Thread by @Medium

In the 2010s, the internet grew up — and we grew up with it. Medium launched in 2012 and @HumanParts was founded one year later, so, to mark the end of this decade in tabs, they're taking you back into the archives. read.medium.com/ylxH74u

This is The Internet Time Machine, (almost) ten years of writing on our corner of the Internet. For years, people have been writing moving essays, poems, comics, and stories about being a human online. read.medium.com/ylxH74u

Like the internet itself, this collection of stories is somewhat random, nostalgia-inducing, and a little rough around the edges. Open up a new tab (or 30) and take the @humanparts time machine for a spin. read.medium.com/ylxH74u

We start 2013, because that's pretty much how far back Medium goes. At the time, current @humanparts editor and founder and then-Fan of the Internet, Steph Georgopolous, was deep in her digital life. read.medium.com/92jaK4W

"The day after I taught my mother
how to send pictures over iPhone she texted
me a blurry image of our cocker spaniel ten times in a row.
Don’t you dare try to tell me that is not beautiful."
read.medium.com/s5GiU3P

Maybe at one point, we could live free online. But the internet will not let you hide anymore. Also, you will not learn anything about @harrissockel in this 2014 essay-slash-takedown of The Internet Bio. read.medium.com/JpoHECh

In 2015, @scottmuska was on a date when he heard the six words you don't really want to hear from someone you met on the internet:

“I hope you don’t get mad." read.medium.com/qLGuRT0

The internet can be dangerous, and as social media platforms became more and more popular, it bared its teeth. In 2015, @ktzhu quit Snapchat before the rest of us. read.medium.com/TjLViCs

Is it possible to have an Internet Time Machine without programming it to visit Netflix? No, it is not. read.medium.com/ySY43XM

Writer @samlansky was an early adopter of online dating. He dated a lot. He was trying to find something (all of us are). read.medium.com/sNIK7Rd

Before TikTok was TikTok, it was Musical.ly. And in 2018, @IWorryAboutYou discovered its dark side, because the internet usually has a dark side. read.medium.com/hc4ukwp

"Neg" became a thing in 2005, but in the age of Trump, it found a second life... on Tinder. read.medium.com/BxXRvgW

When you're in intense pain, you have to send it somewhere. It overflows. To send that pain into the void of the internet, and be met with mostly silence, can feel unbearable. In 2019, Felicia Sullivan deleted her social media accounts. read.medium.com/yHKpUip

Then, there's how to catfish, in 2019, from a catfish. Because we're all doing it, a little bit, every time we crop a profile photo or re-type a text message. We're all creating slightly different versions of ourselves that live online. read.medium.com/eAjkQwd

For better or worse, we love the internet, so enjoy the near-decade's worth of writing gathered in the @humanparts Internet Time Machine. And especially enjoy this guided tour through the past, present, and future of our online lives from @the_jennitaur: read.medium.com/GlHQ2DZ