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I used the web before Google too, and I remember them. Also, I do consider reading about something to be a valid way to learn about things you didn't directly

I used the web before Google too, and I remember them. Also, I do consider reading about something to be a valid way to learn about things you didn't directly witness, so it's strange that you would discount this. > There simply was no reason to do so, before Google started ranking pages based on the links. Webrings were useful for people who found a website interesting and wanted to visit other similar websites. The incentive to be in a webring was that you could get more exposure. Not to mention that the 90s were full of trendy things like this: "under construction" gifs, "valid HTML" buttons, etc. Web rings were one of those "clever" things you could add to a website.

james-skemp 11y ago
Having had pages in Webrings way back when, it was definitely about exposure, but I think it was also an extension of groups (Yahoo! Groups being the biggest I can recall, but I think there was also OneGroup (?) - it maybe had purple in it's logo?). With Tripod, Geocities, Angelfire, and the like it was fairly easy to get a really basic page up, typically with a bunch of links to pages that you checked on regularly, and might be of interest to others. At least that's how it was for me. I think the rings I was part of included Terragen, POV-Ray, and Star Wars, and I can recall getting a couple people started with basic (and of course very ugly, with that same star field background for the SW-related pages) for people that I met in the various groups. Good times. EDIT: And don't forget the 'made with notepad' icons. Or recommending 800x600 or 1024x768 as the best resolution to view a site.
hughw 11y ago
Fair enough guys. Thanks for reminding me about webrings. I had forgotten them and confused them with common link spam we see now. I do consider first hand memories a more reliable contribution than hearsay (reading about it), but there is some contribution in repeating received wisdom too.

james-skemp 11y ago

Having had pages in Webrings way back when, it was definitely about exposure, but I think it was also an extension of groups (Yahoo! Groups being the biggest I can recall, but I think there was also OneGroup (?) - it maybe had purple in it's logo?). With Tripod, Geocities, Angelfire, and the like it was fairly easy to get a really basic page up, typically with a bunch of links to pages that you checked on regularly, and might be of interest to others. At least that's how it was for me. I think the rings I was part of included Terragen, POV-Ray, and Star Wars, and I can recall getting a couple people started with basic (and of course very ugly, with that same star field background for the SW-related pages) for people that I met in the various groups. Good times. EDIT: And don't forget the 'made with notepad' icons. Or recommending 800x600 or 1024x768 as the best resolution to view a site.

hughw 11y ago

Fair enough guys. Thanks for reminding me about webrings. I had forgotten them and confused them with common link spam we see now. I do consider first hand memories a more reliable contribution than hearsay (reading about it), but there is some contribution in repeating received wisdom too.