Looking at old forums

[Metropolis]

So I started looking at old emo forums/websites in the internet archive, and wow, was internet culture different back then.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070227182955/http://vampirefreaks.com/main.php,  https://web.archive.org/web/20080913100348/http://www.emo-corner.com/forums/index.php?showforum=2.

I guess the internet has just started feeling so unreal? Everything seems to be made by a bot and replied to by bots, and it's just an ouroboros of bots. The World Wide Web is not interesting anymore for me, I'm trying to find forums or something more tangible other than my website to look at. (Im not making much sense lol)

I don't know, guess I need to go for like a hike or something.

[FinleyIsHere]

i love the old internet even though i was never on it due to being a kid in the 2010s, i guess that internet doesnt exist anymore, the indie web as we know it today is only a call back to what was once lost
hopefully through being offline a little bit more we can mimic a fraction on what its like living back then

but even that is hard since the modern world forces you to be online, even when ur outside
man...

[ヤーナム]

I grew up with that era of the web and think a lot about what made it special. There are tons of factors but I think the biggest are:

1. The internet was somewhere you went, not something you carried in your pocket.
2. Desktop interfaces (keyboards, big screens) made text and longer-form communication the dominant medium.
3. Far fewer people, thus less infrastructure for monetization, so it was more hobby-oriented and less exploited.

Something I try to do more of lately is drawing a distinction between "the internet" and "the web". The internet is the network that apps, social media, and the web all sit on. The web is specifically a web browser going to web sites. I think we often conflate the two and I even use them interchangeably without thinking. But they're different and I think that matters a lot for the "indie web revival" that MelonLand etc. are a part of.

As smartphones and apps became the dominant medium to interact the content has been formed by it, like phones are annoying to type on, so video and voice are more popular, and phones have less screen space, so designs/interfaces have been simplified and made bland. etc.

BUT that's just apps on the internet. The WEB is still here, still best used on a desktop with a nice big screen and full keyboard, still full of possibilities. Most of the attention (money) has shifted to app ecosystems, but the web is still here and it's ours to do with what we want. Socializing on smaller, slower forums is still very much possible. Unique and artistic interfaces are still possible, and I think is's up to us to not only keep that spirit of alive, but to try to be forward-thinking about it. I have tons of nostalgia for the way the web used to be, but I try to use it as fuel for the future instead of longing for the past. I want to take the things that made that era of the web special and try to bring them with us into building a better web of the present!

And of course obligatory plug, I've been collecting a links to independent internet forums if you're looking to find a new one to join: https://indieforums.linklists.net/

I also participate in a small indie forum with some friends that is cozy and friendly if you want to come say hi. :) It's mostly an offshoot of a different community and full of most of the same people, but new friends are welcome! https://forum.sickos.net/ (if you can't figure out the bot-prevention registration question just PM me here on MelonLand)

[milo]

I think we should all take some solace in the fact that we are here, in this lovely community posting with each other because we have found this place and want to be here.

I think that was a big distinction back then. Typically, the Internet was a harder place to get to since you had to have the right hardware, and usually had to pay extra for it. If you were on the Internet it was because you wanted to be there. These days, everyone is kinda connected whether they want to be or not.

But places like this take me back to the way it used to be. Where you went out and found a space to exist that was tight knit and organic and not trying to sell you something. The indie web revival has kinda become my home away from social media and my phone as I try to transition my life away from that stuff and I love it all the more for it.

[tk-loggedin]

Aw, I loved the old VampireFreaks, discovered lots of music through people's pages! Nostalgic to look back on, for sure. Completely get what you mean as well. It really did feel like there were spaces to be found everywhere 'back then' that were full of people - even in spaces not fully intended for communication, we'd somehow find friends (or people to fight with ). I'd love to revive plenty of forums that fell to their domains being sold/lost, but my primary most active (and most missed) place was a little 'stories' posting section of a dollmaker site. Just the strangest mixture of people in the cracks of the internet's pavement, sharing our days (and dollz)...

