🧵 Curious how researchers, journalists, and artists dig into the web’s past? 🌐
WAYS OF WORKING WITH THE WAYBACK MACHINE shows how the #WaybackMachine opens up discovery & creativity from tracking platform changes to investigating misinformation & remixing archived sites.
A recent gathering at Internet Archive Europe shared methods, tools, and collaborations shaping digital research and media art.
Promotional slide featuring a screenshot from the video "Google and the politics of tabs," featuring a 3D timeline view of archived Google homepage snapshots from December 17, 2001.
Image with text at the top that reads: "Wayback Machine Then and Now" and "OLYMPICS.COM". Below is a Wayback Machine capture of the Olympincs website from February 9th, 2006, alongside one from February 9, 2026, both showing pages about the opening ceremony.
"A resistance fighter understands that technology must never be accepted as part of the natural order of things, that every technology— from an IQ test to an automobile to a television set to a computer — is a product of a particular economic and political context and carries with it a program, an agenda, and a philosophy that may or may not be life-enhancing and that therefore require scrutiny, criticism, and control. In short, a technological resistance fighter maintains an epistemological and psychic distance from any technology, so that it always appears somewhat strange, never inevitable, never natural."
From early HTML to modern redesigns, the @WaybackMachine preserves the digital playbook of #NFL champions, decades of archived team sites, including the Seattle Seahawks. 🏟️
Image with text at the top that reads: "Wayback Machine Then and Now" and "SEAHAWKS.COM". Below is a Wayback Machine capture of the Seattle Seahawks website from October 31, 2001, alongside one from February 9, 2026.
While using the Wayback Machine the last few days, I've had a lot of "503 Service Unavailable" errors. I'm seeing those errors not just when archiving pages, but also when retrieving pages from the archive as well.
In the past, I've seen issues with Wayback Machine short-term corresponding to an event that would trigger a lot of archiving (example: a major government agency caught deleting web content.)
🏛️ All proceeds benefit the Internet Archive, a non-profit research library with a mission to provide "Universal Access to All Knowledge."
A grid of photos of a white baseball-style jersey with black pinstripes. The front features the words Internet Archive in script lettering across the chest. It has black trim on the sleeves and a button-up front. The back displays the number 10 with a small 12 above it, and the words WEB PAGES printed below in bold black lettering, representing 10 to the 12th power web pages preserved. The right sleeve features the logo of the Wayback Machine in maroon and black. The right sleeve features a customized version of the Internet Archive logo with the characters 1T in place of two of the pillars.
Mosaic was the first web browser to hit the mainstream in 1993, built by NCSA at Illinois. 🌐 It integrated text, images, data, audio & video, sparking a web boom. Not the first browser, but the one that made the web usable for millions. Its legacy? Every browser since.
Image with text at the top that reads: "Wayback Machine Then and Gone" and "NCSA.UIUC.EDU/SDG/SOFTWARE/MOSAIC". Below is a Wayback Machine capture of the NCSA website for the Mosaic browser from December 20, 1996, alongside a stylized computer window featuring a pixel art frowning face representing that the website is gone labeled "Now".
Erin Malone — author, design historian, and Chair of Interaction Design at CCA — discusses building Kodak’s first website in the mid-1990s and gives a look at that site, now preserved in the #WaybackMachine.
Hi5 was an early social platform, launched in 2003. Mostly forgotten in the U.S., but big in Latin America & Southeast Asia with tens of millions of users around 2007–2008. Today it’s mostly social games & dating.
The #WaybackMachine preserves the early web, from the famous to the forgotten. Use it to find your forgotten corners of the internet. ⤵️ https://web.archive.org
Image with text at the top that reads: "Wayback Machine Then and Gone" and "HI5.COM". Below are Wayback Machine captures of the landing pages of the Hi5 website from June 9, 2004, alongside one from September 26, 2025.
Screenshot of a May 16, 2001, Wayback Machine capture of the webpage gmail.garfield.com. The page announces a change to Garfield.com’s free email service, now offered through Everyone.net, with twice the storage and personalized addresses ending in “@e-garfield.com.” It notes that users under 13 cannot register due to government regulations and suggests Hotmail or Yahoo as alternatives. A bold message invites users age 13 or over to click to register for their new free Garfield email account, followed by a link that says “Click here.” The interface shows the Wayback Machine navigation bar at the top, with the year 2001 highlighted.
HAPPENING TODAY IN SAN FRANCISCO!
Celebrate 1 trillion web pages archived on the #WaybackMachine through art — join Internet Archive x Gray Area: Trillionth Webpage Net․Art Commissions. 🌐🎨
A vertical trio of digital artworks. The top panel shows hand-drawn icons—a hand, compass, cloud, and eye—connected by a dotted path on a pink gradient background. The middle panel displays floating, distorted names on a grid of Internet Archive logos. The bottom panel features a pixelated circular form resembling an eye with pink pixel blossoms on a white background.
