6 ms·

Webring History

53 points by FLpxpyJ 4y ago

jszymborski 4y ago
12 yo me thought BraveNet was so cool. This was a total blast from the past, thanks!
davidpfarrell 4y ago
Much more detailed than I expected going into it, thanks for putting this together !
buttercakes 4y ago
Not mentioned in the article, but sage weil later went on to cofound dreamhost and was the author of Ceph Edit, source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sage_Weil https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sage_Weil
runnr_az 4y ago
I still feel like webrings have a potential purpose… the concept just needs to be jazzed up for Web 3.0 or whatever. Maybe aggregating social media from groups of people? (”Latest updates from the Scottsdale Trailrunners Clique”) something something Shopify stores?
taubek 4y ago
I remember those banners on different web sites.
Vanit 4y ago
Good way to find sibling ROM sites at the time...
- doublepg23 4y ago
  Wow, that unlocked a key memory, thanks.
NetOpWibby 4y ago
We need to make these popular again
WirelessGigabit 4y ago
I miss this version of the internet. Simple pages. No signups for newsletters / 10% off. No cookie acceptance. No popup for notifications. Just the text you were looking for, and nothing else. Now, even when you're on a website that you pay for hey show you 1/4 of the content, followed by a small 'continue reading' followed by a BIG ARTICLE HEADER that completely disrupts the flow of the stuff you're reading.
- doublepg23 4y ago
  The fediverse often has an old internet feel to me. Project Gemini is the most direct example of “just text” https://gemini.circumlunar.space/ https://gemini.circumlunar.space/ marginalia should be able to find WWW pages of a similar ethos. https://search.marginalia.nu/ https://search.marginalia.nu/ I feel like the “old internet” is still here but you need to put in some work without The Algorithm being there. EDIT: I should add the broad category of “the indie web” as well. I believe they mostly use the same Social Web protocols but I’m not as familiar as I am with the Fediverse.
- altairprime 4y ago
  That version of the internet can still exist, but it’s tough convincing people that an unpolished web page is something they can write and update and that anyone will care. Webrings are an excellent source of “someone cares”, either as founding one or as joining one.
dusted 4y ago
I started a webring back in 2020, the official announcement to the world was actually here on HN (the only announcement I ever made) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23549471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23549471 It's around 250 sites now, and I enjoy visiting a few interesting submissions every once in a while, I usually get at least one or two submissions per week, and it's always great fun interacting with the people who chose to submit their site. brisray.com is actually site number 243 on my ring :D The neocities community is going strong.

Webring History

53 points by FLpxpyJ 4y ago

jszymborski 4y ago

12 yo me thought BraveNet was so cool. This was a total blast from the past, thanks!

davidpfarrell 4y ago

Much more detailed than I expected going into it, thanks for putting this together !

buttercakes 4y ago

Not mentioned in the article, but sage weil later went on to cofound dreamhost and was the author of Ceph Edit, source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sage_Weil https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sage_Weil

runnr_az 4y ago

I still feel like webrings have a potential purpose… the concept just needs to be jazzed up for Web 3.0 or whatever. Maybe aggregating social media from groups of people? (”Latest updates from the Scottsdale Trailrunners Clique”) something something Shopify stores?

taubek 4y ago

I remember those banners on different web sites.

Vanit 4y ago

Good way to find sibling ROM sites at the time...

doublepg23 4y ago
Wow, that unlocked a key memory, thanks.

NetOpWibby 4y ago

We need to make these popular again

WirelessGigabit 4y ago

I miss this version of the internet. Simple pages. No signups for newsletters / 10% off. No cookie acceptance. No popup for notifications. Just the text you were looking for, and nothing else. Now, even when you're on a website that you pay for hey show you 1/4 of the content, followed by a small 'continue reading' followed by a BIG ARTICLE HEADER that completely disrupts the flow of the stuff you're reading.

doublepg23 4y ago
The fediverse often has an old internet feel to me. Project Gemini is the most direct example of “just text” https://gemini.circumlunar.space/ https://gemini.circumlunar.space/ marginalia should be able to find WWW pages of a similar ethos. https://search.marginalia.nu/ https://search.marginalia.nu/ I feel like the “old internet” is still here but you need to put in some work without The Algorithm being there. EDIT: I should add the broad category of “the indie web” as well. I believe they mostly use the same Social Web protocols but I’m not as familiar as I am with the Fediverse.
altairprime 4y ago
That version of the internet can still exist, but it’s tough convincing people that an unpolished web page is something they can write and update and that anyone will care. Webrings are an excellent source of “someone cares”, either as founding one or as joining one.

dusted 4y ago

I started a webring back in 2020, the official announcement to the world was actually here on HN (the only announcement I ever made) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23549471 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23549471 It's around 250 sites now, and I enjoy visiting a few interesting submissions every once in a while, I usually get at least one or two submissions per week, and it's always great fun interacting with the people who chose to submit their site. brisray.com is actually site number 243 on my ring :D The neocities community is going strong.