Hey all. Since the Internet has just been boiled down to the main big social media sites, it feels like the magic is gone. Whens the last time someone said to you “hey check out this cool website”? It’s always the same: TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, FB, Reddit, Discord. Forums are basically dead. Chat rooms are dead. Message boards are dead.
I miss that feeling of just discovering interesting or quirky websites. Lemmy is cool because it feels fresh and new, and there’s not a boat load of users here yet. But what other sites do you guys use or can recommend? I remember browsing Joe cartoon, Newgrounds, weebls, Ebaums, failblog, damnlol, and a bunch of other stupid but either funny or interesting sites.
Are there sites out there that still have that early Internet vibe? I feel like there is a treasure trove of still active websites out there but I have no idea what they are. Any recommendations would be GREATLY appreciated.
Edit: I created !oldweb where these sorts of sites can be shared!
Yo, a couple years ago I had become fed up with the state of the modern Internet, and I started looking for alternatives. This is what I have found so far:
- Gopher protocol (sdf.org is pretty active)
- Gemini protocol (Modern version of gopher)
- Shared UNIX systems (also called tildes) sdf.org is great!
- RSS
- IRC/Matrix to chat with people
- Session messenger to chat with family
- BBSes via syncterm
- wiby.me and marginalia.nu search engines to find personal web sites
- oldavista.com to browse the ‘Old Net’
- Web forums
- Neocities
- Webrings (They still exist!)
- Lemmy (This is a new one)
The next step for me will be to build my own personal site. The only way to keep the independent web alive is to participate in it.
Hey, this is great. Thank you. I have actually just created a community here !oldweb if anyone is interested. Just a place to share these sorts of sites and lists etc.
Hey, this is great. Thank you. I have actually just created a community here !oldweb if anyone is interested. Just a place to share these sorts of sites and lists etc.
Just joined, thanks :)
we gotta start making them again.
Metafilter is very old school in a good way! http://metafilter.com/
Have a look at Neocities (a successor to Geocities). My website is here.
You can also have a look at the rest of the Fediverse. There are some cool accounts on Mastodon and PeerTube.
For that true “old web” thing, have you ever heard of gemini? Take a look. My capsule on gemini is here, but you will need a gemini browser in order to see it.
Hope this helps!
But does neocities have neopets?
Not a specific site, but you can get the old internet feel using Tor Browser and exploring Tor websites. Last time I checked it out it felt like going back to the early 2000s or late 90s depending on the website. There are also some sites hosted on IPFS that looks like something from Geocities.
Can you recommend any fun links that aren’t illegal?
It is better to not discuss what you browse on Tor, considering the sensitive nature of it, plus illegal material that exists. If you can roam around silently without honeypotting yourself and learning and enjoying your time, I see it as a net positive.