Tomorrow! Celebrate 1 trillion web pages archived on the #WaybackMachine through art 🎉
Join @GrayAreaorg and Internet Archive in person for Internet Archive x Gray Area: Trillionth Webpage Net․Art Commissions — new works exploring memory, data, and digital culture.
A digital artwork showing a gradient background filled with small repeating Internet Archive logos. Scattered across the image are floating, distorted white text fragments and names—such as “Mark,” “Myrtle,” “Candida,” “Anne,” and “Cari-Ann”—appearing in various fonts and sizes, creating a layered, glitch-like visual effect.
Mark Graham has helped preserve The Web We’ve Built—1 trillion pages & counting. 🌐
Hear the #WaybackMachine director on the Future Knowledge #podcast discussing the past, present, & future of our digital memory.
Looking for something to add to your weekend plans, San Francisco?
Celebrate 1 trillion pages archived on the Wayback Machine with art at Internet Archive x Gray Area: Trillionth Webpage Net․Art Commissions. 🌐🎨
A vertical trio of digital artworks. The top panel shows hand-drawn icons—a hand, compass, cloud, and eye—connected by a dotted path on a pink gradient background. The middle panel displays floating, distorted names on a grid of Internet Archive logos. The bottom panel features a pixelated circular form resembling an eye with pink pixel blossoms on a white background.
Yesterday, on Internet Archive Day, THE WEB WE’VE BUILT event celebrated 1 trillion pages saved to the #WaybackMachine, featuring music, storytelling, and digital history brought to life.
💾 Like many early social media platforms, Bebo went through an identity crisis: launching in 2005 with college students as its target audience, then expanding to teens, young adults, & eventually the general public.
Image with text at the top that reads: "Wayback Machine Then and Gone" and the domain name "BEBO.COM". Below is a Wayback Machine capture of the Bebo landing from August 24, 2005, alongside a stylized computer window labeled "Now", featuring a pixel art frowning face representing that the site is gone.
⏳️ IT'S NOT TOO LATE to join The Web We’ve Built, happening today, Internet Archive Day, as designated by the city of San Francisco! 🌐
Celebrate 1 trillion pages saved to the #WaybackMachine with the
@internetarchive from anywhere in the world. Don’t miss stories, music & digital history live!
Poster with a gradient blue background. Large text reads “the web we’ve built.” Smaller text says “Celebrating 1 trillion web pages archived.” Pixelated 3D icons of a floppy disk, magnifying glass, cursor arrow, computer window, and others radiate outward from a bright starburst in the center. On the right, text lists event details: “Wednesday, October 22, 5–10PM PT. Live stream: 7–8PM PT. 300 Funston Avenue, San Francisco.” The Internet Archive logo appears in the bottom right corner.
1 trillion web pages preserved. A digital milestone that defines the Internet Archive’s mission.
Chris Freeland & Dave Hansen talk with Mark Graham, director of the #WaybackMachine, about how this public archive came to be & why it matters for our collective memory.
Podcast cover for Episode #12 of "Future Knowledge" titled "Wayback Machine at 1 Trillion." The design features the portrait of guest Mark Graham. Surrounding the portrait are collage-style retro-futuristic elements, including a classical statue head, a vintage computer with the word "NEW" on its screen, a modernist observation tower, and abstract architectural shapes. The title uses bold, blocky typography, giving the cover a vintage sci-fi aesthetic.
Image with text at the top that reads: "Wayback Machine Then and Gone" and "ARCHIVE.ORG". Below are Wayback Machine captures of the Internet Archive website from January 26, 1997, and July 31, 2023.
#SanFrancisco! 🌐 Meet the people, partners & friends of the
@internetarchive at the RALLY FOR THE INTERNET ARCHIVE & celebrate our shared digital history. Supervisor Connie Chan will introduce a proclamation declaring Oct 22 “Internet Archive Day” in SF.
Join the celebration next week! 🌐 1 trillion pages have been saved to the #WaybackMachine, & The Web We’ve Built with the
@internetarchive brings stories, music & digital history to life — in San Francisco & online.
Poster with a gradient blue background. Large text reads “the web we’ve built.” Smaller text says “Celebrating 1 trillion web pages archived.” Pixelated 3D icons of a floppy disk, magnifying glass, cursor arrow, computer window, and others radiate outward from a bright starburst in the center. On the right, text lists event details: “Wednesday, October 22, 5–10PM PT. Live stream: 7–8PM PT. 300 Funston Avenue, San Francisco.” The Internet Archive logo appears in the bottom right corner.