Single-serving site

A single-serving site (SSS) is a website composed of a single page with a dedicated domain name and serves only one purpose.[1][2] The term was originally coined by Jason Kottke in February 2008,[3] although single-serving sites have existed since the dawn of the internet.[4]

History

Origins

The origins of single-serving sites trace back to the creation of the World Wide Web. The oldest known single serving site is Purple.com, which was launched in 1994. This website contains no links and its only content is a purple-colored background.[5][6] In August 1995, wwwdotcom.com was launched, the first of several sites dubbed as "The Last Page of the Internet."[7] Mike Kuniavsky launched Tired.com in November 1997. This site asks the viewer if he/she is tired and if so, why.[8] In 1999, Zombo.com was launched, featuring a page with seven rotating colour wheels.[9] Many people view this site as a parody to several other single serving sites created in the late 1990s. Most of the sites from the 1990s that still exist in their original form are single-serving sites.

Spread

One of the best known single-serving sites is YTMND, created in 2001.[4] In 2007, several single-color descendants of Purple.com were launched, including SometimesRedSometimesBlue.com and LetsTurnThisFuckingWebsiteYellow.com.[5][10] In February 2008, San Francisco-based writer Mathew Honan launched a single serving site called Barack Obama is Your New Bicycle, which generates a random Barack Obama non sequitur.[11]

List of single-serving sites

The following is a list of single-serving website examples. Websites that do not make the creator apparent, either through the source code or a social media link have, "Creator Unknown" listed in the creator column.

URL Creator(s) Description
http://www.purple.com Jeff Abrahamson The oldest known SSS. Purple.com currently displays the color purple (#7D26CD) with a link to an FAQ page and an ad, both of which disappear after a few seconds.
https://isitchristmas.com Eric Mill Displays 'YES' if it is December 25th, 'NO' otherwise.
http://howifeelaboutthat.com/ Alexander Jimenez Displays a single button that, when clicked, plays a random audio file containing the phrase, "I don't care".
http://hasthelargehadroncolliderdestroyedtheworldyet.com Mike Kania Displays 'NOPE.' on a black background. This is in response to the commonly held, though scientifically implausible fear that the LHC would cause a world-ending disaster to occur.
http://guyforceshiswifetodressinagarbagebagforthenextthreeyears.com Aaron Drake Displays a slideshow of woman who is wearing a garbage bag posing in various pictures with her (presumed) husband. The page also plays a song (in french) describing wearing a garbage bag in various scenarios.
http://barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com Mat Honan Randomly generates non-sequiturs about US President Barack Obama.
http://www.sometimesredsometimesblue.com Damon Zucconi A webpage which is sometimes red (#FF0000) and sometimes blue (#0000FF). There is equal probability of each color coming up.
http://amitransgender.com Zinnia Jones Website reads 'yes.' This page is playing on the common idea in the Transgender community that if someone is spending a significant amount of time asking if they are transgender, it is a good indication that they are.
http://www.howmanypeopleareinspacerightnow.com Brad Eshbach Gives the number of humans currently in space, as well as their names and how long they've been active
http://zombo.com Creator Unknown. Apparently owned by http://www.15footstick.com Zombo.com displays flashing lights while a voice welcomes you repeatedly to 'zombocom'.
http://ismycomputeron.com Creator Unknown Reads 'YES', since a user must have a powered on computer to view websites.
http://www.ismycomputeronfire.com Creator Unknown Reads 'No.' since a computer that is on fire is unlikely to be functional.
http://sadtrombone.com Alba Web Studio Displays a button that plays the stock 'sad trombone' sound.
http://www.ineedanotherwordforpenis.com Andrew Alba Randomly displays a word from a visitor-contributed list of synonyms for 'Penis'. Users can vote terms up or down.
http://www.isup.me or http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com Creator Unknown Checks if a website is up or down.
http://isthisyourpaperonsingleservingsites.com Ryan Greenberg Discusses and links to single-serving sites.
http://lmgtfy.com Jim Garvin & Ryan McGeary Automates a custom Google search query.
http://whatismyip.org Creator Unknown Displays user's IP.
http://whatismyresolution.com Creator Unknown Displays user's resolution.
http://niceme.me/ Creator Unknown Displays and speaks "Nice meme!"
http://nicememe.website/, http://nicememewebsite.website/ through http://nicememewebsitewebsitewebsitewebsite.website/ Creator Unknown Displays and speaks "Nice meme" plus however many instances of "website" are in the rest of the URI
http://nicememewebsitewebsitewebsitewebsitewebsite.website/ Creator Unknown On a rainbow background, displays the text "Nice meme website website website website website website" flying in a circle and plays an audio recording of that being spoken in front of a drum track.
http://inception.davepedu.com/ Dave Pedu Displays a single, large, red button, the pressing of which plays a dramatic sound inspired by the film "Inception."
http://doesaustraliahaveagovernmentyet.com Creator Unknown Reports whether the most recent Australian government election has been called yet.
http://bewareoftheleopard.com/ Pat Travers Displays "Look Out Behind You" inspired by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
http://howdoeshomeopathywork.com Merseyside Skeptics Society Reads "It doesn't".

See also

References

  1. ↑ Craig Snyder (March 20, 2012). "10 Single-Serving Sites That Are Useful, Funny, Or Weird". MakeUseOf. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  2. ↑ Matthew Honan (July 20, 2009). "Ask a Flowchart: How Do I Make a Single-Serving Site?". Condè Nast. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Web trend alert: Single Serving Sites". Splashpress Media. November 16, 2008.
  4. 1 2 Veronica Belmont (October 13, 2009). "Trending Topics: Single-Serving Websites". Future US, Inc. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Johnson, Paddy (12 May 2014). "Addictive Single-Serving Websites by 7 Artists". News.artnet.com. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Arias, Ryan (1 November 2011). "Five Things you need to know about". The Tartan. Radford University. Retrieved 2014-12-02.
  7. ↑ "wwwdotcom.com Website Traffic and Information". Trafficestimate.com. TrafficEstimate.com. 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  8. ↑ Boutin, Paul (13 July 2004). "The perplexing success of Tired.com". Slate. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Working IT out Reanimator". Guardian News and Media. April 4, 2001. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
  10. ↑ Broskoski, Charles (13 September 2010). "xhibition and interview: WHITE, YELLOW, BLUE, AND BLACK, ONE COINCIDENCE, AND ONE OBJECT.". permalink.gmane.org. Gmane. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
  11. ↑ Zorn, Eric (21 February 2008). "Change of Subject:`My New Bicycle' is the new black". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
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