The web used to feel like a place.

Open short exhibits on guestbooks, webrings, profile songs, hit counters, chain emails, and the tiny rituals the modern feed flattened.

Open a drawer

Short, shareable internet memory cards.

Personal Web · 1990s

The comment section before comment sections.

Homepage Aesthetic · 1990s

The spinning hard hat of eternal almost-finished pages.

Discovery · 1990s

The human-powered algorithm for niche websites.

Metrics · 1990s

Tiny public numbers that made traffic visible.

Homepage Aesthetic · 1990s

The original attention hack.

Navigation · 1990s-2000s

The velvet rope before the actual site.

Identity · 1990s-2000s

The teenage status update before social feeds.

Identity · 2000s

A tiny billboard under every post.

Social Hierarchy · 2000s

A public ranking system disguised as a profile module.

Identity · 2000s

The soundtrack that started when someone opened your page.

Viral Rituals · 1990s-2000s

Forward this or something weird happens.

Homepage Aesthetic · 1990s-2000s

A comet tail for your mouse.