Algorithms? Datamining? Brainrot? You don’t need those things to have a social network. As we knew back in the BBS days, long before anyone coined the phrase “social network”, all you need is a place for people to make text posts. [euklides] is providing just such a place, at cyberspace.online.
It’s a great mix of old and new — the IRC inspired chatrooms, e-mail inspired DMs (“cybermail”) make it feel like the good old days, while a sprinkling of more modern concepts such as friends lists, a real-time feed, and even the late-lamented “poke” feature (from before Facebook took over the world) provide some welcome conveniences.
The pursuit of retro goes further through the themed web interface, as well. Sure, there’s light mode and dark mode, but that’s de rigueur. Threads might not offer a blue-and-white Commodore 64 theme, and you’d have little luck getting Bluesky to mimic the soothing amber glow of a VT-230, but Cyberspace offers that and more.
It’s also niche enough that there’s nobody here but us chickens. That is, it looks like a site for geeks, nerds, tech enthusiasts — whatever you want to call us — it might just be via “security by obscurity”, but Cyberspace doesn’t seem likely to attract quite the same Eternal September the rest of the internet is drowning under.
In the Reddit thread where the project was announced, there’s talk of a CLI tool under development. In Rust, because that’s just what all the cool kids are using these days it seems. A text-based interface, be it under DOS or something POSIX-compliant, seems like it would be the perfect fit for this delightful throwback site.
If nobody will join your homebuilt BBS, this might be the next best thing. For those of you who wonder where the hack is: this is a one-man show. If making your own social network in a cave with a box of scraps doesn’t count as a hack, what does?
Thanks to [spiritplumber] for the tip.
Anonymous imageboards are still around. Probably the last active part of the “old internet” before the apps and infinite scroll skeleton UI trends and before websites got much heavier.
And of course many IRC channels still alive, although not very active
Usenet still lives!
Just another closed web service that requires registration and login.
And by registration and login lets be clear a username and a password. You can put any words there and it will be pretty legitimately anonymous.
it still wants a email
Cute idea, but it doesn’t mention anything about support for federation like Mastodon… without the flexibility of federation or the gravity of site like Facebook and Reddit, I can’t imagine this will last more than a couple of years.
This is very awesome, I wonder if there can be a irc bridge to it.
The design reminds me a bit of the PLATO system.
https://distributedmuseum.illinois.edu/exhibit/plasma_display/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)
Queue up Patrick Kroupa’s Voices In My Head.
Network communication in 87 was a different culture entirely.
If it doesn’t run in Links2 on the console then it is rubbish.
I donβt know. The CompuServe client (DOS) of the late 80s was more colorful and had windows (it used a TUI) already. It had standards, in short. ;)
Screenshots: can be found at WinWorld
This is like RetroWave, about a past that’s being stylized and romanticed.
Which is okay, really. It’s just not how it (often) was.
Unless you had an 4,77 MHz IBM dinosaur with MDA or CGA at the time.
(By 1987, the Amiga 500/2000 and IBM’s VGA and SAA standard debuted.)
Hm. PC-Tools 5 (1989) and up also used windows-based TUI, now comes to mind.
By late 80s, I’d say, GUIs such as GEM, DOS Shell or Windows 2.x became more common in the DOS world.
By 1988, you had DOS-suuccessor OS/2 v1.1 running in 1024×768 pixel @256c if you wanted to.
The IBM 8514/A and early ATI VGAWonder graphics cards were supported, I remember.
Anyway, just saying. While DOS world surely had the MDA/Hercules aesthetics that resembled the mainframe or terminal experience,
it nolonger was cutting-edge.
DOS had several GUIs such as GEM, Norton Commander or XTree Gold.
More demanding users nolonger did stare on a blinking cursor all day, in short.
By 1987, you had Windows 2.03 running in VGA or Super EGA (800×600 16c) if you had a multisync monitor.
There were many EGA/Super EGA compatibles that evolved into VGA compatibles (all being Super VGA, really. Plain VGA compatibles were rare).
Again, “if you wanted to”. I’m not talking about the humble home user who played Prince of Persia on his XT clone.
I mean advanced or professional users, how had an actual need for it.
Why doesn’t it have a dating section π€£
Anything can be a dating section of you’re persistent enough.
Back in 1987 we were using large online services like Compuserve and GEnie.
Then a mad doctor (yes an actual doctor) created a system called Diversi-Dial.
Apple //e, 7 modems, 7 phone lines, and you had a little community chat.
The first systems couldn’t link, but when linking was added, you had people all
over the USA talking to each other. Such links were made using PC Pursuit.
There is a recreation of sorts of the ddial system at ddial.com and magviz.ca
People there are from that time period for the most part. It’s fun.