THWACK is Feeling 22! Time to Celebrate Our Favorite Community of IT Heroes

Some celebrate turning 22 with a Taylor Swift song and questionable life choices. THWACK? We’re celebrating with uptime, inside jokes, and a deeply emotional appreciation for well-labeled graphs. That’s right—on June 9, 2003, THWACK was born.

We’ve spent 22 glorious years building the best community in IT. Whether it was networking at an in-person user group (SWUG), in the mission comments salivating for a VR headset, or duking it out in the annual bracket battle, we were and are forming one of the internet’s most wonderfully geeky, weirdly wholesome, and fiercely supportive tech communities.

And let’s be honest: most online communities don’t even last 22 weeks, let alone 22 years. So yeah, we’re feeling a little sentimental (and maybe just a tiny bit smug).

From Forums to Force of Nature

What started as a humble space to swap tips on SolarWinds tools has turned into a galaxy of knowledge, full of SysAdmins, network wizards, database whisperers, and service desk superheroes who all speak fluent:

• Logs
• Acronyms
• And sarcastic GIFs

We’ve laughed. We’ve raged at the final round of Bracket Battle (justice for that one vote, tbh). We’ve survived the “where are my points?!” mission panic of the decade. And through it all, we’ve kept showing up, helping out, and turning technical chaos into community-powered calm.

What’s a Birthday Without a Bit of Bragging?

In 22 years, THWACK has:

• Helped numerous users level up their tech skills
• Hosted countless product and feedback discussions, online and IRL
• Grown a genuinely rare culture of helpfulness, wit, and pure IT gold
• Given out way too many points and never enough swag

Honestly? We’re just getting started.

Join the Birthday Fun: Mini-Mission Time

No THWACK birthday would be complete without a little friendly competition. So, of course, we made you a Mini-Mission. It’s quick. It’s fun. There are points. There may be prizes. There will be pride. Complete the puzzle today, show off your skills, and earn some free internet points.

Bonus Drop: A Birthday Gift for the THWACK Faithful

Speaking of points—to celebrate 22 years of THWACKery, and as a nod to the chaos and camaraderie of this year’s Bracket Battle, we’re dropping a special, limited-edition item in the THWACK Store: a SolarWinds pet bandana!

This one’s for the diehards. Whether you’re a Bracket Battle voter, a mission master, or just someone who’s been here since we still called it “the World Wide Web,” this celebratory accessory is our little way of saying thanks. Wear it, hang it, or frame it. Just make sure your fellow peers know: you were here for the 22nd, and it was legendary.

Available now in the store while supplies (and birthday vibes) last.

 To Our Community: Thank You

Whether you’ve been here since day one or just joined last week, you are a THWACKster.
You’ve made this place what it is: a techy, weird, brilliant, and genuinely helpful corner of the internet. And we appreciate you for it.

Share your favorite THWACK memory or show off how long you’ve been on THWACK in the comments below!

Cheers to the next 22 years. Now, someone fire up TSwift, we’ve got a lot going on at the moment.