Neopets
This spread through many posts rather than one canonical upload.
1999·Early web, before YouTube
A browser game in which players look after virtual pets and earn a play currency.
At a glanceThe facts
- Spread in
- 1999
- Format
- Phenomenon
- Made by
- Adam Powell and Donna Williams
- Origin
- No single original
- Available
- Not held by ViralWorld
What this wasThe story
A site where children kept virtual animals and, to decorate their pages and shops, learned markup, trading, economics and guild politics. For a very large cohort it was the first place they wrote code.
Why it matteredWhat changed
In 2005 it had about thirty-five million users and was bought for 160 million dollars. Sixty per cent of its income came from advertisements built into the games children were playing.
TimelineIn order
- Made
The site is launched.1
- Later
Viacom buys it.1
- Later
It is sold on to JumpStart.1
- Later
A breach exposing the details of 69 million accounts is confirmed.1
- Came back
Its managers buy it out and it becomes independent.1
Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast
Where it came fromWhat we know
This spread through many posts rather than one identifiable original. No copy is held here — what it was, when it spread and what people called it is what this page can tell you.
Nothing here is claimed to be the first version of this. It spread through many posts rather than from one identifiable original.
Not established. This index only names a creator where the evidence supports it.
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things