Doobybrain turns 14!
FOURTEEN. If my website were a person, it would be entering high school. Those impressionable years where friends, relationships, and social learning collide into what make a person who they are. So what is Doobybrain after 14 years? Well, I guess a little less silly (only a little) and a lot more videos. But mostly, the site has been the same. It's kind of amazing to think that I've browsed the internet full-time for 14 years straight and have seen just about everything that has hit the mainstream popularity spectrum since then. Can you imagine what the number must be on YouTube views in total? Or how many words have crossed the paths of my retinas? Or how many emails I've sent and received? And how many products I've come to review? Let me tell you, it's a lot! And I've enjoyed mostly every second of it (so please send more!).
Every time an anniversary for the site comes up, I think about how much the internet has changed since I first started. How many big media companies didn't even exist back in 2002 and how social media has grown into such a large part of internet culture itself. I mean, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat...these are all relatively new ventures on the internet and each one has had a large part in shaping the way we consume information, media, and news. I know sites like this are no longer the forefront of news and media for pop culture -- it's hard to be when information travels so fluidly in other forms online -- so over the last year I've made a conscious effort to slow things down here and just write more. Maybe you've noticed already, and if so, then good. But if not, hopefully you'll stay to watch me give my own commentary on things going on in the real world and the virtual one here that Doobybrain resides in.
Fourteen years ago, I started Doobybrain as a way to share the cool stuff I saw online with my friends. I never knew or expected strangers worldwide to find a connection to my voice and my opinions here but I am grateful that that's happened. It's funny how that all works out for the better. I've met some great people and had some amazing opportunities pop up because of Doobybrain and I wouldn't do it any differently.
I don't think I've ever really put this list together in any previous anniversary post, so here are a few people I'd like to thank personally:
- Norman, for being my IT guy and figuring everything out.
- Dan L., for giving my site a voice in the early days through your own server IP's.
- Columbia University, for hosting my website...unknowingly.
- Dreamweaver (RIP), for the many hours I spent with you changing font sizes and colors for fun.
- Wordpress, for moving my site into the 21st century with CMS.
- Squarespace, for giving me a way to ditch my hosting fees.
- Los Angeles (2012-2013), for a year of soul-searching and full-time madness on Doobybrain.
- And most importantly, my family and friends who have continued to read, comment, and correct my posts. I don't do it for you, but I ok, I really do!
What will the site's 15th birthday bring? Maybe VR.