''Our First Time'' (OFT) was one of the first widely popularized Internet hoaxes. Eighteen-year-olds "Mike" and "Diane" made a public announcement declaring their intention to lose their

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

. The event would be broadcast live on ourfirsttime.com, so visitors could share the "experience". OFT, which promoted itself as a free public service educational website, followed Mike and Diane day by day from July 18 to July 21, 1998 through

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

tests, condom selection, and telling their parents about their decision. So many millions of people attempted to view the site that the server crashed. The Internet Entertainment Group agreed to host it in exchange for links to their pornographic content. Over time, some began to suspect it was a hoax. Mike and Diane looked older than 18 and appeared to be actors. "Mike" turned out to be an Alabama actor Ty Taylor and "Diane" turned out to be Michelle Parma, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. The enterprise fizzled when IEG backed out after the producer, Ken Tipton, revealed that his plan was to make money by charging Internet users $5 each for "age-verification" but planned for the couple to decide to abstain on the day set for the deflowering.

References

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Bibliography

* "Web's Virginity Event A Hoax, Company's Executive Says", Chicago Tribune, July 18, 1998.
''Our First Time''
at

Museum of Hoaxes The Museum of Hoaxes is a website created by Alex Boese in 1997 in San Diego, California as a resource for reporting and discussing hoaxes and urban legends, both past and present. In 2004, PC Magazine included the site as one of the "Top 100 Si ...

* "Cyber Hoa

H. B. Koplowitz, 1998. Internet hoaxes Defunct websites 1998 hoaxes