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==Explanation==  
 
==Explanation==  
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This comic is a joke about the hyperbolic expression ''shut it down'' being taken literally. If someone thinks that a device has achieved its goal they shut it down. After an idea or product that people think is well made is created people will joke that the process that created it should be shut down, as if the process has achieved its ultimate purpose. This is most often used sarcastically for an inferior product or idea. Taking things literally is a common theme in the xkcd comics.
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{{incomplete|Title comment is still not well explained, with interesting notions on talk page.}}
  
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Curly-hair sits at a computer anxiously and nervously writing a message to someone she cares about deeply, possibly a child to be adopted or a romantic interest. Curly-hair plans on saving enough money to have the person flown to her location from "half a world away." Curly-hair ends the message with a promise to communicate daily until the two are able to meet. When attempting to send the message, however, Curly-hair discovers that their internet connection is down and the message goes unsent.
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The comic opens with a curly-haired character writing an online message for someone they care about deeply, with the writer identifying that they are planning on saving enough money to have the person flown to their location from "half a world away." The writer ends the message with a promise to communicate daily until the two are able to meet.
  
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[[Ponytail]] explains there was a "ridiculous video" to which someone had commented "That's it. Shut down the Internet. We're done." This was taken literally and, because enough people agreed with this comment, the internet was shut down and Curly-hair was left unable to communicate with her love.
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There are many possible interpretations of the relationship between writer and recipient. The most common is that they are engaged in a romantic, long-distance, internet relationship. Other theories include:
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*Writer and recipient are the only ones who notice glitches in {{w|The Matrix}}
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*Writer is responding to a {{w|phishing}} scheme where recipient has convinced writer to save enough money to bring recipient to writer's country
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*Writer is attempting to adopt a child from a country hostile to their own
  
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The joke being that the internet was creating something far more valuable between Curly-hair and her love than a ridiculous video, thus highlighting the beautiful and far reaching potential impact of the internet. The likelihood of the entire internet being shut down based on a single comment being vanishingly low adds to the humor.
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When attempting to send the message, however, the writer discovers that their internet connection is down and the message goes unsent. [[Ponytail]] enters the comic at this point and explains that someone had commented, "That's it. Shut down the Internet. We're done." The comment is an Internet meme in which users will post comments in response to content found so humorous or clever that they don't believe it can ever be topped. While most such statements are normally disregarded as insincere, somehow this comment set into motion the complete shutdown of the Internet. The comic contrasts the legitimate, intimate impact the Internet can have with the simple entertainment value that can bring criticism for its superficial nature.
  
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In the final panel Curly-hair states wistfully that she was not done with the internet. The title text is Ponytail's response, which asserts Ponytail's belief that Curly-hair's message could not be important because the Facebook comment asserted that nothing of any significance could come from the internet after the ridiculous video.
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Another interpretation is that they internet has been shutdown due to a government power attempting to censor either the correspondence from the curly-haired writer or the rediculous video.
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The title text is Ponytail's response to Curly-hair's line in the final panel, expressing that the commentator believed everyone was finished with the internet, including Curly-hair.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
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{{comic discussion}}
 
{{comic discussion}}
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
 
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
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[[Category:Internet]]
 
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[[Category:Romance]]
 

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