Internet humor
Encyclopedia
The Internet
has long been a resource for the circulation of humorous ideas and joke
s. Countless web-sites are devoted to the collection of Internet humor, and every day e-mail
crosses the world, containing the text of humorous articles, or jokes about current events.
"Internet humor" is distinguishable from "Humor on the Internet" through the concept of ownership. There are definite examples of humor restricted by copyright law on the internet; examples include the Dilbert
cartoons of Scott Adams
or the newspaper
columns of Dave Barry
. "Internet humor" is regarded as that which belongs to the public domain
.
Internet humor may also be regarded as humor that specifically relies on characteristics belonging to the Internet, such as the domain name
slurl
s or the "geek
" or "hacker
" humor (i.e., humor that would not exist if not for the Internet), some of which can be considered ironic.
Generally, this type of semi-institutionalized humor starts as a specific group's in-joke
, and grows until it reaches a significant portion of Internet users, gaining popularity, "rules" and mythos
.
The concept of authorship with regard to Internet humor is very difficult to define. Frequently a "list" type joke may get started but within a few generations of distribution it evolves beyond recognition. A classic example is the well-known "you have two cows
" joke — after circulating in other media throughout the 1980s, it seems to have first appeared on the Internet in 1993 with simple descriptions of communism
, capitalism
, and socialism
. However, it was later expanded to include all forms of government, regional variations, philosophical systems, and even art movements. Attempting to define an "author" of the joke hence becomes impossible, and it becomes a publicly owned resource, simply because no one could validly claim legitimate ownership.
Though the Internet has allowed the global explosion of collectively authored comedy, its precursors existed on bulletin board
s, corporate messaging systems, and even through such low-tech mechanisms as the facsimile
since at least the 1970s.
The growing popularity of blog
s has contributed to this. There are now many weblogs which have the sole purpose of posting new jokes regularly. Weblog readers often comment on jokes they find particularly original and amusing.
humor somewhat differs from general Internet humor. Varying from different communities, Internet forum humor often involves image macro
s, Internet meme
s, random objects and people, false news stories
and sarcasm
.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
has long been a resource for the circulation of humorous ideas and joke
Joke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
s. Countless web-sites are devoted to the collection of Internet humor, and every day e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
crosses the world, containing the text of humorous articles, or jokes about current events.
"Internet humor" is distinguishable from "Humor on the Internet" through the concept of ownership. There are definite examples of humor restricted by copyright law on the internet; examples include the Dilbert
Dilbert
Dilbert is an American comic strip written and drawn by Scott Adams. First published on April 16, 1989, Dilbert is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office featuring the engineer Dilbert as the title character...
cartoons of Scott Adams
Scott Adams
Scott Raymond Adams is the American creator of the Dilbert comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, business, and general speculation....
or the newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
columns of Dave Barry
Dave Barry
David "Dave" Barry is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author and columnist, who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for The Miami Herald from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comedic novels.-Biography:Barry was born in Armonk, New York,...
. "Internet humor" is regarded as that which belongs to the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.
Internet humor may also be regarded as humor that specifically relies on characteristics belonging to the Internet, such as the domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
slurl
Slurl
A slurl is a website domain name that has a double meaning, often crude or sexual, that was not intended by the individual or organisation running the website. Domain names are conventionally shown in all lower-case and cannot contain spaces, so to determine the meaning readers must themselves...
s or the "geek
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
" or "hacker
Hacker culture
A hacker is a member of the computer programmer subculture originated in the 1960s in the United States academia, in particular around the Massachusetts Institute of Technology 's Tech Model Railroad Club and MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory...
" humor (i.e., humor that would not exist if not for the Internet), some of which can be considered ironic.
Generally, this type of semi-institutionalized humor starts as a specific group's in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
, and grows until it reaches a significant portion of Internet users, gaining popularity, "rules" and mythos
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
.
The concept of authorship with regard to Internet humor is very difficult to define. Frequently a "list" type joke may get started but within a few generations of distribution it evolves beyond recognition. A classic example is the well-known "you have two cows
You have two cows
"You have two cows" is the beginning phrase for a series of political joke definitions.-History:"You have two cows" jokes originated as a parody of the typical examples used in introductory-level economics course material. They featured a farmer in a moneyless society who uses the cattle he owns to...
" joke — after circulating in other media throughout the 1980s, it seems to have first appeared on the Internet in 1993 with simple descriptions of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
, and socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. However, it was later expanded to include all forms of government, regional variations, philosophical systems, and even art movements. Attempting to define an "author" of the joke hence becomes impossible, and it becomes a publicly owned resource, simply because no one could validly claim legitimate ownership.
Though the Internet has allowed the global explosion of collectively authored comedy, its precursors existed on bulletin board
Bulletin board
A bulletin board is a surface intended for the posting of public messages, for example, to advertise things to buy or sell, announce events, or provide information...
s, corporate messaging systems, and even through such low-tech mechanisms as the facsimile
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
since at least the 1970s.
Daily jokes
The internet now has many resources where new jokes are available each day. There are literally hundreds of web pages whose authors will post a new joke or perhaps many jokes on a daily basis. Many internet users will visit the same site for their daily dose of humor. Emails containing a new joke can be subscribed to in many cases.The growing popularity of blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
s has contributed to this. There are now many weblogs which have the sole purpose of posting new jokes regularly. Weblog readers often comment on jokes they find particularly original and amusing.
Internet forum humor
Internet forumInternet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
humor somewhat differs from general Internet humor. Varying from different communities, Internet forum humor often involves image macro
Image macro
In Internet culture, an image macro is a picture captioned with superimposed text for humorous effect.-Internet forums:On Internet forums and imageboards, image macros are used to emphasize a certain phrase by superimposing it over a related picture.-Formats:Although they come in many forms, the...
s, Internet meme
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...
s, random objects and people, false news stories
News satire
thumb|right|220px|[[The Daily Show with Jon Stewart]] is a news satire program.News satire, also called fake news , is a type of parody presented in a format typical of mainstream journalism, and called a satire because of its content...
and sarcasm
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
.
See also
- FaxloreFaxloreFaxlore is a sort of folklore: humorous texts, folk poetry, folk art, and urban legends that are circulated, not by word of mouth, but by fax machine...
- Flash animation
- List of Internet phenomena
- Urban legendUrban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
- RickrollingRickrollingRickrolling is an Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch; a person provides a hyperlink seemingly relevant to the topic at hand, but actually leads to Astley's video...
- OxymoronOxymoronAn oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms...