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First, before I get into this, I just want to say that I am a fan of this site. It's trying to keep the spirit of the 90s and 2000s internet alive, and anything that does that to any extent gains some level of respect from me. I also want to make sure it's clear that this is my personal opinion, and if you disagree, please keep it civil.
A lot of the criticisms I'm going to say here don't just apply to this site, but to other ones that attempt to bring back the old web, like neocities, for example.
I go to these sites because I never got to have the authentic 2000s experience, and I desperately wish I did. Every single day of my life I have mental breakdowns and get really depressed, wishing it was the early 2000s. Being born in 2001 means I missed out on almost fucking everything from back then, and it sucks. I envy every single person who got to experience that era very deeply. I just wish I was there.
Now, getting to the problem with these type of sites. The problem is that there's too much shit from the modern day. What do I mean by that? I mean that there's too many references to things from the last decade. I absolutely hate modern culture. I go to sites like these to try and escape that crap. I hate social media, I hate modern memes, I hate most movies and tv shows that come out now.
Whenever I see something from the late 2010s/early 2020s on sites like these, it takes me out of the immersion. I use these sites to try and pretend like I'm in 2006 instead of 2022. Constantly being reminded of the fact that I'm in an era I hate completely ruins the escapism for me. It feels like a lot of people who use these sites only like the aesthetic of the 2000s, and don't give a crap about the actual culture.
And I'm not saying that you should ban people from talking about modern stuff. I am a free speech advocate, and if someone truly enjoys those things they're allowed to talk about them. I just wish there was more of a focus on the 2000s, and the decades before that. To give it that authentic feeling, like you're actually using the original Myspace.
It bothers me a lot personally, when I'm trying to pretend it's the 2000s, and then I see something that came out this year that I hated. Or whenever I see unfunny memes that are popular on TikTok, which is, in my opinion, the worst social media platform ever created. It just reminds me that no matter how hard I try, I'll never get to experience the authentic early 2000s internet, and that destroys me.
Honestly, this is a bigger problem on neocities than here. It's why I barely use that place anymore, even if there are a few truly great sites on there. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only person my age who actually loves 2000s internet culture. I was actually on the internet in the tail end of the 2000s, but I was barely able to enjoy it due to my age. My earliest memories involve me falling in love with Windows XP. Sometimes it feels like the 2000s are there to make my life miserable. The perfect culture for me, that I want nothing more to be part of, and it's gone. It hurts.
I could rant about this more, but I don't want to make this blog longer than it has to be. Let me know if you wanna hear me rant more like this. The few people I've talked to about this stuff don't want to hear it, so I'm curious if any of you actually enjoyed reading this. Sorry if it sounds whiny or whatever, it's just that these thoughts go through my head daily so it's good to get them out there in some way.
My problem with sites like these
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Stafki
As i see it, this, and neocities are an embracement of both old and new, mostly with the skin of old. And that's okay! it's kind of inevitable that stuff from modern days will bleed out into here, and that's fine. it's because we LIKE in modern days. we can't completely get away from it, even though that's what some would like.
Rafael
Join us!
https://groups.spacehey.com/outdatedsouls
K^Tlmao
I feel this lmao, i was born in 2008 (currently in middle school ugh) never got to full experience any of the neat 2000/2010 things fully, i wish i didnt grow up so fast- wishing i could be a carefree warrior cats book reading, wolf kid/girl again (i kinda got a taste of that in elemntary before being bullied bc of my appearance) nowadays i cant even walk to my classes w/out getting awkward looks, i just wish ppl would be less judgmental lol
GRIFFEN
do you want us all to pretend it's the 2000s for you???? Going back to the early 2000s as of today is impossible, because time travel is not possible, what you can do is you can strive for the closest "early 2000s" life you can live, you can live like it's the 2000s, you can have the old tech and the old websites and the old clothes, that is what you can do, for now at least
>do you want us all to pretend it's the 2000s for you????
yes
by Delta; ; Report
then just look at archive.org, this is for the experience of old MySpace, not just old MySpace
by GRIFFEN; ; Report
I hate you
by Delta; ; Report
sorry for telling you the truth
by GRIFFEN; ; Report
Delta, my guy, you're out here in the coments stating, and I quote
"People nowadays can't handle opinions that go against their own and throw fits over it."
and you respond to someone telling you that what you'emre advocating is unrealistic in a serious tone with "I hate you".
by Alveus Nosville; ; Report
Alveus Nosville
I'mma be real.
While I get where you're coming from it's insane to advocate against talking about current subjects.
It goes beyond just not being realistic - it's outright paradoxical. Emulating social media of back in the day by only talking about stuff from back then goes against the very idea of social media as it was back then. It was all about updating people about your current state after all.
And pretending to not be in the present would turn it into a glorified RP which would be boring, cringe and insulting to the fact current socials suck ass, by removing the ability to counter that by rolling back to previous solutions.
I realize we don't exactly have many good options here (good being defined as removed from the present), but life always was about playing the cards you're given, no way to change that.
Awful take
by Delta; ; Report
Aight, but you gotta counter it somehow or we're not gonna go anywhere with it.
by Alveus Nosville; ; Report
Gray
I was born in 1997 so I just barely missed the 'golden' age of internet. However with the few years I did get to enjoy internet while it was on the path to become more mainstream, I feel like community plays a huge factor on what makes a website feel old. I vented about this several times but I'll keep it short: I feel like these days people use websites the same way as modern sites. What I miss about old websites is people went out of their way to find them and it took a genuine interest to stay committed to the website. Now days everyone only uses websites out of boredom, they couldn't care less about what happens as long as the website jingles shiny keys in their face.
I miss all the unique people I met back in the day, these days it seems like even indie sites enforce a hivemind, wherever it's the admins and mods doing it or users theirselves. There's nothing wrong with wanting a website to stick with it's theme and wishing all the users stuck to that theme. But it seems in this modern age people want to push that EVERY indie site HAS to become big and huge and you have to let EVERYONE in even if the new people brought in couldn't care less about the website's themeing. However, I also notice these same people will advocate for banning people just because they're rude, brings in conflict, says things people "don't want to hear" It always turns into "Ban people I don't like/don't get along with" Modern websites have conditioned people to be inside a bubble and taught them that the most mild inconvenience must be ban worthy.
But yeah what I miss the most was how despite chaos was allowed, people will settle down like dust and get along, or at least tolerate each other without a mod threatening everyone "Be nice or get banned" People also seem to forget it's normal to not to befriend every single person you meet and sometimes meet people you can't like no matter what.
I agree. People nowadays can't handle opinions that go against their own and throw fits over it. It's very tiring.
by Delta; ; Report
Actual Acorn
I don't think this site is supposed to be an authentic 2000s experience. it's just a throwback
It's the closest we can get in the modern internet unfortunately. Anything else that fits that niche is completely inactive. It's sad.
by Delta; ; Report
there are smaller sites like that
by scenemo.mess666; ; Report