As the commenter thetapir-ga mentions, the phrase had its origins in a
famous cartoon published in The New Yorker. The cartoon, by Peter
Steiner, appears on page 61 of the July 5, 1993 issue of The New
Yorker, (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20):
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Pages of Dr. Debashis
Aikat
http://www.unc.edu/depts/jomc/academics/dri/idog.html
Here's a clearer image of the cartoon:
KUOI-FM Radio: Pages of Mark Hughes
http://kuoi.asui.uidaho.edu/~kamikaze/images/interdog.gif
In ten years' time, the phrase has certainly managed to work its way
into Internet idiom. In 1995 there was even a successful
off-off-Broadway play called "Nobody Knows I'm a Dog":
"Nobody Knows I'm a Dog is a full-length play about six people who are
unable to connect to other people IRL (in real life). They find the
courage to socialize by joining a singles newsgroup on the Internet,
taking comfort in knowing that they won't be seen. They all choose to
hide behind lies and false personas to achieve their ultimate desire -
connecting with other people - though it is these lies which keep them
from connecting. This morality tale explores the notion that though
people try to manufacture fantasy personas in cyberspace, their real
personality eventually comes through.
The six people presented talk by posting to a Newsgroup on the
Internet. Since they are all misrepresenting themselves, nobody is
quite sure of each other. Present is a quote-spouting teenager, a
middle-aged housewife who fancies herself a vixen, an uneducated
sounding dullard with overactive hormones, a man posing as a woman, a
curmudgeon who dislikes everybody but continues to talk to them, and a
girl who simply feels she's unattractive.
A bit of a mystery ensues as each character begins to give themselves
away until one of them blows everybody's cover, leaving them exposed
and embarrassed."
Alan David Perkins
http://www.alandavidperkins.com/nkiad/
Variants have cropped up all over the 'Net. Below are just a few of
the thousands of websites that make reference to this catchphrase for
many different purposes.
On a Canadian adoption site:
"Keep your radar up at all times. One of the reasons perspective birth
mother turn to the Net is because it enables them to maintain their
anonymity. Anonymity, however, can be a two-edged sword. It can help
people be deceitful just as easily as it can help fulfill hopes. The
New Yorker cartoon showing two canines chatting in front of a computer
perhaps said it best: 'On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog.'
Or, for that matter, someone other than who you say you are."
Canada Adopts
http://www.canadaadopts.com/adoptiveparents/risks.shtml
From an article about presenting yourself in a businesslike fashion:
"To Become a Professional Act Like One!
'On the Internet no one knows you're a Dog' reads the caption below a
picture of a dog using a computer in the famous New Yorker cartoon.
The cartoon perfectly captures what the Internet makes possible -
being anybody you present yourself to be. If you want to sell anything
online, whether it's your own product, a service, or just ad space,
looking professional is a must. After all, no one is going to give you
a single penny if your online presence makes you appear as someone who
is running a 2-bit operation and has no idea what they are doing."
SitePoint
http://www.sitepoint.com/print/45
A review of a book entitled "Bandits on the Information Superhighway":
"Remember that cartoon with the two dogs talking, and one of them
says, 'On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog'? Funny, and so
true: No one knows you, and no one knows for sure that you're you. It
follows that - lacking the usual visual cues - it's hard to know who
to trust, which is the first basic premise of this book. In his guide
to safety on the Internet, Barrett runs through the threats to
security and privacy associated with going online, and he explains how
to avoid various scams - from bogus ads on Usenet to pyramid and Ponzi
schemes."
HotWired
http://hotwired.wired.com/books/96/22/bandits.html
You know that a catchprase has truly arrived when there are spoofs of
the phrase...
"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a frog."
Frogs on Ice
http://www.frogsonice.com/foi/store/internetfrog.gif
"On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog in drag."
Personal Pages of Robert Cameron
http://www.geocities.com/bourbonstreet/5574/md97f.htm
"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a god."
Contract Professional Archives
http://www.cpuniverse.com/newsite/archives/1999/mar/shelf.html
"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a fraud."
The Bloviator
http://bloviate.blogspot.com/2002_06_02_bloviate_archive.html
Here you may order framed prints and t-shirts of the cartoon, or, for
thirty bucks, you can buy the rights to use the cartoon in a
PowerPoint presentation:
New Yorker Cartoonbank
http://www.cartoonbank.com/cartoon_closeup.asp?pf%5Fid=22230&dept%5Fid=1001&mscssid=D5PMT1558MSL9N8DLK9RK20T1C2M3584&cartoon=1&s_keywords=internet&findby=popular&s_artist=&s_id=&s_imageType=&color=&s_fromdate=&s_todate=&NewYorkerOnly=&s_topic=
If the link above is truncated, please use this abbreviated link:
http://tinyurl.com/g97t
I've found a wonderful article from the New York Times that discusses
the phrase's history and its impact upon its originator (for copyright
reasons, I am posting just a brief excerpt; the entire article is well
worth reading):
"By now, it's almost an old saying: 'On the Internet, nobody knows
you're a dog.' You can count on seeing it at the start of plenty of
articles on Internet privacy and anonymity.
The sentence, which originated as a caption to a New Yorker cartoon,
has slipped into the public consciousness, leaving its source behind.
So it's just as accurate to say that on the Internet, nobody knows
that you coined a phrase.
That particular sentence was originated by Peter Steiner, a regular
contributor to the magazine since 1980. He wrote it as the caption for
his July 1993 single-panel cartoon showing a dog sitting at a computer
talking to another dog.
'I feel a little like the person (whoever it is) who invented the
smiley face,' Mr. Steiner wrote via e-mail. The cartoon didn't receive
much attention at the time, but interest has grown over the last seven
years, and the saying has become practically an industry of its own."
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/14/technology/14DOGG.html?ex=1057723200&en=d7ffefc9b1912ea4&ei=5070
Search terms used:
"on the internet no one knows you're a dog"
"on the internet nobody knows you're a dog"
"nobody knows i'm a dog"
"new yorker" + "peter steiner" + "cartoon"
Thanks for a question that was immensely enjoyable to research! I do
not know whether you may or may not be a dog, but on the chance that
you are, please stay out of traffic, don't chew on the mail, and make
sure there's always a cat around that you can blame for any accidents.
;-)
Best,
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