Yeah, after the early 2000s, especially in 2017, I'm sure 99% of webring usage was either zombie webrings on untouched sites or a small group of revivalists try

Yeah, after the early 2000s, especially in 2017, I'm sure 99% of webring usage was either zombie webrings on untouched sites or a small group of revivalists trying to bring them back like the smolweb. Neither seem adequate to extend the "heyday". Same with those "top sites" websites where you had to beg users to click on the tiny referral banner to vote for your website. I haven't seen a webring in the wild since the early 2000s except on zombie websites found on Marginalia.