The internet is officially 25 years old! And as is always the way, birthday’s are the ideal opportunity to have a good look back over the years to see what you’ve done, your ultimate cringe moments and well most importantly where you’re going next- the internet we think is no different. So for every year of the internet’s existence we have come up with 25 amazing things that it’s given us.
So here’s our present to you internet… HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1) Connection
There’s absolutely no denying the fact that the good ol’ World Wide Web has given us the power of instant connection. Whether it’s through the likes of Skype, web video messaging, email or through mobile messaging, the internet has altogether facilitated the making and the strengthening of relationships. In connecting us, the internet has helped make the world just that bit smaller. To give you an idea, The Guardian looked at how long each of the following mediums took to reach their first 50 million users. Broadcast radio took near enough to 38 years, Television- a good 13 years but the web, well… only 4 short years! The quickest connection yet. Check you out internet!
2) Internet lingo
LOL, ROTFL, LMAO, Spam, Viral, Hashtags! Holy Tweet the list really is endless! We think if the internet was a country, Internish would be it’s language and who would blame us for thinking that. The fact that ‘Selfie’ was chosen as the word of the year by the Oxford Dictionary in 2013 is evidence enough that the internet produces more than just information, it has created a language my friends, like seriously OMG.
3) Selfies
Oh internet vanity! Selfies have exploded onto the online scene, but if we break it down, a selfie is essentially a picture you take of yourself on your smartphone and share on your social media, something we’re all guilty of doing. But what is amazing is the sheer power of it. Take Ellen De Generas’s epic Oscar selfie which was retweeted a whopping 2 million times overnight, what’s more it actually caused Twitter to briefly collapse! As much as the mind boggles when it comes to how the selfie has grown in importance it also goes to show the power of the internet in connecting us to our Hollywood idols-and thank god for that.
4) Virals
There is no doubt that the great number of virals that the internet churns out is right up there as one it’s greatest features.
From KONY 2012 that reached a whopping 100 million views in just 6 days to Charlie bit my finger-AGAIN that reached the milestone in 402 days, it forever amazes us that the internet can spread videos and awareness like an infectious disease.
5) Political satire
From mocking Prime Minister David Cameron’s incredibly airbrushed face online during the run up to the general election in 2010 or most recently his ultra ‘serious call to US President Barack Obama’ selfie that snowballed into an explosion of online spoofs and gifs, the internet has not only given us the ideal space to make fun of our political leaders but more importantly formulate and air our own opinions of what is today’s political make up.
6) Gangnam Style!
The internet is a weird and wonderful place where, if you play your cards right will get you your 6 seconds of fame or even worldwide stardom. Let’s face it, no one would have even heard of Psy- the slightly heavier all dancing fancy dressing South Korean singer, better known for the craze that swept the world- Gangnam style. To get an idea of how big… Gangnam Style was not only the first video to reach a billon views on YouTube in 2012 but it also got our Prime Minister getting down to it too!
7) New breed of celebrities
Charlie from Charlie bit my finger, Justin Bieber and Psy are just a few of the names we’ve mentioned so far that have reached full scale stardom, but let’s face it- they are products of the internet. But to think that now a 6 second Vine clip can catapult you to fame like it did for New York Frenchman Jerome Jarre tells us that we’re an easily pleased bunch and the internet knows that very well.
8) Online democracy
Online democracy is probably the most beautiful thing about the internet. Now we’re not saying that it doesn’t come with it’s fair share of baggage. But the internet does allow us to establish our own voices whether it be on social media, a blog, or more controversially the opportunity to expose government agencies, Julian Assange anyone? More than anything, it opens the doors to a free exchange of ideas so here’s to online democracy!
9) The Iranian Revolution 2009
On a more serious note, the internet has also been the saving grace to many around the world, giving people, groups and even countries an outlet to seek freedom. The greatest and most recent example is undoubtedly the Iranian revolution of 2009 which reached the level of a full scale revolutionary demonstration as a result of online social networking. We found a perfect quote to sum it up by a BBC Iranian correspondent- Hamid Dabashi, “Cyberspace was buzzing with information that there was to be a demonstration from this square to that square. As a result if there is a leadership… it is really the networking that the internet has made possible.”
10) Awareness
The internet has opened our eyes and our minds to some harsh truths about the world we live in today. And as a generation we ‘re more aware of these truths simply because we have all the information we need literally at our fingertips. For instance, would we have ever known of Kony had it not been for that viral? Exactly.
11) Breaking news
Like a massive Encyclopedia , the internet is full to the brim with information and what’s more it’s increasingly more of our reality to turn to the internet to get our fix of latest news in real time without being glued to the box or the radio. It’s no wonder that social media is quickly taking position as a newsworthy source, for example, did you know that Michael Jackson’s death in 2009 broke first on Twitter? And what about the discovery of ice on Mars- both of which were broadcast first on social before mainstream news.
