Author Jason Pargin, author of the John Dies at the End series, has an interesting look at how our current online Upside Down came to be.
I have a theory that an old 2000-era website accidentally destroyed the world, and I’m dead serious about it. Facebook and YouTube both started as direct copies of this site, both seeking to take advantage of a phenomenon that breaks the human brain: pic.twitter.com/v6luV8uegG
— Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End, etc. (@JohnDiesattheEn) October 21, 2022
HotOrNot had accidentally stumbled upon an incredibly addictive, world-changing idea, one that taught people to “test”, to shape their entire personality around getting a high score. Historians could blame Facebook, but Zuck’s original purpose was just a hoN scam.
— Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End, etc. (@JohnDiesattheEn) October 21, 2022
Pargin’s 4th book in the John Dies… series, If This Book Exists, You’re in the Wrong Universe, is out now.
Thumbnail image: Inset from the original HOT or NOT site, circa 2005. Retrieved from the Wayback Machine at archive.org.