Let’s go back to a simpler time — no algorithms, no annoying targeted adds, no batshit insane online groups (unless you wanted to be a part of them), just sweet old pre-Facebook internet.
That’s a breath of fresh air, right? No Zuckerberg doing weird stuff, no presidents getting banned from Twitter, just you and your friends and family sharing posts and staying up to date on the internet. I’m imagining this right now like a calming hot spring, compared to the blaring airhorn of modern social media.
Well, allow me to introduce you to Spacehey — a rehash of the original MySpace from the 2000s.
Look, I’m gonna level with you, I’m too young to remember MySpace. I’m from the age of the internet when they had just added the timeline feature to the home screen of Facebook (aka when the algorithm stuff really took off).
Websites with these huge bits of free space down the sides and these really sharp layouts? Yeah, the most I remember from this age of the internet is Runescape on a second-hand CRT monitor. Sue me, I’m a zoomer.
BUT! The promise of Spacehey is terrific. A retro social media platform with an actual privacy-centric ethos and a fully customisable layout (with HTML and CSS editing)? That sounds amazing! Meta would never.
The website says that over 300,000 people are signed up now, with the ability to instantly message your friends, create your own profile to your liking, stay up to date on forums and search for content that interests you.
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None of this sounds new or interesting? Cool, whatever, it doesn’t need to. It’s all about the feeling of nostalgia and revisiting a time before the internet got so loud. It’s such a fan-inspired take on MySpace that the website actually displays a disclaimer disassociating it from the Microsoft social media website.
Will Spacehey be the next big thing? Look, I honestly doubt it. When we look left and right at new services, it needs to serve a purpose otherwise not served. That’s why the world accepts Discord with such open arms, and a service like iTunes Ping not so much.
Regardless, we’re gonna keep an eye on Spacehey for now, see if it moves around a bit or gets up to anything interesting.
Perhaps there will one day be a Spacehey Tom.