No place for noplace
I found out about noplace yesterday and it's frustrating the Hell out of me, so I need to talk about it.
So what is noplace? Since I'm assuming most of you don't even know it yet. noplace is a social media platform that released a few days ago, I think. It's a blogging-based app very clearly aimed at the modern youth. And that's where the biggest problem lies, I think. It's being dubbed "the MySpace for Gen Z" and that's a pretty laughable claim. I mean, not only is it only available as iOS app, but just because it's somewhat customizable doesn't make it the next MySpace, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be overrun by only the youngest of Gen Z (and maybe even Gen Alpha) soon enough because of the way they present themselves.
Let's me just quote the first sentence of their description on the App Store and I think you'll be able to see the problem.
"calling all NPCs, main characters, swifties, barbs, nerds, and stans"
Sorry if you're above sixteen and that gave you a stroke. It's very obviously aimed at young teens because of the lingo they used. Another funny sentence is "remember how fun the internet was before all the algos and ads?", given that I'm pretty sure that most of the people using that app are probably too young to have been around for that.
And don't get me wrong. I am glad to see customizable blog-based social medias thrive in times where there is such a big focus on photos and videos and minimalism. I'm glad to see that people are still interested in blogging, but it upsets me that people are acting like this is the reinvention of the wheel that is MySpace. Not only is the app very similar to an app released previously called "Cactus - Express yourself" (which is available for iOS and Android), meaning that it's not even that special or groundbreaking to the market, it also offends me that people are acting like you being able to set the colors of your page is the same as the customization that MySpace offered. And I'm not against sites or apps that offer easy and limited customization at all. In fact, I think noplace looks pretty good! But if anything, with the way they look and present themselves, it's more like a colorful Twitter than the reincarnation of MySpace. And it will never have the same feeling as MySpace because they appeal to modern internet culture so much. They appeal to the crowd on Twitter, that uses modern internet lingo and is up-to-date with modern internet trends. But I think that's kind of a weird way to go about things, because that means that the userbase is probably going to act the way they also do on popular modern social media: toxic. I think a big problem with social medias nowadays is that people are so used to being shielded from everything outside of their mindset and social bubble that they'll get upset and fight about everything. It's fucking exhausting. And noplace seems to be pushing that same energy by using terms like "NPCs" and "stans", which are obviously more modern terms. Now, I find it quite obnoxious that the description of the app is already giving off this "hello, fellow kids" energy, but it also makes it clear that using the app is not going to be anything like what it was like using MySpace back in the day. They try to appear cool and retro while still tapping into things that make modern social media so insufferable. I think that's a shame, and I think it's annoying that people are acting as if this is going to be like what MySpace was like back in the day.
ALSO, they have this post boosting system which they keep showing off, but like... I don't know, man. That feels like some modern day bullshit to me...
Anyway, if you now want to get into social medias that are actually designed to be more like the web back in the day, including the freedom to say slurs and offensive stuff without immediately getting doxxed for making someone cry, there ARE options!
SpaceHey.com is the absolute king, I think. It's a clone of early 2000s MySpace. And yes, there are a lot of young people that grew up with the modern internet who are getting mad at moderators not taking down anything slightly offensive, but I still have hope for the platform.
FriendProject.net is bascially the same as SpaceHey, but it's older and less popular. From what I've seen, the site is less strict about what you can and can't post, but it doesn't have as many active users as SpaceHey.
DreamWidth.org is the site you're on now. It's a clone of LiveJournal. "But Derick, LiveJournal is still active, so why not just use that?" Good question. Because LiveJournal is owned by a Russian company nowadays and it's full of sketchy ads and trackers and it censors things like being queer, so it's a shit place to be right now.
Neocities.org is a clone of GeoCities, which was a popular website that you could make and host your own websites on. You can find personal blogs, collections of blinkies or entire pages dedicated to people's interests. Neocities is super interesting because you code your entire website yourself, so you can go wild with creativity. I think Neocities does ban people if they make stuff that's too horrendous for the website, so maybe don't upload your necrophilia porn onto there, LOL.
Alternatively, you can also just find forums to join based on your interests. One of the websites that hosts forums is FORUMOTION.com, but I assume there might be a lot more if you search around.
