There is no kingdom on the internet that lasts for a thousand years. While the internet is still an unexplored field for the vast majority, even the established ones did not grow up to reach their golden years. And to show a button. Or in this case, GeoCities, the platform that wants to absorb some of the Internet in a huge metropolis perfectly divided into zones. Nothing.

If you dealt with computers in the ’90s, you’re likely to remember the name for its mix of nostalgia, anguish from the passing of time, and above all. pain in the retina.

Long before the first bloggers fired and the big networks exploded, GeoCities led its own little big revolution on the internet. In a particular way – they remember on How-To Geek – it helped democratize it. In the mid-90s, its creators introduced a simple, practical web hosting service that allowed content to be published on the Web without having to rent a handful of megabytes on a server, subscribe to an ISP, or know HTML code.

And they did it in their own way, community building almost literally.

Taste of gifs and sharp colors

To understand this, you have to go back to the origins of the project in 1994, when David Bohnett and John Rezner launched a hosting and web development service in southern California in the ’90s called Beverly Hills Internet (BHI). Their creators had a good nose and were quick to offer users without HTML knowledge the ability to create and publish their own homepages for free. In short, leave a small space of your own with 2 MB for free.

Not only that. The contents are uniquely edited to make the true stamp of GeoCities, a name the project adopted in a lucky marketing blow. Why? Why? Because that’s exactly how like citieswas how the sites with their respective regions were arranged. Authentic virtual neighborhoods distributed by communities.

It included “HotSprings” for health content, “Area 51” for those who love sci-fi and fantasy stories, “WestHollywood” focused on the LGTBI community, “Colosseum” on sports and “RodeoDrive” aimed at acquisitions. And that’s just to name a few examples. Each user (rancher) had a wide variety of neighborhoods to choose from, according to the topics that most interested him. Its content is hosted in a specific neighborhood with its number, almost like a mailing address summarized in a URL.

While its layout was bizarre, its aesthetic was even more bizarre, with a unique style reminiscent of suburban walls filled with posters and graffiti. Ready-made templates, abundance of animated gifs, a taste of bright colors, eye-pleasing contrasts and sounds in MIDI format. Anything that causes us to shut down a website in fear today was all too common in GeoCities. Users were getting used to the new web environment and, you know, it was time to try everything, despite the risk the result seemed to be. digital salad.

In any case, the proposal was well received, and by 1997 GeoCities had gained enough congregation to be in the “Top 5” of the most visited websites. Over time, chats, bulletin boards, and other elements have been added to reinforce the sense of community.

Despite some moves, such as adding ads to some designs that its followers didn’t like, or watermarks that spoil some designs, GeoCities made so many promises that it didn’t take long for one of the internet’s great giants to pique their interest. when: Yahoo. ! In 1999, shortly after its IPO under code GCTY, the California multinational took over after spending nearly $3,600 million. Still, the figure is respected.

The process wasn’t exactly popular, and GeoCities patrons didn’t like some of the initial terms of the agreement, which referred to rights and content or Yahoo’s changes to URLs. But the portal faced more critical problems. In a changing Web, in full swing and the “dot com bubble” as the backdrop, GeoCities didn’t know how to make it profitable its service, adapt to new times and take advantage of its enormous traction.

Neither – it is estimated – 38 million pages in its history, nor Yahoo! Turning it into a premium hosting service that serves to clean up the future of GeoCities. Its complex profitability and increasing pressure from new platforms such as Live Journal, and especially new social networks, hastened its demise.

In April 2009, Yahoo! announced its gradual closure. At least in the USA. It would continue for another decade in Japan. It closed in 2019 for technological and economic reasons.

Şimşek may have written the last chapter, but he did not bury it in oblivion. Over the years there have been efforts to preserve at least some of the memories of an important period in Internet history, such as The Archive Team, Reocities, or artist Cameron Askin.

“It was pioneer of networks One of the things that surprised me was how far we’ve come from that era. The heart of GeoCities was sharing passions and knowledge with other people. It’s not about what you eat or where you travel, it’s about tapping into your personal passion, joining a community of like-minded people, and sharing it with other people,” David Bohnett, a supporter of Gizmodo recently claimed. .