The Year Online

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6. Fans Get Lost Online
Starting in May, ABC presents The Lost Experience, an online ''alternate-reality game'' that uses websites (as well as fake ads on TV and in newspapers) to give hardcore fans a deeper understanding of the hit TV show's mysteries. In the summer, NBC and the Sci Fi Channel offer webisodes of The Office and Battlestar Galactica on their respective sites. But sometimes, what happens on the Web stays on the Web: Despite these online marketing campaigns, viewership of Lost and BSG takes a dip this year.

7. MySpace, The Final Frontier
Back in the day, social networking meant going out and spending time with real, honest-to-goodness people. Thanks to MySpace (and Bebo, and Facebook, and Hi5, and dozens of other sites), social networking now means spending time with a real, honest-to-goodness computer. Case in point: The 100-millionth MySpace account is created on Aug. 9.

8. Cameras Roll on TMZ
On May 17, a grainy video clip of celebutante Paris Hilton and ne'er-do-well scion Brandon Davis making snide comments about Lindsay Lohan (including the infamous ''firecrotch'' quip) is posted on TMZ.com, AOL's online gossip service that trawls the ''thirty-mile zone'' (hence, TMZ) around L.A. The upstart site quickly becomes an online hot spot for Hollywood scandal, breaking news of Mel Gibson's alcohol-fueled tirade, Britney and K-Fed's divorce, and Michael Richards' comedy-club meltdown.

9. On-Demand Movies Meet Online Shoppers
In the fall, both Apple and Amazon begin selling full-length movies on their websites. It's not a fully developed technology: Neither service offers a great selection of films (Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil on our computer? Finally!), the picture quality is mediocre at best, and downloads can take up to an hour. But the technology — however imperfect — does represent another step into a truly on-demand future.

10. Click Me Baby One More Time
She didn't win a Nobel Prize. Or broker a peace treaty. Or even have a hit song. She did, however, decide to go out on the town minus her undies. Several times. And so it was that our country's Netizens made ''Britney Spears'' the most popular search term on Yahoo! this year. Rounding out the top three: ''World Wrestling Entertainment'' and ''Shakira.'' Only one male, and no individual noncelebrity, cracked the top 10.