. I met a lot of cool people, some of which I’m still in contact with a good decade and a half later.

Image source: Bigby11, MART PRODUCTION / pexels (not the actual photo)

#10 The Napster and Lars Ulrich drama.

Image source: itsamechproblem, Alberto Cabello / pexels (not the actual photo)

#11 The hit counter on the bottom of webpages that told you how many people visited the page.

Image source: squashua, Blake Patterson/ flickr (not the actual photo)

#12 ICanHasCheezburger Its still around, but not the same at all. I can remember my mom and I howling and laughing together. She died twelve years ago and I still think about how much we fun we had with that website.

Image source: soulteepee, amystrachan/ flickr (not the actual photo)

#13 Limewire.

Image source: Blurose3, osseous/ flickr (not the actual photo)

#14 Badger badger badger badger.

Image source: Suspicious_Garlic_79, Weebl’s Stuff

#15 Learning basic HTML to pimp out your MySpace profile

Image source: anon, Pixabay / pexels (not the actual photo)

Bumper stickers on facebook

Uploading a digital camera album of your night out

Leaving moody asf away messages on AIM.

#16 An internet that didn’t have any advertising.

Image source: muffles4221, cottonbro studio / pexels (not the actual photo)

#17 Getting internet in the mail.

Image source: SpacedApeDHD, phreakindee/ flickr (not the actual photo)

#18 Having a “computer room”.

Image source: yada-yada-yada_, MART PRODUCTION / pexels (not the actual photo)

#19 Charlie wake upp, you silly sleep head, wake up. We found a map, a map to candy mountain.

Image source: National_Tomorrow_42, FilmCow

#20 Flash games.

Image source: anon, Andrea_44 / flickr (not the actual photo)

#21 AskJeeves.

Image source: gravylipstickmachine, Every Single Thing Explained

#22 Hampsterdance. The ICQ “uh-oh!” noise. Guest books on websites. Sign my guest book!

Image source: Disregard-my-opinion, Christiaan Colen/ flickr (not the actual photo)

#23 –<-@ “Here’s a rose for all the ladies here”. Man, we thought we were so f****n smooth in those chatrooms.

Image source: Because_I_Cannot, MART PRODUCTION / pexels (not the actual photo)

#24 Instant messenger door opening noise.

Image source: MetaMarx02, Lalo

#25 “All your base are belong to us”.

Image source: UncomfortableBike975, zuchini