One doesn’t necessarily need to be an active surveyor of social media to acknowledge the overwhelming feeling that things just seem different in 2017. And if different isn’t the right word, even the most ever present optimist would have to at least admit that life simply feels…weird—perhaps a little too unsure. But is the current state of digital society—with all of its bells and whistles and tweets and memes—really much weirder than it was long ago? We’re here to say: no, it is not.
Every era, decade and trend will undoubtedly have its features that, when looked back upon, are definitively and hysterically weird. And with the Weird Internet Hall of Fame, we’ve built a capsule collection intended on cherishing and savoring these moments for all of online eternity (or until some old dude with a billion dollars buys it and destroys it, crushing all of our hopes and dreams for a lifetime).
Our first inductee: the music video for 1997’s “Hooked On a Feeling” by David Hasselhoff.
Standing as a metaphor for his entire career, “Hooked On a Feeling” takes Hasselhoff and his audience on a visceral, unapologetic acid trip around the world—scaling arctic tundras, floating along grassland shores, riding motorcycles in heightened positions of danger, and catching large swaths of fish in his mouth.
Welcome to the Hall, David, and thank you. The internet will forever be a much weirder place with you in it.