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YTMND

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YTMND
The main page of the YTMND website from August 10, 2006.
Type of site
Specialized website community/internet fad and meme website
OwnerMax Goldberg/YTMND, Inc.
Created byMax Goldberg
URLYTMND.com
CommercialNo
RegistrationOptional

YTMND, an initialism for "You're The Man Now Dog!", is an online community centered around the creation of hosted web pages featuring a juxtaposition of a single image or a simple slideshow, which may be animated and/or tiled, along with optional large zooming text, and a looping sound file. Images used in YTMNDs are usually either created or edited by users. Most YTMNDs are meant to expose or reflect the more inane facets of pop culture, and some can be considered inside jokes.[1]

Early history

YTMND originated in 2001 from Max Goldberg's original website, "yourethemannowdog.com", which he registered along with "dustindiamond.com" after seeing a trailer for the movie Finding Forrester. Originally, the website featured the text "YOURE THE MAN NOW DOG.COM" drawn out in 3D ascii text with no sound.[2] The advent of zoomed text currently on the website was seen in the following months, where the website also featured a photograph of Sean Connery and a sound loop from Finding 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).[3] At first, Goldberg maintained a list and mirror of these sites,[4] but the list soon became exceptionally long.[1]

A present-day screenshot of yourethemannowdog.com.

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]

In November 2005, YTMND changed its layout to the current version, as well as new features, including a comment management system and new lists for the main page.[5] A feature debuted soon after allowing users to donate money on behalf of a YTMND chosen by the user in exchange for its increased exposure through the main site.[6]

Controversy

Conflicts with eBaum's World

In January 2006, eBaum's World hosted and watermarked a Lindsay Lohan montage created by YTMND user SpliceVW without crediting either SpliceVW or YTMND. In response to their actions, users from YTMND joined users from other Internet communities, namely Something Awful, LUElinks, Newgrounds, 4chan, FARK, Ugoplayer (Flashplayer.com), Weebls-Stuff, and IGN, and decided to attack the forums on eBaum's World, using spam posting and DoS to repeatedly crash them.[7]

Max Goldberg denounced the ongoing attacks, stating that they had "really crossed the line" and were a "vulgar display of power."[8] He later stated that any YTMND member whose site promoted attacks would have his or her account deleted.[9] Goldberg elaborated by saying that the recent conflict had placed both himself and his hosting company in a negative light.[10]

On January 10, eBaum's World alleged the attacks were a form of cyber-terrorism[11], 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. 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.[12] Despite the resolution of the conflict, both sites experienced DDoS attacks on the morning of January 12, 2006.[13]

Conflicts with the Church of Scientology

On June 10, 2006, a cease and desist form was sent to Max Goldberg by lawyers of the Church of Scientology, claiming that several Scientology based sites had infringed on their copyrights to some Scientology material.[14] In response, Goldberg replied to the lawyer that the cease and desist form was "completely groundless" and he would not be deleting any Scientology-related sites.[15] Days later, a Scientology page section had 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, volcanoes or aliens of any sort. We are, however, sponsored by Citizens for the Release of Xenu, a not-for-sanity organization." According to Max Goldberg, there have not been any recent updates regarding the potential lawsuit.[16]

Community

The community has, on multiple occasions, demonstrated its ability to rise up and unite for a common goal - something which has been seen as both impressive and worrying by people from both within and outside the website. Goldberg used the words "A vulgar display of power"[17] and a member of the AWEmpire.com forum stated that "YTMND is powerful and has the potential to fuck folks over big time."[18]

Fads and memes

YTMND features many memes relying on intertextuality; one YTMND frequently makes a reference to another. Series of these similar YTMNDs are referred to as "fads". The popular fads change frequently and a list is maintained at the YTMND wiki.[19]

Media exposure

  • 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.[21]
  • In March 2006, Game-Revolution held a contest for video game-themed YTMNDs. The winner won a PSP as a prize.[20]
  • In the March, 2006 issue of Stuff Magazine, there is a mention of the original "You're the Man Now Dog" website. YTMND was again mentioned in Stuff Magazine in June 2006 when a link to timetraveler.ytmnd.com was printed.[20]
  • In the August 2006 issue of WIRED, an article under the "Expert" column by the name of "1 Web Site, 250,000 Idiotic Clips. LOL!" was printed. In the article, five of Max Goldberg's favorite ytmnd's (You're the Man Now, Dog; Vader Coaster; Lohan Facial; LOL Internet; Blue Ball Machine) were mentioned, along with commentary from Max himself for each one. The article's writer, James Lee, can be quoted as saying "Repeat an image loop and a sound file - as 24-year-old Max Goldberg with You're the Man Now, Dog - and pretty soon you'll have 4 million visitors a month and 120,000 contributors uploading their own clips."[22]
  • YTMND was featured in an article for the July 30, 2006 issue of The Washington Post. The article describes how Goldberg conceived yourethemannowdog.com, its rise in popularity and the elements of a YTMND site. The article also referred to the creators of YTMNDs as "artists."[23]
  • Site founder Max Goldberg recently signed a release for The Colbert Report to show Stephen Colbert-related YTMNDs. According to Goldberg, the YTMNDs should be aired during the week of August 21.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b c "About YTMND". YTMND. Retrieved 2006-06-12. Cite error: The named reference "ytmndabout" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Yourethemannowdog.com from October 7, 2001". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2006-07-24.
  3. ^ "Yourethemannowdog.com from December 3, 2001". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2006-07-24.
  4. ^ "Yourethemannowdog.com/contrib from March 30, 2005". Internet Archive. Retrieved 2006-08-12.
  5. ^ "Welcome to the new face of ytmn(d-sfw)!". YTMND. 2005-11-25. Retrieved 2006-06-18.
  6. ^ "Fund raising". YTMND. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  7. ^ "EBaum's World". YTMND wiki. 2006-08-04. Retrieved 2006-08-04.
  8. ^ "And the complaints come marching in". YTMND. 2006-01-08. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  9. ^ "Your account will be deleted if..." YTMND. 2006-01-09. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  10. ^ "To clarify my statement". YTMND. 2006-01-09. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  11. ^ "Regarding the recent attacks on eBaum's World". eBaum's World. 2006-01-10. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  12. ^ ""Cease and Desist" from Neil Bauman". YTMND. 2006-01-10. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  13. ^ "The never ending saga". YTMND. 2006-01-12. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  14. ^ "Church of Scientology sends a cease and desist". YTMND. Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  15. ^ "What you know about dat". YTMND. 2006-06-13. Retrieved 2006-06-13.
  16. ^ "Green onions". YTMND. 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2006-06-23.
  17. ^ "Max's Comment". Max. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
  18. ^ "Attention YTMND". AWEmpire. Retrieved 2006-06-23.
  19. ^ "Fads". YTMND wiki. 2006-08-04. Retrieved 2006-08-11.
  20. ^ a b c d "Media sightings". YTMND. Retrieved 2006-06-18.
  21. ^ "User Created Challenge". G4. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  22. ^ James Lee (July 2006). "1 Web Site, 250,000 Idiotic Clips. LOL!". Wired Magazine. Retrieved 2006-08-11.
  23. ^ Ahrens, Frank "A Home For Quick Hits", Page F07 The Washington Post, July 30 2006
  24. ^ "mo money mo problems". YTMND. 2006-08-22. Retrieved 2006-08-22.
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