This place is so wonderful to happen upon because it has that same feel of people gathering in a corner of the internet to chat. It's nice to feel amongst real people, just yapping about anything and everything. Like other people have said, all we can do is try to create such spaces again now, I guess!

[Metropolis]

Thanks for the replies, y'all. Honestly, yeah, the best thing to do is focus on the present and the communities we can build now, then into the past.(˶˃ ᗜ ˂˶)

[seallover]

i could only witness the end of the old web as i was a kid in the late 00s (and have been chronically online since i was 8 not my proudest info about myself) and sometimes i wonder if it would have been better if i just never witnessed it, because i miss it immensely. i miss those huge pcs and windows xp and the excitement of what the future held

[Loebas]

Looking at these archived forums made me feel nostagic to the old internet.

The big blue F of doom ruined this in the mid 2010s with their abillity to make groups on their platform.

I mained no less than three dutch furry fandom forums back in ~2014 when i joined said fandom. But with the raise of the blue F these forums sadly died off. With the last forum being shutdown in 2019 because of the lack of activity.

Nowadays everything is on either Discord or Telegram. Really sad to see indeed.

Worst of all: all the contents of these forums are lost, since they where closed off to the public.

[cleanduck]

AAhh, I love seeing old forums/websites. As a '93er I can say, during those times (but even earlier than 2007) when you were on the web you had a lot more appreciation when it came to finding connections, friends, new media etc etc that you didn't know about. That was the magic of it. Now a days that doesn't exist anymore.

[rnottelovesowls]

i can't speak for many, since my internet use growing up was mostly for webkinz, flash games, and downloading customization options (wallpapers, themes, cursors, etc.). i never joined many old forums, because i thought it was just more normal to have friends in person. so joining facebook for the first time was quite a shock. i know, ewwww, facebook, but little me didn't know what it would become at the time. in hindsight, i wish my first exposure to online communication was through the old forums and NOT facebook. because seeing others who have experienced said forums, and joining a few modern forums myself after getting social media burnout, i realized... wow. we didn't know how good we had it back then

like, you're telling me that people joined online communities with no expectations of gaining clout? that information wasn't shared with the possibility of making money from it? that you could interact with almost anyone, without feeling obligated to give away your real name and location? people just did that, ALL OF THAT, simply because they wanted to? that almost sounds unreal in today's age, where all internet traffic is crammed together into like 6 platforms and humans are either online to chase clout, make a side hustle, buy garbage they don't need, or pick fights for no reason. the idea of being anonymous online feels even more unreal when social media expects you to let everyone know who you are. when you compare the personalized sites of geocities to the bland sites of today, you have to wonder, at what point do you make something so accessible that it becomes boring? some days it feels like humans online don't know how to think for themselves, create anything just for fun, be in the moment, or, heaven forbid, learn anything. it's depressing to watch

the stupid smartphone ruined everything. i wish that opinion wasn't controversial, because it's true. thank goodness for neocities and the indie web movement, combining the old online culture with modern sensibilities and "be nice, please" practices, because i don't know how much more of web 3.0 and social media i can tolerate

[cleanduck]

i can't speak for many, since my internet use growing up was mostly for webkinz, flash games, and downloading customization options (wallpapers, themes, cursors, etc.). i never joined many old forums, because i thought it was just more normal to have friends in person. so joining facebook for the first time was quite a shock. i know, ewwww, facebook, but little me didn't know what it would become at the time. in hindsight, i wish my first exposure to online communication was through the old forums and NOT facebook. because seeing others who have experienced said forums, and joining a few modern forums myself after getting social media burnout, i realized... wow. we didn't know how good we had it back then

