26 Years Ago…
On this day in 1998, 26 freaking years ago, I started writing this blog. I’ve talked at you a lot about the site recently, so I’ll be brief. Last year on this anniversary, I wrote:
My love for the web has ebbed and flowed in the years since, but mainly it’s persisted — so much so that as of today, I’ve been writing kottke.org for 25 years. A little context for just how long that is: kottke.org is older than Google. 25 years is more than half of my life, spanning four decades (the 90s, 00s, 10s, and 20s) and around 40,000 posts — almost cartoonishly long for a medium optimized for impermanence.
And still having fun. Perhaps more fun than ever. Thanks to all of you for being a part of it.
P.S. I hope you’ll forgive me taking advantage of any 26-years!-I-love-this-place! feelings you might have today to ask that if you find value in what I do here, I’d appreciate if you’d support the site by purchasing a membership. And to everyone who has supported the site over the years, thank you so much!
Discussion 25 comments
I think one of the reasons I like this site so much is because I registered my own domain and have had a website just about as long. If only I had the passion to make it in to something like Kottke.org!
same.
Love this place. Congrats and thanks!
Congratulations on 26 years, Jason.
A joyous day for a joyous thing.
Congratulations! Here's to 26 more!
Congratulations, Jason! I've been here since around 2000 and it's truly a pleasure. My membership is well worth it and shall not lapse!
Congratulations! This is one corner of the web that has stayed the same, in the best way possible. I've been reading for 23 of those 25 years. Thank you for bringing new, creative ideas and things to my attention all of these years.
A loyal reader for most of those 26 years. It's really wonderful to recognize all the enjoyment you've brought to us. It's special to feel your renewed vigor for the site (while I never felt it flagging)
Congrats, Jason. This is my favorite place on the web.
You have turned me on to countless things. For that I am grateful.
Congrats, Jason! You're still around not just because you're damn good at what you do, but because you never "enshittified" this place. You continue to do what you've always done: share interesting, fun, thought-provoking things. Thank you for maintaining this one sacred corner of the internet for so long.
I've been looking back through the site, trying to figure out when I started reading. Sometime in the early 2000's at least, that's for sure. Thanks for everything Jason!
💞
Thank you, Jason. How much joy you have brought into my life *revolving hearts emoji*
i feel like i'm still new here, but i realize now that i became a just-about-daily visitor starting 11 years ago! so happy blogday to both of us! (ok you're far more impressive)
Still the best website in the world - bravo
Thanks for making every day a little bit happier for us.
On that exact same day I met my wife in person for the first time. Happy 26th anniversary to all three of us! (Which sounds weirder than it’s meant to be)
Really incredible. And I love that it'a a .org. Did you ever waffle and almost .com it? (I sort of wish I was a .org more than a .com … it's interesting that DF is a .net! Look at us dorks!)
.com wasn't available so I got the .org. Simple as that.
damn, the kottkes of the world were quick online movers (.org is cooler anyway.)
Aged like a fine wine!
Congrats! Keep doing what you are doing. I love being here because its one of the few truly genuine places on the web. I at least will always keep coming back till you keep doing this. Subscription renewed.
Congrats and happy anniversary Jason !
Congratulations, Jason! And thank you for all these years of ❤️. Was the beginning on pi day a coincidence?
Recently I've realized the outsized impact of this site on my life - it was through kottke.org that I discovered satanslaundromat.com and lightningfield.com, two sadly defunct photoblogs that were hugely influential on my decisions to start photoblogging and move to NYC.
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Hello! In order to leave a comment, you need to be a current kottke.org member. If you'd like to sign up for a membership to support the site and join the conversation, you can explore your options here.
Existing members can sign in here. If you're a former member, you can renew your membership.
Note: If you are a member and tried to log in, it didn't work, and now you're stuck in a neverending login loop of death, try disabling any ad blockers or extensions that you have installed on your browser...sometimes they can interfere with the Memberful links. Still having trouble? Email me!