Twenty-one
years
ago,
the
internet
looked
vastly
different.
Social
media
sites
like
Facebook
and
Twitter
did
not
yet
exist.
Only
one
in
four
Americans
had
access
to
high-speed
internet,
so
for
most
people,
downloading
pictures
or
their
favorite
music
took
a
considerable
amount
of
time.
Since
inventors
had
not
yet
created
smartphones,
users
surfed
the
net
as
a
stationary
activity.
People
mostly
used
the
internet
at
that
time
for
research
or
simple
communication
with
friends
and
family.
Blogs
provided
a
large
source
of
information
on
the
net,
covering
just
about
any
topic,
and
most
offered
informative
content.
Social
and
political
commentary
blogs
existed,
but
they
remained
rare.
Although
many
blogs
appeared
on
the
net,
most
lasted
only
a
short
time
before
the
number
of
posts
faded
and
bloggers
eventually
shut
them
down
or
abandoned
them.
Only
a
few
achieved
consistent
notability.
One
of
them
was
the
TaxProf
blog,
which
Paul
Caron
—
the
current
dean
of
Pepperdine
Caruso
School
of
Law
—
ran.
While
the
blog
catered
to
the
tax
and
law
school
community,
it
stood
out
for
its
consistent
release
of
relevant
news
alongside
the
occasional
personal
or
religious
post.
If
news
appeared
on
the
TaxProf
Blog,
it
deserved
a
read.
On
Monday,
Caron
announced
that
after
21
years
and
55,780
posts,
he
would
end
the
blog.
He
made
the
decision
after
learning
that
the
platform
hosting
his
blog
would
discontinue
all
blogs
on
September
30.
I
think
I
first
came
across
the
TaxProf
blog
when
I
was
a
tax
LLM
student
at
Chapman
School
of
Law.
I
was
visiting
the
late
Michael
Lang
during
his
office
hours
and
I
happened
to
notice
the
blog
on
his
computer
monitor.
From
that
moment,
I
visited
the
TaxProf
blog
regularly
in
the
hopes
it
would
help
me
understand
my
tax
classes.
I
don’t
think
it
did,
but
I
learned
a
lot
about
legal
education
and
its
questionable
practices
prior
to
2010.
Some
time
later,
I
transferred
to
Loyola
Law
School.
I
had
the
opportunity
to
graduate
with
honors,
but
I
was
required
to
spend
a
semester
writing
a
research
paper.
It
was
then
I
remembered
a
TaxProf
post
in
January
2006
about
the
IRS
possibly
taxing
the
sale
of
video
game
currency.
I
thought
it
would
make
an
interesting
paper
topic
that
people
would
want
to
read.
At
least
more
interesting
than
writing
about
partnership
distributive
share
regulations.
But
I
was
concerned
that
others
in
the
legal
community
would
find
it
absurd
and
that
it
would
make
me
unemployable
after
graduation.
To
make
a
long
story
short,
I
spent
the
semester
going
to
the
library
after
classes
reading
more
books
than
I
care
to
admit.
I
talked
to
law
professors,
online
game
developers,
and
even
an
economist
at
the
Congressional
Joint
Committee
on
Taxation.
I
also
read
about
a
new
type
of
virtual
coin
called
Bitcoin
which
was
selling
for
50
cents
each.
I
thought
about
putting
$100
on
it
and
let
it
sit
for
a
while.
But
it
seemed
scammy,
so
I
ignored
it.
I
eventually
finished
the
research
paper,
and
it
did
more
than
add
a
gold
star
to
my
LLM
degree.
It
was
published
in
the
Virginia
Tax
Review
and
was
cited
by
the
IRS
Taxpayer
Advocate’s
Annual
Report
to
Congress.
This
later
played
a
part
in
the
Internal
Revenue
Service’s
initial
virtual
currency
and
later
cryptocurrency
regulations.
All
this
came
from
a
blog
post
that
I
read
one
morning
in
2006.
I
will
miss
the
TaxProf
Blog
not
just
for
the
influence
it
had
on
me,
but
also
because
it
represents
one
of
a
dying
breed
of
blogs
created
as
a
“labor
of
love,”
as
Caron
puts
it.
Blogs
have
given
way
to
social
media.
Bloggers
have
morphed
into
influencers
who
care
more
about
pleasing
monetization
algorithms,
boosting
view
counts,
or
gaining
followers.
And
commentators
write
in
ways
designed
to
troll
or
provoke
reactions,
rather
than
to
make
people
think.
I
am
hopeful
that
algorithms
of
the
future
will
put
an
end
to
clout
chasing
and
reward
those
who
provide
useful
information
like
the
TaxProf
Blog
did
for
21
years.
Steven
Chung
is
a
tax
attorney
in
Los
Angeles,
California.
He
helps
people
with
basic
tax
planning
and
resolve
tax
disputes.
He
is
also
sympathetic
to
people
with
large
student
loans.
He
can
be
reached
via
email
at
[email protected].
Or
you
can
connect
with
him
on
Twitter
(@stevenchung)
and
connect
with
him
on LinkedIn.