The 90s Internet: A Digital Wild West
The internet of the 1990s was an untamed, unpredictable, and deeply personal place—a stark contrast to the sleek, monetised, and algorithm-driven platforms of today. Before social media homogenised online expression, the web was a sprawling patchwork of neon text, tiled backgrounds, and wildly experimental (sometimes unreadable) fonts. It was chaotic, handcrafted, and absolutely magical. Every website felt like a rabbit hole, every click an adventure, and every homepage a deeply personal digital shrine to its creator’s passions. This was the era of discovery, where the weird and the wonderful coexisted in a way that today’s internet simply doesn’t allow.
I remember the first time I stumbled upon a Geocities page in the late 90s. It was a fan site dedicated to The X-Files, complete with flashing text, a looping MIDI version of the show’s eerie theme and a strangely fonted collection of conspiracy theories. It was strange, wonderful, and utterly unique—an experience that felt like peering into someone’s digital scrapbook rather than visiting a polished, ad-driven platform.
The Geocities Gold Rush
If you were online in the late 90s, you likely had—or at least visited—a Geocities page. It was the free-for-all of web hosting, where anyone could carve out their own tiny corner of cyberspace. Whether it was a glittering shrine to The X-Files, a painstakingly coded fan site for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or an earnest collection of MIDI music and pixel art, Geocities was where internet creativity ran wild.
Of course, no Geocities page was complete without an ‘under construction’ GIF, a guestbook, and perhaps an auto-playing MIDI file that made you jump out of your chair. It was messy, it was personal, and it was beautiful. When Yahoo shut down Geocities in 2009, millions of these homespun sites were erased overnight. Thankfully, digital archivists worked to salvage what they could, preserving fragments of this early web landscape through projects like the Internet Archive’s Geocities Special Collection.
WebRings: The Algorithm-Free Way to Explore
Before Google streamlined how we find things online, WebRings were the way to discover niche communities. Instead of relying on search engines, WebRings linked sites in a circular structure—think of it as a curated tour of like-minded pages. Whether you were interested in Star Trek theories, cryptic paranormal encounters, or the best ASCII art, WebRings kept you endlessly clicking from one passion project to another. It was the internet’s version of a treasure hunt, where every link was a new surprise. Today’s SEO-driven web simply can’t replicate the serendipity of hopping through these handmade collections of digital oddities.
I was part of a WebRing myself back in the day. I had a small, rough-around-the-edges website dedicated to early computing history, linking together other sites that covered old hardware and software. It was a quiet, informal network, and there was something thrilling about knowing that someone, somewhere, might stumble across my corner of the web just by following a trail of links.
This concept isn’t entirely gone—some see similarities in Mastodon’s federated approach, hand-curated RSS feeds, and Substack newsletters, which serve as an alternative to algorithm-driven browsing.
Guestbooks and Hit Counters: The Original Social Media
Long before Facebook ‘likes’ or Twitter ‘retweets’, websites had their own form of engagement metrics: guestbooks and hit counters. The humble guestbook was a public forum where visitors could leave comments, messages, or random shoutouts. Signing a friend’s guestbook was the 90s equivalent of posting on their wall.
Meanwhile, hit counters gave every site owner a thrilling (and sometimes ego-boosting) way to track their visitor count. Whether accurate or wildly exaggerated, those little odometers at the bottom of the page gave a sense of legitimacy—because if 50,000 people had visited, surely the site must be important, right? Modern equivalents of these early social web features can be seen in comment sections, real-time site analytics, and social media engagement metrics.
The Death of the Weird Web
So what happened? Why does the internet feel so different today? The rise of social media platforms, corporate-driven design, and the monetisation of digital spaces meant that customisation gave way to uniformity. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram replaced personal homepages with templated profiles. Algorithms replaced exploration with recommendation engines. And mobile-first design flattened out the eccentricity that once made the web a vibrant, unpredictable experience.
As major platforms prioritise engagement metrics over individuality, breaking free from their grip isn’t just nostalgic—it’s an act of digital independence.
The Weird Web’s Unexpected Revival
Yet, nostalgia has a funny way of keeping things alive. The spirit of the 90s internet isn’t entirely gone—it’s just hiding in the corners of the modern web. Indie web movements, personal blogs, and platforms like Neocities are reviving the handcrafted ethos of the early internet. There’s also a growing interest in alternative web protocols like Gemini, which prioritises lightweight, text-focused browsing reminiscent of the early web.
Modern equivalents to guestbooks and hit counters also persist—comment sections, visitor analytics, and community-driven platforms like Mastodon and personal forums still provide a sense of connection outside of major social media networks.
But can we truly bring back the spirit of the weird web? The weird web wasn’t just a product of its time—it was a testament to human creativity, free expression, and a less commercialised internet. If we want to recapture that spirit, we have to build it ourselves. Whether through hand-coded pages, independent blogs, or alternative platforms, reviving the weird web is in our hands.
Explore the Weird Web Today!
If this article has sparked a sense of nostalgia, why not explore the digital underground? Here are a few places to get started:
- Neocities – Build and browse handcrafted sites, just like the Geocities days.
- Mastodon – Experience decentralised, non-algorithmic social networking.
- IndieWeb – Learn how to take back control of your digital presence.
- Gemini Protocol – Discover a low-tech, text-focused alternative to the modern web.
Do you still have an old website floating around the internet? Share your favourite weird web memories in the comments or post links and screenshots of any surviving relics!
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