'Whole slews of the internet just defunct': Internet veterans bemoan loss of online third spaces, fun websites

JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor

Jan 31, 2024 4:00 PM EST

The internet has changed so much in the short time it's existed that it's hard to remember that it wasn't always like this. The internet, to me, used to be a place where I would play fun dress up games, talk to other kids on Club Penguin, research fairies on fairy websites, and update my status on AIM. It felt like a unique, discrete place. It was somewhere to go after school. It felt vast and untapped but also small and manageable. There was something beautifully cozy about it.

That, of course, is also the nostalgia talking. I was a kid, so of course I approached the internet with innocence. But there's something to be said for the loss of those kinds of spaces online. And other folks seem to feel the same way. Of course, as an editor at one of the internet's most enduring silly websites, I must also plant a flag and say we're still here! Stupid websites forever.