The Useless Pages Explained

The Useless Web was an example of early web humor.

Criteria

It was a list of links to web pages the writers deemed egregiously useless, with humorous descriptions.^[1] In time it grew to a directory with links archived by category. It helped disseminate many early minor internet memes and phenomenon. There were many imitators, and it spawned its own Yahoo category. Marc Andreessen once called it "One of the best sites on the Web".^[2]

Origins

The site was founded by Paul Phillips in 1994.^[3] Steve Berlin took over in 1995 and started to update more regularly. In 1999 John Gephart IV took over and continued to update the site until early 2001.

Reception

The Useless Web received media coverage in The New York Times^[4] and Wired magazine.

Similar websites

A similar website, The Useless Web, was launched in 2012.^{[5] [6]}

See also

• Mirsky's Worst of the Web

External links

• Copy of the site from the Internet Archive

Notes and References

1. Web site: Read the reasons why you should check these useless websites for entertainment. StarsGeek.
2. Web site: Valentine's aftermath. News 24. July 30, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20010222004737/http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/Webwise/0,3362,2-13-204_982134,00.html. February 22, 2001. 22 February 2001.
3. Web site: A Brief History of Uselessness on the Web . www.go2net.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20000816121335/http://www.go2net.com/useless/history.html . August 16, 2000.
4. Web site: Edward . Rothstein . Can Twinkies think, and other ruminations on the Web as garbage depository . The New York Times . 1996-03-04 . 2009-12-23.
5. Web site: Souppouris . Aaron . The Useless Web: a collection of the world's most pointless websites . The Verge . 17 November 2012 . Vox Media . 14 September 2020.
6. Web site: The Sites of the Useless Web.