Digging in the Cache

Just like anything on the Internets, the response “O RLY?” has it’s roots in hardcore geek culture. The photo of a surprised looking owl with the words “O RLY?” added was originally used in the Something Awful forums as a response to anything that may have been found boring, doubtful or unimpressive.  The correct response to “O RLY?” is “YA RLY” with a picture of a brown owl looking stern, and then “NO WAI!” with another owl looking amazed.

source: Know Your Meme

If there is any predictor of what will become a successful Internet meme, it’s probably whether cute animals (or kids) are involved. So, it’s probably no surprise that LOLcats has become so popular.  LOLcats are images of cats in various poses with text placed over them in broken English known as lolspeak. While LOLcats became widely popular in 2007 from the website, Icanhascheezburger.com, the pop culture roots in a famous “Hang in there, baby” motivational poster from the 1970s.

Digging in the Cache is a series where we go back in time to look at fun tidbits of Internet and computer history. While OK Go, a band originally from Chicago, has been around since 1998, they are probably best known for their elaborately choreographed dance on treadmills for their song “Here It Goes Again”. In the first six days, it was viewed by over 1 million people on YouTube, and has since been viewed over 50 million times which puts it in 42nd place for the most views of any video. It also is one of the most favorited music videos of all time on YouTube. Ok Go won a Grammy award for “Best Short-Form Music Video” for the video in 2006. Just goes to show that being a little bit different and fun may work out for the best.

Read more at Wikipedia.