Report Blog Entry
I have been active on Spacehey for 3 days; mostly lurking, as I tend to do when attempting to become accustomed to a new website and community's culture. I think I've got a decent grasp on it all now, and my verdict is that it's not quite what I expected.
In some ways, I mean this positively. I didn't expect so many queer people on here, for certain, but that was a comforting thing to see. I'm always afraid of joining new communities as a trans person; especially with the rise of transphobic rhetoric lately. It made me feel a bit safer here.
But, when entering a community based off of MySpace, I suppose I expected less... TikTok / Twitter culture. (TTT culture, if you will.)
I suppose it's because, whenever I've entered a community based off of a now-defunct aspect of web1, it's filled with people sick of the state of the modern web. People who yearn for the days of web1, before a bunch of fuckass companies realized how ~ profitable ~ the internet could be, then monetized the everloving shit out of every little niche, nerdy community they could. Neocities, for example; based off of the defunct Geocities; is full of this sort of sentiment. Against the capitalist hellscape that the internet has become, and against the TTT culture that leads to people writing fucking essays about whether bi men can say the f-slur or whatever. So, I was eager to enter a similar community.
The first sign that something that off was when I went to enter a community, and noted that a point of terminally-online TTT queer discourse was a part of their community guidelines (in a, 'we won't let you in unless you're on our side of the discourse!', way).
The second: when the group of the first-ever blog posts I came across on here included a callout post. (Callout blog?)
The third: The amount of DNIs and BYFs I see when I scroll blogs by 'most recent'. Look, I have a DNI myself... But I'm talking TTT-level DNIs. DNIs that have things in them like, "If you consume ~ irredeemable media ~," in them.
And now, I just ran across someone complaining about goddamn motherfucking FLAG DISCOURSE, where the comments didn't have but ONE person telling them to go outside. (THE certifiable sign of a TTT culture-poisoned site.)
A site which I had expected to be filled with anti-TTT culture sentiments has already been poisoned by the terminally online. Alas.
Although I suppose this is to be expected. Given that MySpace is so heavily associated with scene culture, and given the scene revival on TikTok, it makes sense that these types of people would be here... But when I come to this type of website, it's to be nostalgic. NOT to be reminded of modern LGBT+ online infighting.
I realize that I sound like a grouchy old homophobic fuck who hates young people right now, so, mind, I'm queer as fuck and also a teenager myself (albeit, an adult one). But I just... HATE the way that these types of people treat biting one's comrade's hand instead of the oppressor's an act of "activism". There's a culture of "being mean being funny", a culture of harassment of "bad people" being okay. You'd think these people didn't have anti-cyberbullying sentiments drilled into their heads since they were in Kindergarten.
And I kind of almost feel bad for these sorts of Twitter and TikTok people, because they must be so miserable all the time, constantly thinking and posting about things that do nothing but anger them, without ever making any REAL difference... But, to be honest, the pity fades when I remember how many victims of mass-harassment must have been made even MORE miserable by them.
I only hope that they will learn the error of their ways, and grow as people with time.
Anyhow. That's my rant about TTT culture on Spacehey. Feel free to shoot me a friend request if you are similarly disillusioned with web2, or otherwise have an interest in the old web. If you were offended by this, then consider the possibility that you are the type of person this post is talking about, and maybe stop chugging the discourse juice as if you're dying from thirst.
Blessed be!
Comments
Displaying 17 of 17 comments ( View all | Add Comment )
benny // whalefall
"I suppose it's because, whenever I've entered a community based off of a now-defunct aspect of web1, it's filled with people sick of the state of the modern web. People who yearn for the days of web1, before a bunch of fuckass companies realized how ~ profitable ~ the internet could be, then monetized the everloving shit out of every little niche, nerdy community they could." the amount of people who just skipped right past this legitimate capitalist critique and went straight to misunderstanding the hell out of you bothers me. i get it. i actually posted a similar thing tonight
MetalHeart
Fr
earthb0und
sobbb i won't lie i've been on here for like. maybe 5 hours after finding it recced on neocities and i was expecting such an different atmosphere this is all very . sympathizable isnt a word. able-to-be-sympathized-with.
corinth
i think this is more a critique of the regressive and ultimately entirely useless of modern gay discourse today (and a critique i totally agree with), but i feel like the argument of "there isn't enough of what i want to see" is kind of an odd one to make about a social media website.
i do agree with a lot of the points, especially about the feeling that queer discourse on here is especially you-can't-sit-with-us-esque and incredibly annoying. some people just need new hobbies.
jing yi
god this is so dumb... what do u expect? if u do not want to see that sort of stuff cultivate a space for u. block, relay boundaries, etc. if that doesnt work than find another site for urself! not everything is going to be how u want it n thats ok.
š | FR3SH
If you donāt mind me askiny, what does TTT mean in your post?
Other then that, I totally agree with your statements here. Itās like Twitter 3.0 here and the overall site is giving the same energy as when I was on FrameCast, which in my opinion was not a joyous or fun app to be on.
Happy IRL
Firzt of all izn't the term chronically online?? Juzt let people have fun! I underztand ur little pea brain can't handle the fact people can be affected by things online 2! U give off Prozhipper vibez tbh...
1. Terminally online and chronically online are interchangeable terms.
2. Iām not preventing people from doing these things. Iām not directly commenting under anyoneās slur discourse posts or something. But if theyāre free to act as they wish, Iām free to act as I wish. Which includes criticizing the culture which they perpetuate.
