“When the internet first got kicking”?

Question

When the internet first got kicking, some scholars of democracy and civil society thought that online discussions could create what they called a "conversational democracy”: an ongoing town hall without bricks and mortar.

How to understand "kicking" in the context above? I learned from OED that

kicking
adjective
(informal) full of life and excitement: The club was really kicking last night.

Does it have the same meaning here?

Answer 1

Its use here is more along the lines of this entry from NOAD:

alive and kicking informal prevalent and very active : bigotry is still alive and kicking.

which, via Etymonline:

"The allusion is to a child in the womb after quickening" [Farmer].

Your OED reference may have the same origin.

Answer 2

I'd say that would be the proper meaning; with the slight adjustment to mean "had widespread activity" in this particular case.