by Brad Reed
Let's face it: the Internet can be a strange and intimidating place. After all, it only takes one foolish click on a dodgy link embedded within a spam email, and then BAM! A haxxor is ROFL because he pwn3d you with a Rick Roll and proclaims that all your base are belong to us. And despite the fact that you have no idea what the heck just happened to you, you do feel vaguely annoyed that you're suddenly humming "Never Gonna Give You Up" against your will.
If you feel confused by all this, you're not alone. Millions of Americans who surf the web every day are besieged by so many cryptic references to "ROFLcopters," "Failboats" and "Chris Crocker" that they feel like l4m00r n00bs who are hopelessly out of touch. Indeed, the Internet's various weird memes and fads have grown to such an extent that being "aware of all Internet traditions" has become its latest running gag.
In honor of the Internet's uniquely dense brand of insider humor, we've decided to examine and explain each of the most famous Internet traditions of the past decade. While this guide may not help you speak fluent 1337 overnight, it will at least help you understand why Chuck Norris is seemingly held in such high esteem nowadays...