Top 10 Web Fads

Fantasy Football writes "CNet lists the top 10 web fads of all-time, including the HampsterDance, All Your Base are Belong to Us, Star Wars Kid, and more. It's a nice nostalgic trip for many stories which were presumably posted on /. years ago."

Comments

Wharrabout...

[Anonymous Coward]

Goatse.cx was a pretty popular fad around here

Re:Wharrabout...

[Kjella]

Goatse.cx was a pretty popular fad around here

Disturbingly enough, this makes me want to mod a post containing goatse.cx as +1, Informative. It's a good thing I don't have mod points or I'd have to kill myself afterwards.

Re:Wharrabout...

[Qwell]

A first post about goatse gets modded Insightful...only on slashdot.

Re:Wharrabout...

[linzeal]

I don't think a place like Cnet has the cajones to link anything sexual but if they did I'm sure Hillary Clinton would try to ban the internet if enough luddites complained.

Re:Wharrabout...

[Anonymous Coward]

The fad now is goatse.ca, a working replica of the old and familiar goatse.cx (NSFW). He will never be forgotten.

Re:Wharrabout...

[cuzality]

Don't miss Dog poop girl, South Korea's hateful version of Star Wars Kid! This one was covered in the Washington Post.

Re:Wharrabout...

[idontgno]

It's even worse... a first post about goatse is on-topic and gets upmodded. Sigh. The world can end now.

Re:Wharrabout...

[Hogwash McFly]

Goatse is not a fad. It's like the colour black - it never goes out of fashion.

Re:Wharrabout...

[atomico]

If you mean what I think you want to mean, please write cojones.

"Cajones" means "drawers", as in furniture. And I like the unintended effect on the reader ;)

Re:Wharrabout...

[Anonymous Coward]

As with most /.ers knowledge of english.

Re:Wharrabout...

[daeley]

Soviet Russia fad > Goatse.cx fad

Actually the "first post" fad is fad that may never die!

But in Soviet Russia, the fad that may never die is the "first post" fad!

Er, wait a second...

Re:Wharrabout...

[Hogwash McFly]

The current overusage of the word MEME is a FAD, that's for sure.

Re:Wharrabout...

[jafac]

Not to mention tubgirl.

Ah - tubgirl!

I searched for ages on various locator sites trying to learn her true identity so I could stalk her with a pair of rubber gloves and a pot of coffee with cream. But alas. . . I could not find my one and only true love, my tubgirl.

Re:Wharrabout...

[Anonymous Coward]

Moran.

Long lost website finder.

[bigwavejas]

I frequently visit http://www.archive.org/ to pull up sites no longer available. They typically have the content of sites, less the images.

For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[Fantasy Football]

1. The HampsterDance
2. Mahir
3. All Your Base
4. Dancing Baby
5. Hot or Not
6. Friendster
7. Ellen Feiss
8. Star Wars Kid
9. Blogger
10. JibJab

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[PiratePTG]

WHAT??!!

No Badgers?? There should be Badgers on the list!!

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[gbulmash]

WHAT??!!

No Badgers?? There should be Badgers on the list!!

We don't need no steenking badgers!!!!

Sorry, someone had to say it.

-g

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[epiphani]

Missing:

Badgerbadgerbadger
bash.org
tubgirl
goatse

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[pHatidic]

Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Bananaphone.

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[tbischel]

I'm a little dissapointed that Strong Bad didn't make the list.

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[rcamera]

what about bert is evil?

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[nocomment]

Don't forget those million "What uuuuuuuup" videos.

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[Rei]

The "Hot or Not" reference amused me, as I once knew someone who figured out that their voting system used to be really weak, and wrote a script to get a photo of a llama to the #1 spot.

I'm quite surprised by this - a couple things I'd never heard of before (for example, Ellen Feiss), and some that aren't "fads" (Blogger, Friendster, etc).

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[Hogwash McFly]

Deathclock
Big Red Button
Zombo
JeffK

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[damsa]

She is a fad, because of all the parody sites and parody posts. Her spot even got MS to do switch commercials of their own.

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[sp0rk173]

That's because strongbad is not a fad. Strongbad is a revolution.

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[kosmicki]

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/flash/bananaphone.html/

Not the actual flash with just the song, but a tale of woe with an infectious tune.

Re:For those who don't want to RTFA, the top 10:

[khendron]

You are wrong. It was the Internet that made Ellen a fad. I'm not an American and I don't even own a TV, yet I saw her everywhere on the web. In fact, I've never seen her off the web.

Hello my future girlfriend?

[Dwedit]

How could a list like this leave out "Hello My Future Girlfriend"?

Re:Hello my future girlfriend?

[Little Pink Bunny]

I think that's this guy's brother Daniel (who sux at html).

Re:Hello my future girlfriend?

