The Fellowship

We have all heard about videos going “viral.” Among millions, certain YouTube videos reach superstar status upon achieving the much-sought-after millions of views. Memes, cultural ideas or symbols transmitted between internet communities, are generated everyday and have become one of the most popular topics among tech-savvy teens. FoxNews has done reports on specific cases of internet vigilantism and vandalism. What do all of these things have in common, and why is it becoming a part of our everyday life and speech? The answer is: they are all internet phenomena. This blog is dedicated to studying and explaining some of the more popular internet phenomena, to try and form some associations between what we do online and what we do in real life. The insight we can gain from individual internet traditions and some of the more prominent subcultures would definitely provide a more solid understanding of human behavior in general.

Please expect daily blog entries on individual internet phenomenon. I will also provide the appropriate background information along with possible theories on their creation. I hope, with the sheer number of entries, I can cover some of the more central topics with the ultimate intent to shed some light on internet cultures.

This project could not have been done without the supportive and critical input from many digital communities, the birthplaces of the same phenomena I have examined.