Long Shadow The End of the World as We Know It
Jun 24, 2025
Kate Holderness, a BuzzFeed editor known for her role in viral content curation, shares her nostalgic memories of internet moments that once brought joy, like the iconic 'dress'. She discusses the transformation of the web from a place of wonder to a complex landscape of misinformation and division. The conversation touches on early content's light-heartedness, the rise of e-commerce, and the looming Y2K bug that sparked worldwide panic. Holderness reflects on how optimistic internet ideals began to clash with real-world consequences.
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The Dress Broke The Internet
- Kate Holderness and BuzzFeed turned a mundane photo into a global frenzy by posting The Dress.
- Her phone crashed and notifications exploded as celebrities and millions debated its colors.
Algorithms Reward Division
- Social platforms learned that controversy drives engagement and rewarded divisive content.
- That shift made the internet angrier as fun moments turned into heated fights.
Early Internet Was Community-Driven
- Early web users were mostly polite hobbyists who treated online spaces as communities.
- People even checked a live coffee pot feed multiple times a day for connection and novelty.