1991-1995
The Wild West
Mood: Experimental, academic, and chaotic
The web was mostly hand-built pages, directories, and frontier protocols.
Internet Era Timeline
1996-1999
Gold Rush
Mood: Explosive growth and portal wars
Search engines, homepages, and early communities became mainstream consumer destinations.
1999-2000
The Bubble
Mood: Infinite optimism and impossible valuations
Capital flooded weak business models, and growth forecasts detached from reality.
2000-2002
The Crash
Mood: Mass shutdowns and layoffs
Dozens of household dot-com names disappeared in a short, brutal correction.
2002-2004
The Rebuilding
Mood: Focus on sustainability
Survivors rebuilt with better infrastructure, clearer monetization, and stronger UX.
2004-2007
Web 2.0 Dawn
Mood: Social identity and user-generated media
Feeds, profiles, tags, and online video redefined how people spent time online.