Another slight digression but I would just like to call dibs on the word Wempire
I made it up(as far as I know) and it’s hilarious and or mildly amusing.
It is a portmanteau of web and empire, original I know, but unlike Blog which might be the most unfortunate neologism of the 21st century thus far, Wempire is both sonically and conceptually ascendant. For some reason Wempire makes me think of Julius Caesar drinking out of a sippy-cup.
Wempires can best be thought of as vast tracts of virtual real estate, blog-facebook-myspace conglomerates, seas of link farms, porn kingdoms, a slightly derisive vision of the electronic frontiers, ripe for the taking; available to the rough and ready, the hardy adventurers who are willing to step outside of their digital doorsteps and claim their lives as their own; the viciers of the digital age. I will stop now.
Actually about 20 years or so ago there was a humorous short story called “Wempires” about a kid who was obsessed with Vampires and wanted to become one. Eventually he was visited by vampires with thick accents who called themselves “Wempires” and they impressed him so much nothing would ever change his mind about becoming a vampire.
I think it was in OMNI magazine in the early to mid 80’s The author’s name was something like Pinkus or Pinkney, IIRC