Last November, Gizmodo published a list of 100 websites that shaped the Internet as we know it.
Some of these sites seemed perfectly arbitrary a decade ago and turned into monstrous destinations or world-destroying monopolies. Other sites have been net positives for humanity and gave us a glimpse of what can happen when the world works together. In many ways this list is an evaluation of power and who has seized it. In other ways, it’s an appreciation of the places that still make the web worth surfing.
From the list, I was familiar with the Top 50, as I’m sure most Web users of the last 20 years will be. The 50-100 were a little more obscure in places. Blingee passed me by and that’s okay as glitter has never been my thing. Being 12 in 2002 and without legit internet, MeetUp wasn’t going to be for me and yet I knew what Goatse was (by the time I was in college). RuneScape was something my friends played but I never got into it.
Maybe I’ll do my own list. I’m certain there’ll be some overlap.