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YTMND

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YTMND
The main page of the YTMND website from June 11, 2006.
Type of site
Specialized website community
OwnerMax Goldberg/YTMND, Inc.
Created byMax Goldberg
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional

YTMND, an acronym for "You're The Man Now Dog! [sic]", is a website community that centers on the creation of YTMNDs, which are pages featuring a juxtaposition of a single image or a simple slideshow, optionally animated and/or tiled, along with optional large zooming text, and a looping sound file. Most of these images are created or edited by users. Most YTMNDs are meant to expose or reflect the more inane facets of pop culture.[1]

Early history

A present-day screenshot of yourethemannowdog.com

YTMND originates in 2001 from Max Goldberg's original website, "yourethemannowdog.com," which he registered along with "dustindiamond.com" after seeing a trailer for the moving Finding Forrester. Originally, the website featured the text "YOURE THE MAN NOW DOG DOT COM" written in 3D ASCII art with no sound.[2] The advent of scrolling text currently on the website was seen in 2002, where the website also featured a photograph of Sean Connery and a sound loop from Forrester reciting the phrase "you're the man now, dog!" Goldberg's new creation inspired others to make similar sites with other movie and television quotations (or any other sound clip they wished to use). At first, Goldberg maintained a list and mirror of these sites, but the list soon became exceptionally long.[1]

In 2004, Goldberg wrote a press release after winning a lawsuit filed by Dustin Diamond for the "fan page" at the aforementioned dustindiamond.com. He mentioned yourethemannowdog.com, as well as a new website, YTMND, that would be ready by April 10. The website opened that day after rushing through the coding and design process. The site caught on in popularity and became an Internet phenomenon when major weblogs began linking to the Picard Song YTMND.[1]

File:YTMND Logo.png
The old "star" YTMND logo, which is still used on certain parts of the website

When YTMND first opened, newly created YTMNDs were unmoderated and therefore a certain portion of them were highly offensive. The website's forums were shut down on October 14, 2004, after Max Goldberg banned its chief users. Goldberg cited tension between himself and the website's host as his reasoning for the closure. The site as a whole was closed in December, 2004 when Goldberg forwarded the site to yourethemannowdog.com without notice.[citation needed]

The site was briefly reopened in January, 2005, and then in late March, 2005, it relaunched with a number of new features, including moderation of YTMNDs. The site's forums were resurrected soon after the relaunch. In October, 2005 a stricter moderation system went into effect that prompted deletion of many YTMNDs and the addition of age verification. YTMNDs deemed "not safe for work" were placed in the domain ytmnsfw.com.[citation needed]

On November 25, 2005, YTMND relaunched on new servers with an entirely redesigned layout. Updates included user names replacing numbers in each YTMND's URL, faster caching, and new content boxes. A feature debuted soon after allowing users to donate money in exchange for increased exposure of their YTMNDs through the main site.[3]

On June 14, 2006, YTMND implemented the private messaging system allowing members of YTMND to contact each other privately.[1]

Conflict with eBaum's World

In January 2006, eBaum's World hosted and watermarked a Lindsay Lohan montage created by YTMND user SpliceVW [2] without crediting either SpliceVW nor YTMND. In response to Bauman's actions, users from YTMND joined users from other internet communities, namely Something Awful, LUElinks, Newgrounds, 4chan, FARK, Ugoplayer (Flashplayer.com), and IGN. These groups invaded using spam posts, DDoS, repeatedly crashing, and ultimately cracking the eBaum's World forums.[citation needed]

The attacks began shortly after 11:00 P.M. EST on January 7, 2006 and ended on January 10, 2006.[citation needed] Max Goldberg, the founder of YTMND, denounced the attacks; he stated that they had "really crossed the line" and were a "vulgar display of power."[4] Later, he stated that any YTMND member whose site promoted attacks would have their account deleted. [5] Goldberg elaborated by saying that the recent conflict had placed both himself and his hosting company in a negative light. [6]

