The Onion: 20 Years Later | James daSilva | Substack

Before social media and smartphones, The Onion ruled satire

You know and love The Onion, with its smart, funny satire and parody that skewers the real world while creating a brilliant universe of “Area Man” stories.

But a lot has changed since The Onion became big in the 1990s. That era barely had the internet, much less social media and smartphones. The Onion barely had to have a website, much less compete against endless distractions and millions of jokesters tweeting jokes and doing bits on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and more.

In the 2020s, it’s been about two decades since The Onion was at the height of its powers. So are we doing here?

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