December 09, 2003

An sordid tale from the net's early days. An epic of trolling pursued as performance art , and the chaos left in it's wake. I give you the contentious history of the MEOW .
posted by Nickdanger 20 years ago
  • Some people have far too much time on their hands.
  • There's no drama like usenet drama.
  • I missed usenet by a matter of only a few years - I tried to sign on when I finally had my own email in 1998 (yay for institutes of higher education) but I just couldn't figure it out. The signal to noise ratio everywhere was much too high.
  • That said, while the moralist in me abhors the disrespect for other people this kind of behaviour represents, my inner dadaist fan is smiling. Those lovely lovely cascades. Meow.
  • I find it fascinating that such a petty, mundane series of exchanges has in fact entered the annals of 'net folklore. "The World War II of flame wars?" Please. And yet, there is something about the Meow Wars that is very evocative of everything that is cool and repugnant about the net as a communication medium. Here we have near instantaneous communication between people seperated geographically and in terms of interests, points of view etc, yet the opportunities afforded by such communication are undermined by a very human weakness, petty vanity. And then that vanity is revelled in and pursued as an end to itself, creating something that, while ridiculously childish, is interesting, as per jb's comment. In short: I have too much time on my hands.
  • I find it fascinating that such a petty, mundane series of exchanges has in fact entered the annals of 'net folklore. "The World War II of flame wars?" Please. And yet, there is something about the Meow Wars that is very evocative of everything that is cool and repugnant about the net as a communication medium. Here we have near instantaneous communication between people seperated geographically and in terms of interests, points of view etc, yet the opportunities afforded by such communication are undermined by a very human weakness, petty vanity. And then that vanity is revelled in and pursued as an end to itself, creating something that, while ridiculously childish, is interesting, as per jb's comment. In short: I have too much time on my hands.
  • Goddamit. Sorry about that.
  • Great post. I had no idea about any of this stuff, and it's lots of fun to read about (though doubtless not such fun to experience). Nickdanger: You have too much time on your hands, but you have used it well.
  • I enjoyed this. Hurrah for accomplishments that you won't be able to explain to your children, and all the glory and honour that go with them. "No son, see it was important what I did in the office all day. I helped win the war against cheap well made imports. All hail Peke or Copsi depending whether they made it out of East Virginia before the last great Trade War!"
  • In short: I have too much time on my hands. Speaking of "annals of 'net folklore." Prophetic words NickD, prophetic words. (-:
  • /watches the sun set from the mountain top of "accomplishment".