The internet has been around for a few decades now, and while some moments are still fresh in our minds, many others have slipped into obscurity. Let’s dive into a few forgotten moments from internet culture that once had their time in the spotlight but have since faded from memory.
1. The Hamster Dance (1998)
Before memes were a thing, there was the Hamster Dance. Created by Canadian art student Deidre LaCarte in 1998, this simple webpage featured rows of animated hamsters dancing to a sped-up version of a song from Disney’s Robin Hood. It became one of the earliest examples of a viral internet sensation, largely shared through email and early forums. Despite its simplicity, the Hamster Dance paved the way for the meme culture we know today.
2. The “Star Wars Kid” (2002)
In 2002, a Canadian teenager named Ghyslain Raza filmed himself pretending to wield a lightsaber using a golf ball retriever. The video was later uploaded without his permission, and it quickly became one of the first viral videos. While the internet had a good laugh, Raza faced significant bullying and legal battles as a result. Though it was a pivotal moment in the history of viral videos, it’s often overlooked in discussions of internet history.
3. “Mahir Çağrı: I Kiss You!” (1999)
Mahir Çağrı, a Turkish man, became an unlikely internet star in 1999 when his personal website was discovered and widely shared. The site, which featured awkwardly written English phrases like “I kiss you!” and “Who is want to come TURKEY I can invitate,” was unintentionally humorous to English-speaking audiences. It quickly became a meme, and Mahir was even speculated to be the inspiration behind the Borat character. His site is still online, but Mahir has largely faded from the public eye.
4. Dancing Baby (1996)
The “Dancing Baby,” also known as “Baby Cha-Cha-Cha,” was one of the first viral videos and a pioneer of 3D animation on the internet. The clip, featuring a CGI baby doing a strange dance, spread rapidly via email chains and eventually appeared on the TV show Ally McBeal. While the baby was a symbol of the quirky early internet, it’s not something you hear much about anymore.
5. The Million Dollar Homepage (2005)
Alex Tew, a 21-year-old student from the UK, came up with a clever idea to pay for his university education by selling pixels on a webpage for $1 each. The result was the Million Dollar Homepage, a chaotic collage of tiny ads. Remarkably, Tew sold all 1,000,000 pixels, earning him a cool million. The site remains online as a relic of a bygone era of the internet’s wild entrepreneurial spirit.
6. GIRP (2011)
Before the mobile gaming explosion, simple browser games were the go-to time wasters. GIRP, created by Bennett Foddy, was one of those addictively frustrating games where you control a rock climber using only your keyboard. The game became a cult hit, challenging players with its awkward controls and physics. It never reached the heights of something like Flappy Bird, but it had its moment among internet gaming enthusiasts.
7. Rickrolling (2007)
While not entirely forgotten, the phenomenon of Rickrolling has faded compared to its peak years. The meme started around 2007, when internet users would trick others into clicking a link that unexpectedly led to Rick Astley’s music video for “Never Gonna Give You Up.” The bait-and-switch prank became a massive internet trend, so much so that Astley himself embraced it. Though it’s still referenced now and then, the height of Rickrolling’s popularity is a distant memory.
8. YTMND (2001)
"You’re The Man Now, Dog!" or YTMND was a website founded in 2001 by Max Goldberg, where users could create and share looping pages that combined images, sounds, and text. It became a hub for early meme culture, spawning countless in-jokes and trends. As the internet evolved and platforms like YouTube and Reddit took off, YTMND gradually lost its relevance, though it remains a nostalgic memory for those who were part of it.
9. “All Your Base Are Belong to Us” (2000)
This phrase, taken from a poorly translated Japanese video game called Zero Wing, became one of the earliest examples of an internet meme. In 2000, a fan-created video that parodied the translation spread rapidly online, turning the phrase into an internet-wide inside joke. The meme has long since fallen out of common usage, but for a time, it was everywhere.
10. Numa Numa Dance (2004)
Gary Brolsma, a New Jersey teenager, uploaded a video of himself lip-syncing and dancing enthusiastically to the Romanian pop song “Dragostea Din Tei” by O-Zone. The video, dubbed “Numa Numa,” went viral on Newgrounds, becoming one of the most well-known examples of early internet virality. Though Brolsma later expressed mixed feelings about his unexpected fame, the Numa Numa Dance remains a memorable, if largely forgotten, chapter in internet history.
These moments remind us of how rapidly the internet evolves and how quickly things can fade from collective memory. While they may not be in the spotlight anymore, they each played a part in shaping the online world as we know it today.