[NitsujTPU]

Haha,

I clicked on your link at work, in the conference room. That will teach me to browse Slashdot at work.

Sitting in here, and my computer blasts "Hello my future girlfriend!"

Heh, nice!

[dbolger]

A slashdot story which is about stories already covered on slashdot.

Since this hasn't been posted before, what is it, a meta-dupe? ;)

Re:Heh, nice!

[DrEldarion]

M-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-monster dupe!

Re:Heh, nice!

[MrNemesis]

Stricly speaking, I think it's a meta-meta-dupe. It's a /. article about a CNet article about previous /. articles - many of which, in turn, have been dupes themselves or dupes about articles.

If /. dupes this story, we might be lucky enough to see an infinite recursion loop whic... urgh, my head hurts.

Re:Heh, nice!

[sconeu]

I figured out why the editors post dupes! They want to nuke dupes, so they're waiting for Dupe Nukem Forever!

Re:Heh, nice!

[idonthack]

Killing sprees are for kills over time, Multikills are for when you kill multiple people quickly or at once.

Killing sprees:

1. Killing Spree - 5
2. Rampage - 10
3. Dominating - 15
4. Unstoppable - 20
5. Godlike - 25
6. Wicked Sick - 30
7. Motherfucker - 35?

Multikills:

1. Double - 2
2. Multi - 3
3. Mega - 4
4. Ultra - 5
5. Monster - 6
6. Ludicrous - 7
7. Holy Shit - 8

---
I'm not a very effective viral sig. Please help me spread.
Generated by SlashdotRndSig via GreaseMonkey

Is it safe to call "RealAudio" a fad yet?

[xxxJonBoyxxx]

Is it safe to call "RealAudio" a fad yet?

Re:Is it safe to call "RealAudio" a fad yet?

[Fastball]

...(buffering)...No.

Re:Is it safe to call "RealAudio" a fad yet?

[Anonymous Coward]

N...(buffering)...o...,... Re...(buffering)...alMed...(buffering)...ia's new Heli...(buffering)...x techno...(buffering)...logy will rev...(buffering)...italize the...(buffering)... online world...(buffering)....

Real will soo...(buffering)...n come to dominate the...(buffering).... market with this advan...(buffering)...ced technology.

Top 10 Don'ts

[gbulmash]

Top 10 Things We Wish People Would Stop Putting On Web Sites

10: Pictures of pets
9: Really bad rhyming poetry
8: Really bad Haiku
7: Some joke someone e-mailed them
6: The word "cool"
5: 18 endlessly looping animated .gifs
4: Pictures of ugly people naked
3: Their contribution to the Kirk Vs. Picard debate
2: Terrible, error-ridden, fan fiction
1: TOP 10 LISTS!!!!!!!

Re:Top 10 Don'ts

[AKAImBatman]

Shouldn't that be:

9: Really badly,
rhyming poetry

8: Really bad
Haiku

;-)

Re:Top 10 Don'ts

[Deagol]

1. Inline MIDI (or *any* sound) files that play when you visit the page.

The worst I had to endure was a MIDI of "Dueling Banjos". Oh, the humanity!

Re:Top 10 Don'ts

[afidel]

Did you know that you can play mp3's as background music? It's true, simply give them the .wav extension and place them like any other audio component and almost all systems will gladly play them. Wav is simply a file format surrounding PCM audio, and most systems use a player associated with Wav files that can also decode MPEG2 Layer 3 audio =)

Re:Top 10 Don'ts

[sconeu]

Really bad Haiku
Don't post it on your website
It drives us crazy

spoiler

[digidave]

1. Slashdot

I *DON'T* kiss you!

[tuxette]

Ugh. Every time I think I have forgotten about that Mahir guy, someone always has to link to that scary Speedo pic... *shudder*

Not to mention...

[revery]

It's a nice nostalgic trip for many stories which were presumably posted on /. years ago."

Some of them many, many, times...

On the brighter side, if this comment fares well, I can post it again when this article gets duped.

Maddox

[AutopsyReport]

I figured The Best Page In the Universe (Maddox) would have been noted somewhere in there :)

Slashdot Top 10

[goldspider]

Along this theme, let's start a Slashdot Top 10, featuring the best (and worst) overused Slashdot cliches.

Let's get this started:

Hot grits
In Soviet Russia...
Goatse.cx
Stephen King, DEAD at 42
The Moon: A Ridiculous Liberal Myth

Re:Slashdot Top 10

[tuxette]

Stop making fun of the /. clichés, you insensitive clod!

Re:Slashdot Top 10

[jmking1]

Imaging a beowulf cluster of... /. clichés!!!!!!!1111eleven

Re:Slashdot Top 10

[spaceyhackerlady]

In Soviet Russia the /. cliches make fun of YOU!

Napster?

[th1ckasabr1ck]

How could Napster not make the top 10? I realize that it's still around and providing some sort of service, but Napster was HUGE for a while.

