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Author Jason Pargin on the 2000-era website that accidentally destroyed the world [1]

['Gareth Branwyn']

Date: 2022-10-23

Author Jason Pargin, author of the John Dies at the End series, has an interesting hot take on 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 began as straight-up copies of this site, both looking to take advantage of a phenomenon that breaks the human brain: https://t.co/iOQWltH5IT pic.twitter.com/v6luV8uegG — Jason Pargin, author of John Dies at the End, etc (@JohnDiesattheEn) October 21, 2022

HotOrNot had accidentally stumbled onto an incredibly addictive, world-changing idea, one that taught humans to "teach to the test", to shape their entire personalities around getting a high score. Historians might blame Facebook, but Zuck's original goal was just a HoN ripoff. — 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 of the original HOT or NOT site, circa 2005. Retrieved from the Wayback Machine at archive.org.

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2022/10/23/author-jason-pargin-on-the-2000-era-website-that-accidentally-destroyed-the-world.html

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