An early specimen of the digital artifact known as a "viral meme." Its unexplained, hypnotic motion captured the collective imagination of the early, dial-up web.
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In the era of the dial-up web, digital artifacts like the Dancing Baby spread not through platforms, but through people. They traveled as attachments in forwarded emails, passed along vast, invisible chains of friends and colleagues.
Each forward was a conscious act of sharing, a human-powered algorithm that created the first truly viral phenomena. Clicking a baby invites you to participate in this original, foundational ritual of meme culture.