The internet wasn’t always like *gestures broadly* this. It was BBS and forums and took up 1MB of space on your landline. There were no ads, no algorithms, and uploading an image was a commitment. It was what people now refer back to as “Web 1.0,” and it’s something that a lot of us decrepit old internet users actually kind of miss. One of those users[^1] is looking to bring that time back with [Cyberspace](https://cyberspace.online/). It opened its doors on October 25th, 2025, and as of this writing has picked up 6,128 users. That’s a lot in a month and change. What makes Cyberspace so enticing is its rigid adherence to “the old days.™” It looks like something you’d see on a command-line interface — which makes sense, given its creator is working on making it usable in your terminal. Image uploading requires you to be a supporter of the site, can only be 128 x 128 in size, and are monochrome once uploaded to the site (ASCII art is fair game though). You can’t edit a post or reply after it’s been made either. There are some unique aspects beyond that, too — the themes are highly customizable down to the font, for one thing. I currently have [my profile](https://cyberspace.online/mint) set to the Dracula color scheme, with my favorite font, Recursive Sans, showing up in most places. ![[Cyberspace - Bringing Social Media Back to Square Zero-1764522078664.png]] There’s also a jukebox — adding a song to it via YouTube link lets it join all the other songs that are there, all listenable via a built-in media player. It’s neat. ![[Cyberspace - Bringing Social Media Back to Square Zero-1764522168225.png]] There’s even a Tamagotchi you can play around with, though I don’t need that kind of stress in my life right now. These combinations of limitations and esoteric features make **Cyberspace** feel more like an art project than a social network, but I’m kind of over social networks anyways. There’s a complete lack of a like button, meaning the only way to engage with a post is to comment on it. A long-lost art if ever there was one. With that said, who knows where **Cyberspace** will go from here. Many a site similar to this one has started off great, but collapsed at scale. 6000+ users and counting isn’t a small number, especially for one person to handle. Not to mention the costs of infrastructure. What happens when the first major drama hits the site, and how will it be handled? It’s something I’m going to be looking at with great interest when it inevitably occurs, especially as someone who’s had to handle that sort of thing on my own forum once or twice. A more selfish critique, and hardly an objective one: a website with this kind of style will obviously pull in people who are more tech oriented than anything else. That’s fine and all, but I like a little diversity in my userbase, you know? If **Cyberspace** continues to successfully pop of, I hope it encourages other kinds of users to show up — ones that don’t know what Linux is, you know? Regardless, **Cyberspace** has been a fun little experiment to check in on now and then. It’s low-stakes and the community has been quite positive. I hope it remains that way. [^1]: I dunno if they’re old, just as a disclaimer lol