Everything2
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online community, Collaborative writing platform |
| Predecessor | Everything (Everything1, E1) |
| Founded | March 1998 |
| Founder | Nathan Oostendorp |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Jay Bonci (owner since 2012) |
| Products | User-generated written content (encyclopedic articles, daylogs, poetry, fiction, humor) |
| Owner | Everything2 Media LLC (since 2012) |
| Parent | Blockstackers Intergalactic (previous owner) |
| Website | everything2 |
Everything2 (often presented as Everything2 or simply E2) functions as a collaborative online community featuring a networked repository of user-generated written entries. The platform employs moderation to uphold content quality but imposes no strict thematic boundaries. Its content encompasses a wide range, including encyclopedic articles, personal diary entries known as "daylogs," poetry, humor, and fictional works.
History
The predecessor to Everything2, called Everything (later referred to as "Everything1" or "E1"), was established around March 1998 by Nathan Oostendorp. Initially, it was closely connected with the technology news website Slashdot, sharing some administrative personnel. The upgraded Everything2 software imported Everything1’s data twice, once in November 1999 and again in January 2000.
Initially hosted alongside Slashdot’s servers, E2 experienced downtime between November and December 2003 due to hosting transitions following OSDN’s acquisition of Slashdot. Subsequently, the platform was hosted by the University of Michigan, which provided server resources at no cost in return for an ad-free environment. In February 2007, hosting responsibilities shifted to Michigan State University.
Owned privately by Blockstackers Intergalactic, Everything2 has never operated with profit as its primary goal and is perceived by its user base as a collective ongoing project. Although it accepted donations until mid-2007, it ceased this practice thereafter. The administration team comprises individuals both connected and independent from Blockstackers. On January 23, 2012, ownership passed to Jay Bonci, a longtime contributor and developer, under the entity Everything2 Media LLC.
During the early days of E1, writeups were restricted to 512 bytes in length, resulting in lower-quality contributions dominated by self-referential humor and a primarily "geek" audience. With the expansion of E2, more rigorous quality criteria were introduced; much of the initial content was removed, and the community diversified its interests despite a reduction in membership numbers. Numerous contributors now produce encyclopedic entries comparable in scope to Wikipedia articles; others focus on fiction, poetry, or daylogs. Unlike Wikipedia, Everything2 does not mandate adherence to a neutral point of view. An informal survey suggests the user base generally leans left politically but welcomes well-articulated views from across the spectrum.
Although Everything2 predates Wikipedia as a collaborative encyclopedia platform, it never achieved comparable popularity. Scholar Cliff Lampe attributes this disparity to "editorial issues" and unfortunate timing preceding the dot-com crash. According to E2’s "Site Trajectory," monthly submissions declined sharply from 9,976 in August 2000 to just 93 by February 2017.
Policies
Some administrators regard Everything2 primarily as a venue for author-submitted content rather than an encyclopedia per se; nevertheless, it contains substantial factual information.
The site’s policy emphasizes that "Everything2 is not a bulletin board." Contributions that merely respond to or slightly augment existing writeups without standing independently are discouraged. This approach minimizes orphaned replies following deletion of original posts and helps control flame wars on contentious topics.
Everything2 is not structured as a wiki; users who are not editors cannot directly modify others’ entries. To suggest corrections, one must engage with the original author, appeal to an editor, add remarks in a designated "broken nodes" section, or compose an independent follow-up writeup.
Nodes and writeups
Users of E2, known as "noders," generate content called "nodes," each consisting of several "writeups." Writing is restricted to registered members, while editing privileges are limited to the original authors or designated editors. Writeups are categorized into thirteen distinct types: person, place, idea, thing, dream, personal, fiction, poetry, review, log, recipe, essay, and event. Additionally, editors utilize two special types—lede and definition—which are applied retroactively. These writeups employ a simplified form of HTML and do not include images.
Certain node varieties do not contain writeups; for instance, administrators create "superdoc" nodes—comparable to Wikipedia’s special pages—such as Everything New Nodes and Page of Cool, which facilitate user interaction. Every member is assigned a "homenode" that holds a brief biography or text (and may include an image after the user has contributed ten writeups—refer to Rewards).
Copyright practice
Authors retain full copyright ownership of their contributions while granting the site permission to publish their work. They maintain the option to release their content into the public domain, apply copyleft licenses such as GNU or Creative Commons, or request removal at a later time.
In earlier periods, posting copyrighted song lyrics and poetry without explicit consent was tolerated but not formally prohibited. E2’s approach to copyright enforcement was passive, resembling an ISP’s role under OCILLA section 512(c). Since August 2003, the platform requires that copyrighted content adhere to fair use principles—including limitations on length and quoted portions—or be accompanied by permission from the rights holder.
Rewards
E2’s reward system draws inspiration from role-playing games, employing a dual currency model devised by administrators. Users accumulate experience points (XP) to advance levels and earn a convertible currency (GP) used to buy temporary privileges. Each new writeup awards five XP. Once users have authored at least ten writeups and amassed 500 XP, they gain the ability to vote on others’ writeups. Positive votes grant the author one XP and offer approximately a one-in-three chance for the voter to receive one GP. After voting, users can view the writeup’s reputation score derived from positive and negative votes. Editors may remove low-quality writeups from public view; authors also have the option to retract their own work. Removed writeups are transferred to the author’s "drafts" area for further editing or deletion, with deletion resulting in the loss of the initial five XP. Writeups deleted before March 2011 are archived on a legacy page named "Node Heaven," whereas more recent removals become drafts.
