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
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    2 years 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.mlOP
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      2 years 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.

      • Borgzilla
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        2 years ago

        Nice, is there a way for me to sub from a different instance? If not, I can create an account on lemmy.ml.

        • Xer0@lemmy.mlOP
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          2 years ago

          Bro, I’m going to be honest. I have no idea. Still trying to wrap my head around how that stuff works. Someone linked something on another lemmy instance and it prompted me to setup a new account on that instance. So I’m not too sure how it all works 100%.

      • 3yiyo3@lemmy.ml
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        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 :)