DotCom Baby Album

Marvel at how hideous your favorite Web sites were way back when

If there’s one thing Facebook wants you to forget about—other than Twitter, of course—it’s what it used to look like back when it was still called thefacebook.com. And if The New York Times had its way, it would certainly rewrite history to eradicate all traces of its 1996 incarnation. But, thanks to artifacts extracted from the deepest orifices of the Internet Archive, it’s possible to turn back the clock on these highly regarded Web destinations to see how humbly they began. And by humbly, we mean hideously ugly.

In addition to Facebook and The Times, The Daily Beast’s slideshow also skewers Apple and NASA in ’97, Google and the White House in ’98, and plenty of others. If you think your high school prom photos are a laugh factory, at least they’re not saddled with frames, animated gifs, JavaScript status messages and other hallmarks of tacky Web design. But hey, it was all so new to us back then and no one knew any better.

Check out the slideshow, and when you’re done throwing up your Thanksgiving leftovers, take your own stroll down memory lane.

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