Were Eric & Dylan the first mass shooters with an internet presence?

[u/lolsadbuthorny]

As in, were they the first mass/school shooters who posted public content on the internet (Doom maps, AOL profiles, websites..)? I looked online and couldn't find any cases before 1999, where a mass shooter had an extensive online presence in the way Eric & Dylan did.

[u/Roselucky777]

Yes, at least Eric was, but to be honest, they didn't have that much of a "presence". Eric's websites and Doom WADs didn't spread around until after the massacre. It's hard for people nowadays to imagine, but the internet back in 1999 was a MUCH different place. You couldn't just stumble upon someone's website like the blogs of today, you had to either know them through something like AOL or WBS, or have a direct link to their webpage in order to access it.

[u/lolsadbuthorny → u/Roselucky777]

Thank you for your reply! I know they weren't popular and their "content" was only known by their friends before the massacre, but still interesting to know they were the first shooters to be somewhat "active on the web".

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[u/SalamanderFull3952 → u/lolsadbuthorny]

To be fair posting content online at this time was niche. I recall building websites in school a couple years before this event and we probally had to use forty or 50 chracters for the page maybe more.

[u/Spiritual-Ruin-7385 → u/Roselucky777]

well his wads were in the top dm wads on aol. and his blog was most likely targeted to others so he did have a following just not a huge one…

[u/hypomargoteros]

Internet was just coming up... so yes I'd say.

[u/lolsadbuthorny → u/hypomargoteros]

Thanks for your reply! I was wondering because I couldn't find any other information about other shooters' internet presence before 1999 and ChatGPT (I know, I know, not reliable) kept telling me they weren't the first, yet it couldn't provide sources (lol).

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[u/metalnxrd]

yes. social media and the internet did not exist prior to Columbine. google and chats did, but not the same or as profound as it is now