What do you think of "webcore/cybercore"?

[xandra]

Thank you so much for your answers. I find it a really interestic topic and I loved to hear everyone's point of view. I hope that my approach didn't seem too agressive towards the people who use these terms, my main objective with this topic was telling people a personal view I had that I felt didn't let me see beyond my feelings.

i hope you didn't feel dogpiled on! sometimes a particular thing we say can end up being the center of a discussion accidentally when it's just kicking off conversation or discussion, but everyone's perspectives have been really refreshing to read, including yours! i know people talk about there being so much negativity online when it comes to hobbies, aesthetics, or just things they enjoy—being able to have a discussion about this stuff without it devolving is really nice and lovely!

thanks for starting this topic. :) i do wonder if anyone in the web revival space isn't a fan of "webcore" as a subculture/aesthetic/etc. does anyone think it might "cheapen" what the web revival is doing or turn the old web into a kind of caricature of itself, rewriting history? i'm curious!

[myleszey]

thanks for starting this topic. :) i do wonder if anyone in the web revival space isn't a fan of "webcore" as a subculture/aesthetic/etc. does anyone think it might "cheapen" what the web revival is doing or turn the old web into a kind of caricature of itself, rewriting history? i'm curious!

this could be said of a lot of "aesthetics" in my opinion - the application of webcore as a label might eventually have the same effect calling something "vaporwave" does now, in that the genre or aesthetic has become so broad that it has dozens if not hundreds of subgenres that attempt to focus the theme but ultimately confuse viewers or degrade the uniqueness it would have without the label.

Kallistero definitely summed up everything I could say about webcore specifically, but there are parallels to be drawn between how people view the web revival from the outside and the current treatment of "aesthetic."

[Bede]

Seconding the folks saying it's a great way to get younger folks into web revival! Although, honestly, I don't mind if they never cross that line and just stay admiring the aesthetics. As long as they're not doing something actually potentially harmful, like showing off someone's actual current personal site on Tiktok for the aesthetic (essentially reducing that creation down to just that), then I'm cool with it all around.

[minttea]

Its kind of odd to me to think that this is something unusual (or a 'new trend'), because these aesthetics have been dear to me for years, actually! Games like dot hack can, in many ways, kind of be considered webcore/cybercore. Dot hacks vibes have long been a load bearing inspiration to me!

When I read the terms, my first thought wasn't it was some new trend, but slight happiness at having search term for a vibe I've long enjoyed, haha.

[PurpleHello98]

It's not really something I had in mind when I designed my site or anything, but I really quite like it! And outside of my site, I'm actually quite a fan of the aesthetic, and the 90s-00s tech aesthetic in general, which often ties into Webcore. Some of my best friends and I have shared Pinterest boards dedicated to things that remind us of each other or each other's aesthetics (or ourselves/our own), and a good half of mine is Webcore. It's one of my favourite aesthetics! Which, I think, ties in to my general retro-ish style---my mother recently described my fashion sense as "retro 80s Bohemian", which I think makes a lot of sense.