Progressing through levels requires meeting specified XP and writeup thresholds, unlocking privileges such as achieving "cool" status (which grants 20 XP and highlights the writeup on the front page), creating basic chat rooms, uploading profile images, and hiding from the list of logged-in users.
The site previously tracked page views but discontinued this feature due to a malfunction that caused counter loops leading to crashes.
Messaging
Everything2 provides two primary communication channels: the Chatterbox and a private messaging system.
The Chatterbox operates similarly to an IRC chatroom, appearing as a panel where logged-in users can read and engage in real-time conversations. In the past, administrators employed a bot named EDB ("Everything Death Borg") to temporarily mute users who violated community guidelines—typically for five minutes or longer for repeat offenses. By 2003, EDB was seldom used except in jest. Persistent offenders could be permanently muted or banned from posting altogether; these actions are managed by staff members known as chanops. An enhanced version of this chat interface called 'chatterlight' offers an expanded view of the chatlog.
The private messaging feature allows users to send direct messages stored in individual mailboxes for later access. While primarily intended for constructive critique of writeups, it also supports general private communication between members. Recipients have control over archiving or deleting messages as they see fit.
Hard links
Within E2, hard links consist of words or phrases enclosed by [square brackets], directing users to the E2 node matching that title. If such a node is absent, selecting the link prompts the option to create it.
Originally, E2 did not support linking to external websites. However, in February 2009, limited functionality for external URLs was introduced. These outside links are distinctly identified by an icon resembling that used by Wikipedia. Despite this addition, extensive reliance on external URLs is discouraged since E2 content is intended to remain self-contained within its own ecosystem.
Pipe links
A variation of hard links known as pipe links allows the displayed text to differ from the linked node’s title. For example, [Wikipedia|Online encyclopedias] appears as "Online encyclopedias" but points to the "Wikipedia" node. Hovering over the link reveals its actual destination.
Users can target specific writeups within a node by adding qualifiers such as (person), (place), (idea), or (thing) after the pipe link. For instance, [Wiki (thing)|Wiki] leads to the "thing" writeup under the "Wiki" node. If multiple entries of that type exist, a "Duplicates Found" page will list all matches.
Pipe links frequently contain "easter egg" elements—hidden content including commentary, jokes, or secret messages.
Soft links
At the bottom of each node, up to 64 soft links are displayed (with limits of 24 for guests, 48 for logged-in users, and 64 for senior administrators). These bidirectional connections emulate associative "thought processes," linking related nodes together. When users navigate among nodes—whether via hard or soft links or through search—the system automatically creates or reinforces these soft links, except on special pages and user profiles.
Users can deliberately develop and strengthen soft links by repeatedly visiting certain nodes; some also utilize them for anonymous remarks on others’ contributions. Administrators maintain authority to delete soft links when necessary.
Firm links
Firm links serve as editor-generated redirects designed to unify various forms of a name or title under a single canonical node, enhancing search efficiency and ensuring users reach the intended content. For example, a firm link might permanently redirect 'USA' to 'United States of America,' consolidating related information. This mechanism operates similarly to automatic forwarding systems found on platforms like Wikipedia.
Software
E2 runs on the free Everything Engine (ecore), a Perl-based platform with its data managed via a MySQL database.
Media coverage
In 2001, The New York Times cited E2 as an illustration of emerging autonomous, self-organizing websites. That same year, The Japan Times praised E2’s vast scope and depth, likening it to a "Sim City of knowledge management." Jon Katz, writing for Yahoo! Internet Life, mentioned Everything2 alongside Plastic.com and The Vines Network as pioneering media outlets where users—not just editors—shape content collaboratively, fostering engagement and countering elitism.
A 2005 op-ed in The Washington Post by Claude Willan examined Everything2 within the context of Millennial disenchantment, highlighting its role as a collectivist writing platform driven by anonymous contributors producing fiction and journalism together. Willan quoted a user who described the site as "a reference collection, a novel that writes itself, poetry that reads itself," capturing Millennials’ fluid collective identity.
In 2003, Guardian Unlimited recognized E2 among the best collaborative online encyclopedias. The platform also earned a nomination for the 2004 Webby Award in Technical Achievement.
Academic studies
In their work At the Edge of Art, media theorists Joline Blais and Jon Ippolito examine Everything2 as an illustration of art broadening its societal function by "drawing attention, fostering fresh insights, yet avoiding complete assimilation." They characterize Everything2 as "an unusually quirky yet highly accessible open-source encyclopedia," contrasting its experience point-driven attention system that promotes "unconventional or thought-provoking topics" with Wikipedia's democratic editing model and Slashdot's external link-based discussion format. The platform’s internal hyperlinking cultivates a dedicated, albeit somewhat insular, user community.
Jeff Rice, in his book The Rhetoric of Cool, explores the concept of cool through rhetorical strategies such as juxtaposition, referencing Ted Nelson’s notion of hypertext as a prime example. Rice regards Everything2 as a close realization of Nelson’s hypertext ideal, where participants forge links among varied texts, enabling interactive layering of content that transcends traditional print media.
Cliff Lampe identifies Everything2 as an early pioneer in implementing reputation mechanisms to regulate user conduct in online communities. Originally, reputation grew with the quantity of submitted writeups, which inadvertently encouraged volume over substance, leading to the phrase "Noding for Numbers." To address this, Everything2 adjusted its system to emphasize user evaluations of writeups rather than mere submission counts.