Internet People
This is essentially the history of the internet from 2000 to the present.
I think I got a good 70% of those references. Maybe less, there are A LOT of them after all. I do have to protest to the placement of All Your Base in their list. As far as I’m concerned that’s the first internet phenomenon. Star Wars kid didn’t come along until much later.
This just goes to show, though, that the internet has become more than a communication tool but a culture all itself, and to go even further the group of people who like passing around random clips, images, and miscellanea (I’ll call them memers?) is yet another subculture within that. I’m sure that’s already pretty obvious. The medium is the message, after all. But now I have to wonder whether this means internet meme-ry has jumped the shark. After all, isn’t this “Internet People” clip essentially a “Greatest Hits” compilation? And in the world of popular music, isn’t it usually a sure sign of a tired band when they put out their Greatest Hits album?
Then again, it’s probably just the self-referentiality that’s going to get old. Even if most of the net becomes an echo chamber, there will always be fresh clips of people doing weird and novel things. But like all pop culture references, there’s only so much the collective consciousness can take before it screams, “Enough! I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about! And why are you calling it ‘the internets’ anyways?!” Meanwhile, in the background lurk those who will still give each other knowing winks in anticipation of the inevitable retro-geekery.
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Noo! I REFUSE to admit that Garbage is tired! Never!
Did they ever put out that b-sides collection that they said they were working on back in like 2000 or something? See, that would have been acceptable. A greatest hits album, though? Boo. That’s sad news.
Nope. I have no idea why - it would have been the perfect time. They released a greatest hits with a 2nd CD of remixes (which I was hoping for more from, honestly). There’s also a DVD with all the music videos and a documentary, but I won’t see that till I get back to the US. Butch has said he wants to do more records, though, so that’s promising….
[...] I keep watching the Internet People video to see which references I do and don’t get. I decided I’d take it upon myself to dig up [...]