Why Did I Start This?

I’ve hung around the internet since my parents got dial-up in the mid-90s. I spent my teen years in AOL chatrooms about indie rock or updating my profile page on Makeoutclub. I spent my college years posting to my LiveJournal, reading blogs, and checking out the latest Flash animations on Homestar Runner. In my early 20s, I started taking my love of all things internet more seriously. I read up on online communities and emerging technologies, and I wrote my senior thesis about wikis (only a handful of years old then).

Fast-forward to now, and I’ve been working in Community for startups for about 10 years. Before that, I had a short-lived editorial job and a year of grad school at the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at NYU.

I am, like everyone, a product of the technologies around me. Thanks to an annoying level of curiosity, I’ve amassed a weird little collection of knowledge about online culture. That’s the extent of what makes me qualified (in big air quotes) to answer questions about internet ephemera.

“Why Do I Know This?” is a collection of answers to your questions. Tweet me your questions at @heatheremerrick.