3. I am genuinely baffled as to how you think āflag discourse is stupidā is ānot understanding that people are affected by things online,ā when literally my main point on this post was that TTT people lead a culture of harassing and bullying others. I hate TTT culture *because* I know that peopleās online lives affect their real ones.
4. I was groomed and then sexually abused by a proshipper at 12, and I have proshippers on my DNI (had you bothered to check my account before insulting me). So you saying that last thing to me is hilariously insensitive. Just because someone thinks slur discourse is counterproductive and cyberbullying people (including ābad peopleā) is bad, you compare a SA victim to a fucking pedo apologist? You should be genuinely ashamed of yourself.
by Azure; ; Report
PEDO APOLIGIST? thats new
by Happy IRL; ; Report
becca
its so refreshing to hear someone say this on here. i want to get away from the dumbassery of social media and the capitalism it fuels but so much of this website has the same chronically online opinions. i want to join neocities but im incredibly dumb and dont know how to code but this website just gives me more motivation to.
robbinfromstatefarm
I go on this site to get away from judgement and cut throat twitter/tiktok discourse. but I also realize not everyone wants what I want. Ppl probably just want a twitter page they can personally style and that's fine tbh. The block button is everyone's bestfriend and there's a lot of people on this site who share the same ideals as you. I feel like spacehey rules are fair enough to everyone where we can have different simple groups on the same site.
jolenethekitty
honestly went on here due to a friend and ever since i've went on this site i've grown to just love it.
it won't ever be as good as the original thing, but it'll try its hardest to emulate it.
demogrl
straight up like i deleted tiktok to get away from the most brain-dead superficial lib takes only to find them on here too likeā¦ is it so hard to not bring drama that is so niche and annoying to sites that didnāt even have them in the first place? nobody was saying anything about the toothpaste flag until some kid brought it up and now everyoneās talking about it.
same with dniās and byf. theyāre fine but tbh itās so unsafe especially as a kid to list every trigger or any personal information beyond like an online name, age and pronouns. ppl who want to hurt others will see that and be like āoh perfect i have exactly what i need to upset them!!!ā like we just need to restart methinks
I'm pretty sure the discourse was brought up because users of the flag were being told to k*ll themselves and were being harrassed for just existing-
by RATTICUS šš¦; ; Report
scenemo.mess666
yeah i was hoping people would be less mean and cut throat, they have to understand its not twt its spacehey and try to be kind and solve issues instead of starting a cancel war luckily i generally dont see that often. the more friends the less you see that stuff in my experience. just join forums and stay on bulletins.
i dont think its that common just seems that way at first
by scenemo.mess666; ; Report
Data
I agree, it can be SUPER annoying. What helps me is I remember a good 90% of ppl who are like this are still kids who are still developing a sense of identity and morality, and they'll likely grow out of it.
i see weird al yankovic pic!! i like weird al yankovic pic
by benny // whalefall; ; Report
GRIFFEN
You want to magically go back in to MySpace?? It is 2022, do what you can to make this website what you want, but don't complain when everyone else is doing what they want
What if āwhat I wantā is complaining about modern internet culture and how it leads to harassment and misunderstandings of activism, like a grouchy old man. What then. Why are *you* complaining when I do what *I* want
by Azure; ; Report
What if what I want is to reply to your complaining about me complaining. This is kind of like what I already said
by GRIFFEN; ; Report
Epic_Gamer_Pokémon_Ranger
I've been using this site like I use every site. I block people I don't like and I make friends with people I think aren't discourse poisoned. So far I've only come across one user that made this like, group of people to "clean up SpaceHey" where they actively made callouts for users, and I blocked them and the group. Using the block button liberally is the best.
Having a lot of queer users like me was also comforting. I'm not afraid to be myself here.
I definitely hoped for a more old web vibe, but at the same time, I'm happy to see people exploring this kind of social media. It's a great opportunity to get away from the targeted ads, the algorithm, all that jazz. Maybe the exposure to this will remind people how the web ought to be: free and full of exploration. Besides, more and more people might be inspired to go to Neocities to make their own sites as well, especially since you have to mess around with HTML and CSS a bit with this website.
So, while the vibes aren't completely old-school, I do like to see fresh faces checking this side of the web out. I just block the people I think won't jive well with me. Also, I post my opinions and then I'm done with it. I've yet to receive hate, and I feel adequately anonymous from my other sites to where I'm not afraid of discourse following me elsewhere. Just block the discoursers and curate a friend group that's, well, not like that. Easier said than done, but it's worked well for me.
I hope you stick around though. I've been having a blast, and my posts actually get interaction here. It's fun and I hope you have fun with it too.
Gray
I wish I could find sites that actually feel old. A site can be made to look and function old, but it isn't that nostalgic when everyone acts so modern.
I want to use more indie sites to meet people who care about being there, but all I ever get are kids who want their favorite site to be centralized and replace every other site while enforcing a hivemind. The few times I do meet other adults they always act like man children too.
8008x
God I totally agree with all of this, I havenāt been on this website long enough to see any of that, heāll I just joined very recently. So I myself am struggling to grasp this sites culture just yet,
But itās so upsetting to see all that stuff being brought onto a fun website like this , and Iām mainly just talking about all the toxicity. On any website there is obviously going to be some negativity of any kind, but I really REALLY hope there wonāt be as much as the widely used social medias (TT TWT, insta, ext)
I just want a space to be silly without having to be anxious about what people are saying or commenting, and Iām glad that so far Iāve been met with pretty nice people!! And I rlly hope it stays that way
OH LORD PLEASE FORGIVE MY SPELLING MISTAKESā my auto correct seriously hates me
by 8008x; ; Report