Oh Web, Where Art Thou?

It’s the 4th of July and there’s no one online to celebrate. Overnight, the web has become a ghost town as humans (seemingly all of them) ritualistically leave their online abodes once a year to perform certain offline activities. (Which is a shame, seeing as we released our first program ever on the 4th of July too!) So where do the people go? Why isn’t anyone online, celebrating?

It seems that the internet, with all its superficial relationships on Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and dozens more just can’t keep up with the fireworks display, Independence Day Sales, and other activities that people cherish – seemingly more than the internet!

But more importantly, is the web so America-centric that a holiday shared by only the inhabitants of a single country causes the entire internet to come to a screeching halt? Sure, if you go to region-specific websites, it is business as normal – but what about the rest of the (generic) web?

On this one day where all of America turns its computers off, there is less activity than on Christmas and New Years were a (large) percentage of people from all around the globe leave their online identities aside and go to visit family and friends (and party 24/7).

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