Internet time machine / 2020

2020, kept in the archive.

Backdrop

The Internet in 2020

YouTube preview for the official Tiger King trailer.

Year reference

Tiger King

Lockdown produced a strange collective watch.

Source: Netflix on YouTube
  • Pandemic isolation moved work, school, concerts, games, and social life online at once.
  • TikTok, Twitch, Discord, Zoom, and multiplayer games became not just entertainment services but places to gather.
Read Pew on internet use during COVID-19

Archive order

Archive picks

01

Among Us video preview

Web post · Social-deduction game and accusation language

Among Us

Emergency meeting: one tiny indie game became the default way to accuse your friends of being suspicious.

gamingtwitchpandemic era
Archive score95

02

Coffin Dance video preview

Video · Pandemic-era remix punchline

Coffin Dance

A bass drop, a hard cut, and Ghanaian pallbearers made every bad decision feel immediately final.

remixpandemicreaction video
Archive score94

03

Bored in the House video preview

Video · Creator-made TikTok earworm and lockdown refrain

Bored in the House

“I’m bored in the house and I’m in the house bored” was the whole 2020 mood, delivered as a loop you could not get out of your head.

tiktokmusicpandemic era
Archive score93

04

Web post · Crowdsourced TikTok musical collaboration

Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical

A tiny “Ode to Remy” turned into the internet earnestly building an entire imaginary Broadway musical, one TikTok at a time.

tiktoktheatrecollaboration
Archive score92

05

Meme · Hyperrealistic cake video and existentialist meme wave

Everything Is Cake

A knife cut through a Croc and revealed cake. Within days, nobody trusted a phone, a friend, or planet Earth.

instagramcakefood art
Archive score92

06

Dreams Skateboard video preview

Video · TikTok mood and remake format

Dreams Skateboard

A broken-down commute, cranberry juice, and Fleetwood Mac became the most peaceful 22 seconds of 2020.

tiktokmusicpandemic era
Archive score91