I was in high school when it hit big time (before the hammer came down when you could get any song you wanted in like 30 seconds) and it got EVERYONE using their computer: jocks, cheerleaders, etc.

Re:Napster?

[Anonymous Coward]

Because Napster is not... the WEB. *WEB* fads.

Re:Napster?

[mattsucks]

I wouldn't consider Napster a "fad". An Internet fad comes along, becomes insanely popular for no apparent reason, then goes away all by itself. Napster came along, because insanely popular because people could get free music, then went away with the stroke of a judge's pen.

And anyway: WTF is "Mahir" ? Never heard of it/him/her/that.

Re:Napster?

[damsa]

I kiss you. i invitate you to my country.

Missing Option

[spencer1]

Missing Option:
Numa Numa

Mullets

[triceam]

what about this one? http://www.mulletsgalore.com/

They left out way too much.

[Peterus7]

Things they left out:

Spongebabies (rathergood.com)
Homestar Runner. Come on now, I see Trogdor EVERYWHERE.
Livejounral: I feel that Livejournal has much more... Feeling than Blogger. I mean, Blogger is blogging. Livejournal is... Emo teens. Or at least more emo teens. Whatever.
Goatse.cx: Nuff said.
The Numa Numa kid.
Every time you Masturbate God kills a kitten.
Myspace/Facebook. They are both as valid as Friendster, I feel.

Jennicam

[TheSync]

Oh like Jennicam shouldn't be on the top 10 web fad list!

Re:Jennicam

[Khyron]

They were going to include her, but her colossal ass wouldn't fit in the space allotted for the article.

*rimshot*

Re:Jennicam

[mrscorpio]

You'd still tap it. Admit it.

Re:hampster?

[Fantasy Football]

No. The hamster was named Hampton, hence the name HampsterDance.

FOOL!

Re:hampster?

[I8TheWorm]

Her actual pet hamster's name was Hampton thus leading to the site being called hampster.

Under Construction

[Fastball]

Often with yellow or orange signs to indicate that a web site is under construction. Talk about old school...

What about..?

[basic0]

I've never heard of a few of these, but the best web fads I remember in my circle of geek friends are without a doubt:

1) The oft-offensive video/image dumping grounds of Adorable Bunnies, and...

2) Homestar Runner! How could anyone forget Homestar? This site spawned such classics as "The Cheat is not dead" and "Peasant's Quest" featuring Trogdor, the Burninator (and it's catchy theme song (/burninating the peasants/who live in thatch roof cottages!!/)). If you don't know what the hell I'm talking about: Homestar Runner Wiki

11. Zombo Com

[cpeterso]

11. Zombo Com

Re:sad thing is...

[Linker3000]

It's now a ringtone (sigh)

Self promotion

[kevin_conaway]

Well since we're talking about stupid lists, I feel compelled to share my list of Signs you're an idiot on Slashdot.

Was???

[fbartho]

I'd say it is a pretty popular fad around here.

Wikipedia article

Re:Was???

[Anonymous Coward]

The scary part is that Wikipedia has more information on goatse than, say, flutes.

Re:Was???

[plumby]

Thanks for that. I've now got a hybrid goatse/flute image in my head that I can't get rid of.

Don't forget

[zdzichu]

Wikipedia's list of Internet phenomenons.

Pass me a drill, my brain wants out

[ReverendLoki]

I shoulda known better than to go reading these somments. I know have a demonic mash-up* of The Hampster Dance and The Badgerbadgerbadger Song, with an occasional "You're the man now, dawg!" thrown in for good measure.

* Though I normally dislike the use of this term, in this case it's the only word I can come up with to accurately describe the cacophony that is in my head right now.

Don't forget Bonsai Kitten

[ck1dog]

I remember Bonsai Kitten. All the ladies in the office were so mad about this back in the day.

I LIEK MILK?

[TheFlyingGoat]

What about the I LIEK MILK site? That was huge in the gaming community in 98/99.

http://www.generation.nl/~hitoshi/

Re:what about

[shashark]

First Post is a fad, according to this wikipedia article.

Strange, the article mentions Blogger as a Fad -- blogging certainly was (and is) no "fad" since it picked up like anything. Much like the way google or apple ipod or even slashdot got popular and became a mainstay.

As wikipedia puts it -- A fad, also known as a craze, refers to a fashion that becomes popular in a culture (or subcultures) relatively quickly, remains popular, often for a rather brief period, then loses popularity dramatically .

Find some fads here and here.

--
I'm a sig,& I'm a fad.

jibjab

[andy_fish]

What the hell is Jibjab? (well okay, that's a rhetorical question, I know what it is now). All those other 9 fads I remember foundly, but it seems like the only reason they put that one on there was to make a good closer. Jibjab hardly seems fad-worthy.

