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!

  • Borgzilla@lemmy.caEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    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.

    • Xer0@lemmy.mlOPEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      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.

      • 3yiyo3@lemmy.ml
        1·
        1 year ago

        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 :)

  • Hellfire103@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    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!

  • comfy@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Honestly, some of my favourite sites are niche interest groups. One I’ve contributed at lot to (even creating a magazine for) has between 5 and 10 active users in total. They’re just so comfy.

    And yes, some of my favourite sites are the ones you may look at and declare dead :)

  • Hyperz@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    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.