On January 10, eBaum's World alleged the attacks were a form of cyber-terrorism[7], and on January 11, Neil Bauman, the executive vice president of eBaum's World, stated publicly that arrests were being made in relation to the attacks. [3] Eventually Goldberg and Bauman came to an agreement, with Bauman removing the montage from his website, in return for Goldberg removing any reference to "eBaum" from his website.[8] Despite the resolution of the conflict, YTMND experienced DDoS attacks on the morning of January 12, 2006.[9] As of 2006, there has not been any updates on the conflict.

Conflicts with the Church of Scientology

On June 10, 2006, a cease and desist form was sent to Max by lawyers of the Church of Scientology, claiming that several Scientology based sites had infringed on copyrights of the church.[10] In response, Max replied to the lawyer that the cease and desist form was "completely groundless" and he wouldn't be deleting any Scientologist site.[11] Since then, a Scientology page section has appeared on the front page along with a disclaimer on the bottom stating the following: "This website is in no way affiliated, sponsored or owned by the Church of Scientology, L Ron Hubbard, SeaOrg, Dianetics, volcanos or aliens of any sort. We are, however, sponsored by Citizens for the Release of Xenu, a not-for-sanity organization."

Fads and memes

The content of each YTMND site remains one of the most definitive examples of memes and memetics on the Internet. The format of the original YTMND has obviously become self-replicating in nature, and fads in the subject matter of YTMNDs are fairly rampant. As memetic "mutations" occur, new influences come in, intertextuality builds and some YTMNDs become phenomenally popular. On the heels of such popularity, other members come up with ways to create alternate "spins" on these YTMNDs, after which more "spins" are formed. Many of these fads end up spreading to the web as a whole, if they had not already done so. By this point, the topic of the original YTMND could be, and usually is, considered a fad. Dozens of new fads have sprung up since. YTMND's official Wiki has composed an in-depth list of fads and memes which have circulated throughout the site's history. [4]

Media exposure

In 2005, Reuters wrote an article on Tom Cruise which made a reference to the Tom Cruise Kills Oprah YTMND. The site received further publicity when The Wall Street Journal published an article about YTMND, and mentioned several popular website creations, linking to many of them through their website. The original "Tom Cruise Kills Oprah" video, on which the YTMND is based off off, has also been mentioned on Dateline NBC's "The Mank Blog" segment, VH1's show "Web Junk 20", and CBC Newsworld's "The Hour" with George Stroumboulopoulos.

On the February 29, 2006 episode of Attack of the Show!, viewers were asked to "make a kickass YTMND" for the show's "user created" segment. In order for sites to qualify for this YTMND competition, members were required to add "aots" at the beginning of the site's URL.[12]

In the March, 2006 issue of Stuff Magazine, there is a mention of the original "You're the Man Now Dog" website. [5]

In March 2006, Gamerevolution held a contest for video game-themed YTMNDs. The winner won a PSP as a prize. [6]

In the June 2006 issue of Stuff Magazine, YTMND was again mentioned on page twenty-eight when a link to timetraveler.ytmnd.com was printed.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b c "About YTMND". Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  2. ^ "Yourethemannowdog.com". Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  3. ^ "Fund raising". Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  4. ^ "And the complaints come marching in". 2006-01-08. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  5. ^ "Your account will be deleted if..." 2006-01-09. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  6. ^ "To clarify my statement". 2006-01-09. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  7. ^ "Regarding the recent attacks on eBaum's World". 2006-01-10. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  8. ^ ""Cease and Desist" from Neil Bauman". 2006-01-10. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  9. ^ "The never ending saga". 2006-01-12. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  10. ^ "Church of Scientology sends a cease and desist". Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  11. ^ "What you know about dat". 2006-06-13. Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  12. ^ "User Created Challenge". Retrieved 2006-06-12.
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