The haunting of GeoCities and the politics of access control on the early Web

C. J. Reynolds; Blake Hallinan

doi:10.1177/1461444820951609

The haunting of GeoCities and the politics of access control on the early Web

C. J. Reynolds, Blake Hallinan^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Communication and Journalism

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Yahoo’s purchase of make-your-own-website platform GeoCities in 1999 and subsequent implementation of a new Terms of Service agreement led to one of the most notable boycotts in Web history. During the “Haunting,” GeoCities users stripped their homepages of color and content, replacing blinking GIFs with excerpts of the offending Terms of Service. In this landmark battle over content rights and access control, protestors used the platform antagonistically, disrupting the value of user-generated content and undermining the company’s strategic vision for the platform. Within a week, the Haunting of GeoCities successfully forced Yahoo to acquiesce to protestor demands and set enduring standards for Terms of Service that preserved greater rights for content creators. This case study from the early Web demonstrates how access is always bound up in a struggle over control and offers a timely reminder of how users have been—and can be—vital agents of platform politics.

Original language	American English
Article number	11
Pages (from-to)	3268-3289
Number of pages	22
Journal	New Media and Society
Volume	23
Issue number	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444820951609
State	Published - Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the many readers who helped us figure out how to shift a story about GeoCities in 1999 from the observation of “this is neat” to an argument about why this continues to matter. Liz Ellcessor provided exceptional early guidance and inspiration, while the Philosophy, Theory, and Critique division of ICA and the truly excellent anonymous reviewers at New Media & Society pushed us to sharpen the stakes and extend the theoretical contribution. Finally, our sincere thanks to the Internet Archive and GeoCities preservationists, for without them our work would not be possible and the Internet would be a smaller place. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.

Keywords

Access
GeoCities
Internet history
access control
boycotts
digital culture
early Web
platforms
terms of service
user-generated content

Access to Document

10.1177/1461444820951609

Cite this

@article{499c420224684b6e80ee046b82d56fb1,

title = "The haunting of GeoCities and the politics of access control on the early Web",

abstract = "Yahoo{\textquoteright}s purchase of make-your-own-website platform GeoCities in 1999 and subsequent implementation of a new Terms of Service agreement led to one of the most notable boycotts in Web history. During the “Haunting,” GeoCities users stripped their homepages of color and content, replacing blinking GIFs with excerpts of the offending Terms of Service. In this landmark battle over content rights and access control, protestors used the platform antagonistically, disrupting the value of user-generated content and undermining the company{\textquoteright}s strategic vision for the platform. Within a week, the Haunting of GeoCities successfully forced Yahoo to acquiesce to protestor demands and set enduring standards for Terms of Service that preserved greater rights for content creators. This case study from the early Web demonstrates how access is always bound up in a struggle over control and offers a timely reminder of how users have been—and can be—vital agents of platform politics.",

keywords = "Access, GeoCities, Internet history, access control, boycotts, digital culture, early Web, platforms, terms of service, user-generated content",

author = "Reynolds, {C. J.} and Blake Hallinan",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the many readers who helped us figure out how to shift a story about GeoCities in 1999 from the observation of “this is neat” to an argument about why this continues to matter. Liz Ellcessor provided exceptional early guidance and inspiration, while the Philosophy, Theory, and Critique division of ICA and the truly excellent anonymous reviewers at New Media & Society pushed us to sharpen the stakes and extend the theoretical contribution. Finally, our sincere thanks to the Internet Archive and GeoCities preservationists, for without them our work would not be possible and the Internet would be a smaller place. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2020.",

year = "2021",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1177/1461444820951609",

language = "American English",

volume = "23",

pages = "3268--3289",

journal = "New Media and Society",

issn = "1461-4448",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",

number = "11",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The haunting of GeoCities and the politics of access control on the early Web

AU - Reynolds, C. J.

AU - Hallinan, Blake

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank the many readers who helped us figure out how to shift a story about GeoCities in 1999 from the observation of “this is neat” to an argument about why this continues to matter. Liz Ellcessor provided exceptional early guidance and inspiration, while the Philosophy, Theory, and Critique division of ICA and the truly excellent anonymous reviewers at New Media & Society pushed us to sharpen the stakes and extend the theoretical contribution. Finally, our sincere thanks to the Internet Archive and GeoCities preservationists, for without them our work would not be possible and the Internet would be a smaller place. The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2020.

PY - 2021/11

Y1 - 2021/11

N2 - Yahoo’s purchase of make-your-own-website platform GeoCities in 1999 and subsequent implementation of a new Terms of Service agreement led to one of the most notable boycotts in Web history. During the “Haunting,” GeoCities users stripped their homepages of color and content, replacing blinking GIFs with excerpts of the offending Terms of Service. In this landmark battle over content rights and access control, protestors used the platform antagonistically, disrupting the value of user-generated content and undermining the company’s strategic vision for the platform. Within a week, the Haunting of GeoCities successfully forced Yahoo to acquiesce to protestor demands and set enduring standards for Terms of Service that preserved greater rights for content creators. This case study from the early Web demonstrates how access is always bound up in a struggle over control and offers a timely reminder of how users have been—and can be—vital agents of platform politics.

AB - Yahoo’s purchase of make-your-own-website platform GeoCities in 1999 and subsequent implementation of a new Terms of Service agreement led to one of the most notable boycotts in Web history. During the “Haunting,” GeoCities users stripped their homepages of color and content, replacing blinking GIFs with excerpts of the offending Terms of Service. In this landmark battle over content rights and access control, protestors used the platform antagonistically, disrupting the value of user-generated content and undermining the company’s strategic vision for the platform. Within a week, the Haunting of GeoCities successfully forced Yahoo to acquiesce to protestor demands and set enduring standards for Terms of Service that preserved greater rights for content creators. This case study from the early Web demonstrates how access is always bound up in a struggle over control and offers a timely reminder of how users have been—and can be—vital agents of platform politics.

KW - Access

KW - GeoCities

KW - Internet history

KW - access control

KW - boycotts

KW - digital culture

KW - early Web

KW - platforms

KW - terms of service

KW - user-generated content

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089670546&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/1461444820951609

DO - 10.1177/1461444820951609

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85089670546

SN - 1461-4448

VL - 23

SP - 3268

EP - 3289

JO - New Media and Society

JF - New Media and Society

IS - 11

M1 - 11

ER -

The haunting of GeoCities and the politics of access control on the early Web

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this