like, you're telling me that people joined online communities with no expectations of gaining clout? that information wasn't shared with the possibility of making money from it? that you could interact with almost anyone, without feeling obligated to give away your real name and location? people just did that, ALL OF THAT, simply because they wanted to? that almost sounds unreal in today's age, where all internet traffic is crammed together into like 6 platforms and humans are either online to chase clout, make a side hustle, buy garbage they don't need, or pick fights for no reason. the idea of being anonymous online feels even more unreal when social media expects you to let everyone know who you are. when you compare the personalized sites of geocities to the bland sites of today, you have to wonder, at what point do you make something so accessible that it becomes boring? some days it feels like humans online don't know how to think for themselves, create anything just for fun, be in the moment, or, heaven forbid, learn anything. it's depressing to watch

the stupid smartphone ruined everything. i wish that opinion wasn't controversial, because it's true. thank goodness for neocities and the indie web movement, combining the old online culture with modern sensibilities and "be nice, please" practices, because i don't know how much more of web 3.0 and social media i can tolerate

At first I wanted to disagree with your statement that smartphones ruined everything. But then when I really thought about it, you are right. It really did rewire a lot in all of us humans. From social isolation to mental health concerns and our mental capacity and energy etc etc. This also depends on once own experiences with smartphones. And then there's people who also grew up without one and the ones that grew up with one and that's all they know. But in the end I personally think it's a more complex problem. It's the tech giants using algorithms and anything to spike our dopamine system but also our own choices. Which is why I think children shouldn't have smartphones. Which is why I'm glad the apprecitiation for the indie web is back but also for physical media as well as flip phones, iPod's, phone charms etc etc. Even if it's only for the fact it is deemed "normal" enough for parents to swap their smartphones with a fliphone.

When I think about what I love about smartphones is that it's convenient, use it to build skills, that I can communicate and stay in touch with my online and international friends. But tbh back in the days we had MSN for that and it worked just as well lol.

And yes, we really did have it good back then.
Back in the days there were other ways of having side hussles. But not as corrupt as today. We did it because it was fun and a hobby. I was a developer on IMVU in my teens and that was my, and many others on the platforms side hussle and how we got money every few months (basically digitally handpainting texture maps for 3D models/products, making 3D models with an old tablet etc). I knew a few also had their creating side hussle on Second Life. It was veeeeery niche. You basically had to figure everything out yourself or through forums. Which was the fun of it all.

[Metropolis]

idk about the sidehustles bit, I feel like in every decade there was some evil side hustle 😭. I'm fine with smartphones, honestly. I think it's pretty useful, for example, if I need to search for something or call emergency services or whatever.

I saw this uh, this old newspaper where people in the 1700s-1800s complained about the younger generation reading too many books https://thebeetonideal.wordpress.com/2019/07/03/a-kind-of-alcoholism-views-of-novel-reading-in-the-19c/

so idk, I think it's more complex than just smartphones; it's the algorithms and billionaire companies trying to dopamine-fry us.

[cleanduck]

idk about the sidehustles bit, I feel like in every decade there was some evil side hustle 😭. I'm fine with smartphones, honestly. I think it's pretty useful, for example, if I need to search for something or call emergency services or whatever.

I saw this uh, this old newspaper where people in the 1700s-1800s complained about the younger generation reading too many books https://thebeetonideal.wordpress.com/2019/07/03/a-kind-of-alcoholism-views-of-novel-reading-in-the-19c/

so idk, I think it's more complex than just smartphones; it's the algorithms and billionaire companies trying to dopamine-fry us.

Hahah I enjoyed reading that blogpost. Loved the quotations. Very interesting but also very hilarious and ironic. It seems every decade there is something. And from what I can remember the only evil sidehussles back then was people scamming other people for their accounts haha.

[Metropolis]

And from what I can remember the only evil sidehussles back then was people scamming other people for their accounts haha.

lolll, maybe insider trading 😭 but i dont think thats a side hustle lol

[cleanduck]

lolll, maybe insider trading 😭 but i dont think thats a side hustle lol

Yeah not sure if you can call it a sidehussle, just scammers selling other people's accounts for money.
The real side hussle was ofc:

iykyk (jk)