9:36AM October 14 2011
0r1g1N 0f t3h 5p3c135
While most of us may now regard the Internet as a human right, it is interesting to reflect on its earlier days and how some things we now take for granted came to be. An area that is particularly interesting, and important in our area of work, is web culture.
We can suggest that current web culture was born out of inaccessible, passionate forums. Tech enthusiasts share knowledge, hidden behind their chosen aliases. It was from forums like these that a new language, ‘1337 speak’ (pronounced ‘leet speak’) originated due to people trying to circumvent chat filters/moderators.
Like many movements and cultures, we can identify a clear trend of people opting out of the mainstream. Also like many other movements and cultures, they quickly established their own fashions which have since been absorbed into the mainstream.
Back to the modern day, some subjects on the web are generally regarded as inherently cool. Examples of these include:
- Pirates
- Ninjas
- Cats
- Zombies
For example, it’s almost web law that cats are awesome. But why? Maybe an avid web community member doesn’t like cats and is a dog person. Why is, ‘I don’t like cats’ the wrong answer?
All of these very popular web interests involve themes of solitude, power/ability, not having to adhere to laws. Perhaps this is unsurprising. The kind of person who would classically spend a lot of time on computers may not have fit in with social groups at school/work, but were able to find a lot of common ground with others on the Internet. Is it any wonder that they would have been attracted to the idea of society falling apart as the result of a zombie apocalypse, or the pirate ‘friends until inconvenience’ culture?
Of course, this is a large generalisation, but it’s often interesting to think about why certain subjects are held above others online. It’s also interesting that a large number of people that subscribe to the ‘cats are inherently cool’ belief don’t really have a clear answer to why when asked. A lot of it will be because ‘everyone knows that’. It’s a popular theme born out of a solitary one.
This isn’t to say that all the popular themes and trends originate from the early days of the net, but many still originate from these counter-culture circles. A very large portion of popular memes, for example, originated from NSFW (Not Safe for Work) 4chan (lol cats, rick rolling etc.). And yes, this is the same 4chan that homes the loosely collected group of hackers called Anonymous.
Few brands have been able to produce the same social media frenzy as those originating from these forums. Those brands that have been successful clearly understand what is important to their audience and wider web cultures. We are all constantly learning and experimenting with web culture and it’s vital that we continue to do so. And while it’s important to keep up with the latest innovations in technology, it’s also just as important to remember what/why people value when sat in front of a glowing screen.