12) Online dating
Did you know that 1 in 5 of us find love on the internet?
Worth over $2 billion dollars as a global industry-online dating is well and truly booming! Neither love or profit would have been possible hadn’t it been for the internet in facilitating such beautiful relationships.
13) Shopping online
The internet has totally and utterly revolutionised the traditional shopping experience. We’ll let the statistics do the talking here; did you know that as of 2013 the global E-Commerce industry was worth $1.1 trillion dollars– a figure that’s only set to rise. What’s more, the fact that a good 72% of all adults in the UK have bought goods or services online is very telling of our changing shopping habits as consumers, and really who can blame us, the internet gives us a virtual window shopping experience all from the comfort of our homes- Fancy.
14) Emails
Honestly can anyone remember what we did before email. Did we really have no choice but to rely on sending letters via Royal Mail and pigeon carriers? The fact that it’s difficult to fathom life without email is pretty amazing in itself, what’s more, jaws would literally drop if you didn’t have an email address. If we sit and think about it, having an email address is vital in our day and age and in many ways forms part of our identity as much as a passport does!
15) Social Media
The internet may not have directly created the plethora of social media platforms out there today but it most definitely has facilitated it’s massive growth.
With the likes of Facebook (we couldn’t help ourselves) Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google + and Instagram it’s fair to say social networking has become a big part of our life experience. From sharing pictures of our lunch or our abs-social media has allowed us to connect and network better and faster.
16) MSN Messenger
The kids of the 90s will most DEFINITELY relate to this one, that’s right, MSN messenger! In fact, we’d even go as far as saying that MSN was one of the best things to happen for kids all over the world in the 90s. Wasn’t it MSN that gave us the first emoticon?
17) Progress!
Okay so the title’s a bit vague, so let’s clear that up, remember Dial-up internet, the torturous wait to chat to your friends on MSN whilst getting yelled at by your Mum to get off the internet so she could use the phone. Yes we thought you’d remember that, and although that was our reality not too long ago, what is amazing to see is how fast the internet has evolved so that we now have a phone that connects to the internet. The ultimate 2 in 1! Take that Mum.
18) 3G, 4G Forever G!
It’s true- if it wasn’t for the popularity of the net there would’ve been no need for a smartphone. But now that they’re here, we’ve become even more demanding! What is essentially a handheld talking device has now become our portable daily planner, Encyclopaedia, our virtual shop, our instant connection to our social network, our fitness instructor and daily motivational guru- all made possible because of, that’s right, the internet.
19) Catch up TV online
We don’t think that the box necessarily has competition with the internet, in fact we think they’ve established a healthy friendship. It’s the idea of consuming media as and when you want that the internet has facilitated. Just have a look around you on the train as you make your way to work if you don’t believe us.
20) Follow your money
Yes, the ability to track a transfer from anywhere in the world to making secure payments for items online is pretty cool right. And like an internet snowball of ideas, we’re not surprised that there’s such a thing as the mobile wallet making it’s way onto the scene, we’re just waiting for the day when paper money will well and truly disappear!
21) The Cloud
Remember the days of the daunting office filing cabinet? Well a lot has changed since then thanks to ‘The Cloud.’ With services like Dropbox we can access and share digital files on any device practically anywhere. Hardcopy, softcopy, invisible copy, the internet has altogether changed the way we work. Amazing!
22) Google & YouTube
What would we do without you Google & YouTube? You are the apple to our Mac, the key to our board, it’s fair to say that these two have a massive influence over our lives and as a web design digital agency, we admit we rely heavily on these two search engines. This blog is evidence of it!
23) Google Maps
We never thought we’d be glad to see the death of something, but seriously THANK GOD for Google Maps and the death of the A to Z fold ups! Harsh we know, but come on we once relied so heavily on them and that too whilst driving! So it’s no wonder that Google Maps is probably the most relied and most popular web mapping application we’ve experienced since A to Z’s death. The fact that the app offers us satellite visuals of nearly every destination we’re looking to get to really and truly has revolutionised the mapping industry.
24) The evolution of web design!
A particular thanks to the internet because this evolution is quite simply our bread and butter! From the truly horrendous to the sleek and quirky, the birth of the internet has seen web design evolve from plain text HTML of the 1990s to the key trends we see today like responsive design, parallax and flat design. For a bunch of quirky designers we’re always excited!
25) For being amazing!
And finally, the internet has facilitated the growth of millions of jobs including ours right here! And given that a recent study by Pew Research found that as group of internet users a good 90% of us think that it’s a good thing, it’s pretty clear why with the list above.
So with that said, it’s fair to say it’s been an awesome 25 years having you in our lives and here’s a toast to many more years to come surprises and all!
