About

Break the Internet or to break the Internet is a catchphrase used to indicate when a narrative, story, or image goes extremely viral, spreading through many different regions of the Internet at once. The term went into wide use with this meaning after being featured as the headline for Kim Kardashian's Paper Magazine cover.

Origin

The exact origin of the phrase is unknown, however the idea that the Internet is a single machine that can be "broken" or "broken into" was a common misconception in the media of the 1990s. Hackers were frequently described as having "broken into" the Internet. A 1993 story about a person stealing DNS access described the person as having "broken into the Internet, as in "Police have made what they believe is one of Canada's first arrests for breaking into the Internet, the worldwide computer network."^[2]

Spread

In 2008, the British version of the television show "The IT Crowd" made a joke about breaking the Internet by typing "Google" into Google.

In the early 2010s, "breaking the internet" was often used to indicate how some sort of new law or legislation could alter the way that the Internet operated. For instance, during the protests of SOPA/PIPA in 2012, many advocates claimed that the legislation would "break the Internet", meaning that it would fundamentally change how the Internet operated by creating an access hierarchy.^[3]

In addition, during the 2012 Davos convention, Google CEO Erik Schmidt was quoted saying that the EU's proposed "Right to be forgotten" legislation would "Break the Internet."^[4]

Using the term as a reference to viral content began in early 2014. Several videos on YouTube which predate the Kim Kardashian Paper Magazine cover claim that they feature celebrity stories that will "break the Internet" The earliest known instance is an episode of Joe Rogan's radio talk show featuring Neil DeGrasse Tyson, titled "Neil deGrasse Tyson Breaks The Internet."

Kim Kardashian's "Break the Internet" Paper Magazine Cover

On November 11th, 2014, Paper Magazine’s Twitter account shared a link to a brief article showcasing two studio photographs of Kim Kardashian, the 34-year-old TV personality and wife of Kanye West, for the cover image of its latest issue, both captioned with the subtitle “Break the Internet / Kim Kardashian”. In less than 24 hours, the tweet racked up more than 3,200 retweets and 2,500 favorites.^[6]

Since the cover, the term has gone into wide use as other narratives or stories have been perceived as breaking the internet or as trying to break the Internet. The term was used extensively in media descriptions of the reactions to Caitlyn Jenner's Vanity Fair Cover, most likely due to her familial relationship to Kim Kardashian. The Washington Post claimed in a headline "Actually, Caitlyn Jenner just broke the Internet," and the term was used in relationship to the story on Twitter about 10,000 times.

However, as of June 2015, the term maintains a high rate of use. Tracking on Twitter indicates that it is used at a steady rate of about 2,000 times per day on the network.^[5]

Nicki Minaj's "Break the Internet" Paper Magazine Cover

On November 14th, 2017, Paper Magazine tweeted^[7] a picture of a seatback monitor with the words "Please Wait" on it. They captioned the tweet, "…" The post (shown below) received more than 300 retweets and 2,400 likes in less than three days.

That day, rapper Nicki Minaj tweeted^[8] a video preview of the upcoming Paper cover, featuring brief clips of the photoshoot. The video (shown below) received more than 6,600 retweets and 21,000 likes in two days.

Later that day, Nicki Minaj tweeted^[9] the cover of Paper's "Break the Internet" issue entitled "Minaj á Trois," which featured three Nicki Minaj's on the cover. The post (shown below) received more than 37,000 retweets and 101,000 likes in two days.

Paper released a statement along with the cover.^[9] They wrote:

"We have never called an issue Break the Internet since we did it back in 2014 with Kim Kardashian. It takes a certain type of talent, with an awesome fan base and the ability to put trust in PAPER to work our magic. I have always loved all of the looks that Nicki has done (and she has done them all). Her style (typically anchored by her off-the-charts hair choices) matches her musical talent perfectly. Break the Internet is all about the big idea, the word, the image. It came to me one day that 'Minaj à trois' had never been done. HOW? We have seen different versions of Nicki, from high fashion to seductive to in-your-face and eye-catching all at the same time. But we had never seen all of these together -- and now we have the chance, thanks to our cover shoot with the rap star and Ellen von Unwerth. Welcome to Break the Internet."

Several media outlets published stories about the cover, including Fox,^[11] CBS,^[12] The Daily Dot,^[13] The AV Club^[14] and more. On November 15th, Twitter published a Moments^[15] page regarding the cover and the reaction to it.

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Urban Dictionary – Break the Internet

^[2] Globe and Mail – NEWS BRIEFING Police crack illegal access to Internet The Globe and Mail (Canada) January 7, 1995 Saturday (no link, access via Lexis)

^[3] BurnTheInternet – Break the Internet

^[4] The Register – 'Don't break the internet': How an idiot's slogan stole your privacy…

^[5] Topsy – Break the Internet

^[6] Boston Globe – Kim Kardashian attempts to break the Internet

^[7] Twitter – @papermagazine's Tweet

^[8] Twitter – @NICKIMINAJ's Tweet

^[9] Twitter – @NICKIMINAJ's Tweet

^[10] Paper – BREAK THE INTERNET: MINAJ À TROIS

^[11] Fox News – Nicki Minaj tries to 'Break the Internet' with very risque 'Minaj a Trois' Paper magazine cover

^[12] CBS – Nicki Minaj tries to 'break the internet' with racy Paper magazine cover

^[13] The Daily Dot – Nicki Minaj tries to ‘break the internet’ with NSFW ‘minaj a trois’ cover

^[14] The AV Club – Let us now acknowledge this Nicki Minaj magazine cover

^[15] Twitter – Nicki Minaj attempts to 'break the internet' with her own Paper cover