The Internet often feels “current” and “modern.” Afterall, our lives are so entwined with the the internet, and there are still many, many people alive today who can speak to its evolution and development (and even a time before its existence). Yet, we are somewhere in the fourth to the sixth decade of having this amazing tool, depending on when you consider the birth and adoption of the internet. People have now developed pages for the World Wide Web (this term doesn’t sound as current, does it?) for a while, leaving sources that historians can use to construct the digital activities of people across time. Even back in 2006, Daniel J. Cohen and Roy Rosenzweig commented on archiving and doing history online. In their view, the ease of access and flexibility of the World Wide Web led to new archiving and public history endeavors. Yet, the internet poses its own longevity issues, as information on the platform is far from permeant. Adding to this, the drive to document anything and everything online has likely slowed down over time. As such, it is imperative to have an easy-to-use and resource accessible that allows us to archive web pages for future reference. This is what Internet Archive’s WayBack Machine does.
According to their website, “Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.” They offer a multitude references for digital materials researchers can use.
For instance, I was wondering what the earliest record of Google.com looked like in their archive, and it was very easy to search for it and select the earliest date they had available. Using the tool, we can look at how user interface, language, content, and more has changed over the life of the web. After playing around with the WayBack machine, I realized that this tool also leverages the power of the crowd. Internet Archives relies on users to upload links and captured webpages. I decided to make an account and explore this process and see how I can apply this tool.
The study of drugs and psychoactive substances is very important to me, and the web offers a repository of information unmatched by any other resource on the subject. Yet, I also have experienced the impermanence of online sources through my years of research. So, I wanted to contribute to preserving some of these fascinating dynamics, especially considering the transitory nature of drug-related digital behavior. After doing my research and finding the pages I wished to capture, I utilized the user-friendly interface and archived some pages. After my experience with Transcribe Bentham,I was happy to see my contributions added to the collective effort.
I added captures of a curious and fascinating episode in long story of drug use. It came to my attention through written reports of people’s experiences that Amazon sells OTC cough medicine that was possibly produced for the goal of use and abuse of its psychoactive component dextromethorphan (DXM). This substance is a dissociative hallucinogen, and taken in doses above the recommended amount, creates strong effects, ranging from sedation to hallucinations. Note that this is not “lean,” which requires the misuse of prescription medications (often containing codeine and promethazine).
While DXM produces the desirable results for those who misuse these medicines, many popular products contain other substances, such as acetaminophen, that result in adverse health circumstances. Because of this, DXM users will look for products that only contain this substance as the active ingredient. This is where Amazon’s offerings come into play.
I found it strange that Amazon sells very easy-to-swallow antitussives with no other active components than DXM. Adding to this, the product lists the active ingredient as just “dextromethorphan,” while more common preparations (such as Nyquil and Robitussin) state whether is it DXM hydrobromide or polystirex (perhaps this brand is selling it in freebase form). Finally, the name “RoboTablets” sounds like the colloquial name for the hallucinatory experience of DXM: “robotripping.”
After doing some digging, I found that the those making RoboTablets has set up various webpages under different company names. Before new regulations or legal troubles put a stop to this product, I wanted to catalog my findings as a fascinating time in the history of the internet and drug use. It also felt good to be the first to archive particular pages/links.
These are the main webpages I documented for reference. Do you think this product is marketed as an antitussive, or are there signals here for a different consumer group?
There are so many uses for the WayBack Machine! As a historian of drug use, there are so many things I am excited to us it for! Of course, other researchers will find it useful, too! How can you use the WayBack Machine?
Hey Tucker! I love that you did the WayBack Machine for your post here. I have no familiarity with the WayBack Machine, but I find it interesting because it gets me thinking about how fragile primary sources can be. Think about all of the information we lack regarding the ancient world simply because written documents from the period have been forever lost or destroyed (as parchment and paper is wont to do). Sure, there is material culture and archaeology, but I feel like they only say so much without the people from that time period telling us themselves what happened via written text. It is similar thing with internet source in my opinion. It might be a bit silly, but I sometimes think about what future archaeologists will think about our society today if all they have to work with are digital documents and maybe bits of material culture like the remains of buildings or daily objects. Like written documents, the survival of digital documents is not a guarantee, so those future archaeologists would have only a limited understanding of us. The WayBack Machine helps against this, especially since it is a conscious effort to prevent the loss of data, but this will not completely stop the loss of information produced by modern society.
I love how you brought up the fragility of primary sources, and especially with modern technology, they can be almost immaterial! I honestly think the same thing about future archaeologists. I do wonder if our attention towards archiving specific things will be of note to them. I also hope the Wayback machine helps with the loss of data, but I am uncertain.
The fragility of primary sources is a major concern! I like the connections, perhaps we can act as “digital archaeologists?” The Waybackmachine helps, but I am sure these saves are far from permanent.
Hey Tucker, this was an extremely detailed and well written blog post! I really liked how descriptive you were with your writing as well as with the images you used for the blog. The examples of the webpages were a great addition, and the addition of customer reviews from Amazon was a good touch that you added as well. I loved the title of the blog as well, it really captured my attention right off the bat, and the use of lots of images with great descriptions really helped improve my understanding of your topic. Overall, a well made and informative blog post!
Thank you for the feedback! I am glad to here the inclusion of the reviews helped to capture attention (I was hesitant to include them).
Hey Tucker super interesting post!
I have used Wayback Machine in the past to analyze some older webpages, but never to post my own archived webpages. I think the information that you archived will be extremely useful in future research in the correlations between the internet and drug use (a topic I know nothing about). Super fascinating sleuthing Tucker!
Thank you! I’m glad to see others can might also see the connections between digital history and drug research!
Quite an interesting read Tucker! I am vaguely familiar with the WayBack Machine, but have never given it any significant thought in terms of it being a research tool. Archiving websites, just like any historical document, could prove to be an important endeavor as the digital world continues to expand. As Cole said in an earlier comment, I often wonder about what historians and archaeologists will think of today’s humans in a hundred years’ time. I also found your post quite humorous with the reviews, which is always a nice touch. I hope Kevin is okay!