Feel free to let me know if there are any old internet type of social medias that I missed.
So what is noplace? Since I'm assuming most of you don't even know it yet. noplace is a social media platform that released a few days ago, I think. It's a blogging-based app very clearly aimed at the modern youth. And that's where the biggest problem lies, I think. It's being dubbed "the MySpace for Gen Z" and that's a pretty laughable claim. I mean, not only is it only available as iOS app, but just because it's somewhat customizable doesn't make it the next MySpace, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be overrun by only the youngest of Gen Z (and maybe even Gen Alpha) soon enough because of the way they present themselves.
Let's me just quote the first sentence of their description on the App Store and I think you'll be able to see the problem.
"calling all NPCs, main characters, swifties, barbs, nerds, and stans"
Sorry if you're above sixteen and that gave you a stroke. It's very obviously aimed at young teens because of the lingo they used. Another funny sentence is "remember how fun the internet was before all the algos and ads?", given that I'm pretty sure that most of the people using that app are probably too young to have been around for that.
And don't get me wrong. I am glad to see customizable blog-based social medias thrive in times where there is such a big focus on photos and videos and minimalism. I'm glad to see that people are still interested in blogging, but it upsets me that people are acting like this is the reinvention of the wheel that is MySpace. Not only is the app very similar to an app released previously called "Cactus - Express yourself" (which is available for iOS and Android), meaning that it's not even that special or groundbreaking to the market, it also offends me that people are acting like you being able to set the colors of your page is the same as the customization that MySpace offered. And I'm not against sites or apps that offer easy and limited customization at all. In fact, I think noplace looks pretty good! But if anything, with the way they look and present themselves, it's more like a colorful Twitter than the reincarnation of MySpace. And it will never have the same feeling as MySpace because they appeal to modern internet culture so much. They appeal to the crowd on Twitter, that uses modern internet lingo and is up-to-date with modern internet trends. But I think that's kind of a weird way to go about things, because that means that the userbase is probably going to act the way they also do on popular modern social media: toxic. I think a big problem with social medias nowadays is that people are so used to being shielded from everything outside of their mindset and social bubble that they'll get upset and fight about everything. It's fucking exhausting. And noplace seems to be pushing that same energy by using terms like "NPCs" and "stans", which are obviously more modern terms. Now, I find it quite obnoxious that the description of the app is already giving off this "hello, fellow kids" energy, but it also makes it clear that using the app is not going to be anything like what it was like using MySpace back in the day. They try to appear cool and retro while still tapping into things that make modern social media so insufferable. I think that's a shame, and I think it's annoying that people are acting as if this is going to be like what MySpace was like back in the day.
ALSO, they have this post boosting system which they keep showing off, but like... I don't know, man. That feels like some modern day bullshit to me...
Anyway, if you now want to get into social medias that are actually designed to be more like the web back in the day, including the freedom to say slurs and offensive stuff without immediately getting doxxed for making someone cry, there ARE options!
SpaceHey.com is the absolute king, I think. It's a clone of early 2000s MySpace. And yes, there are a lot of young people that grew up with the modern internet who are getting mad at moderators not taking down anything slightly offensive, but I still have hope for the platform.
FriendProject.net is bascially the same as SpaceHey, but it's older and less popular. From what I've seen, the site is less strict about what you can and can't post, but it doesn't have as many active users as SpaceHey.
DreamWidth.org is the site you're on now. It's a clone of LiveJournal. "But Derick, LiveJournal is still active, so why not just use that?" Good question. Because LiveJournal is owned by a Russian company nowadays and it's full of sketchy ads and trackers and it censors things like being queer, so it's a shit place to be right now.
Neocities.org is a clone of GeoCities, which was a popular website that you could make and host your own websites on. You can find personal blogs, collections of blinkies or entire pages dedicated to people's interests. Neocities is super interesting because you code your entire website yourself, so you can go wild with creativity. I think Neocities does ban people if they make stuff that's too horrendous for the website, so maybe don't upload your necrophilia porn onto there, LOL.
Alternatively, you can also just find forums to join based on your interests. One of the websites that hosts forums is FORUMOTION.com, but I assume there might be a lot more if you search around.
Feel free to let me know if there are any old internet type of social medias that I missed.