Re:What no SuperGreg??

[the MaD HuNGaRIaN]

Numbah One!!!!

This is a travesty. I demand a recount.

Supergreg MUST have been in the top 10--if not Da Number One!

Here's a cruel joke...

[EnronHaliburton2004]

Here's a cruel joke to play on stoner friends.

Find some stoned college students. Point them to the Badgerbadgerbadger site. Tell them that the end of the video is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY funny!

Come back two hours later, see that they still staring at the screen, and have a good chuckle with them.

Re:Here's a cruel joke...

[CorporateWhoremone]

If you leave the Badgers running long enough they get out of sinc with the sound. How do I know? I locked my dorm door, opened the windows, cranked up the stereo left the badgers running for 3 hours. They even tried turning off the power to that part of the dorm, but my UPS kept the badger alive and..."badgering" until I came back.

Re:Here's a cruel joke...

[EnronHaliburton2004]

Ah yeah, we had someone like you in my dorms. Stupid rooster alarm clock in his room set to go off at 3AM when he left for a long holiday weekend (We didn't have annoying websites back then).

We went to the room above his, tied some sheets together, sent down a brave soul to climb in through his window and smash the thing to bits.

And yeah, he was a stoner.

Also missing:

[Valdrax]

"Mr. T vs." websites
"Ate my Balls" websites
Time Cube
Alex Chiu
Micropayments

Re:hampster?

[temojen]

I live in the same city where the site was made. After the fad hit, she made enough money to buy a new beetle and put "hampsterdance.com" decals on each side.

SeanBaby's list

[IsoRashi]

In addition to being a year older (June 2-15, 2004 issue) than this one, SeanBaby's is shitloads more entertaining. Top 10 Internet Fads

Ate My Balls?

[blackmonday]

Anyone remember the 5,000 "Ate My Balls" websites?

Mr. T Ate My Balls!
Lion-o Ate My Balls!
Darth Vader Ate My Balls!
Erkel Ate My Balls!
Ronald McDonalad Ate My Balls!

WTF was that all about???

Internet Explorer

[rlp]

Lot's of people are getting tired of this particular fad.

Strong Bad

[Jambon]

THE SYSTEM IS DOWN!

They forgot Strong Bad! I dunno, but putting up a list without him sounds kinda.....Dangeresque

What are top-10 pre-1998 internet fads?

[davidwr]

Septembers that had only 30 days, last seen in 1992.

USENET, 1980-something until spam ruined it in 1994. Wait, that's too long to be a fad.

Internet Coffee Web-cam, early-mid-1990s.

KREMVAX hoax, until it became real.

Dejanews, oh wait, that's now part of Google Groups.

Any other major fads before 1998?

Re:What are top-10 pre-1998 internet fads?

[illtud]

Any other major fads before 1998?

Kibo

Joel Furr (and his T-shirts)

Canter & Siegel

Proper trolling (which incidentally, is done by *trollers*, not trolls)

If you're old school...

[geekpaddr]

Or at least if you were bored on the web circa 1994, you may recall the The Really Big Button That Doesn't Do Anything! I think that was the earliest web fad that I was privy to.
-DaveR

Slashdot is missing from the list

[ginbot462]

'nuff s......

The Dell Dude?

[dalutong]

The Dell dude doesn't count?

Personal Favorite

[jjjpinkojjj]

The Effects of Alcohol and Smoking on Peeps
Yes, the marshmallow kind.

Next: Crazy Frog

[Wizzmer]

I can't wait for that freakin' frog to go the same way. They are planning for a movie, a TV series - you name it - not realising that it's just one more of those things that are funny for five minutes and gets old *very* fast.

Die froggy, die!

So...

[JonLatane]

This article is just one big collective dupe? :P

BADGER BADGER BADGER

[Esion Modnar]

Mushroom Mushroom. A Snake A Snake!! Ohh its a snake!!

It took weeks to get that out of my head. For your head asploding pleasure: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/badgers.php

Shoulda made the top 10.

How about...

[speck]

alt.cascade
Telnet access to libraries.
Gopher.
FTPMail.
UUCP.
ISDN.

Hmm, I guess these aren't really web fads, though...

Years ago?

[daliman]

for many stories which were presumably posted on /. years ago.

And will no doubt be posted again in coming years, months or days.

Bananas

[IdahoEv]

And the Bananaphone / Badgerphone / Aftermath stuff.

Given the number of times "Bananaphone" has circulated through my head unbidden, it has clearly overwhelmed the other ten combined in my memory.

Which is why "Bananaphone: the aftermath" made so much sense...

Wikipedia beat you to it...

[Thu25245]

There's already a whole article.

Re:Wikipedia beat you to it...

[saskboy]

Thank you for contributing the new Wiki cliche, you insensitive clod.

No wait, that's not insensitive of you. Thank you.