What old chat rooms got right#

If you're old enough to have heard a modem scream (I am, alarmingly), you probably remember some version of this: the family computer, a chat room, and the faintly ridiculous discovery that you could just... talk to someone on the other side of the world.

About nothing in particular. For hours.

Then the internet grew up, got a job in advertising, and stopped returning our calls.

That's unfair, obviously. There are still wonderful people making wonderful things online. But I think the nostalgia for old-school chat rooms is about something real, and it isn't a desire to reinstall Windows 98.

The internet felt like somewhere to go#

A room could have regulars. Someone would recognise your name. Someone else would be halfway through explaining their very specific obsession, and you'd discover that you had time to hear about it.

You weren't necessarily there to build a following or make a useful contact. You were there because talking to people was an interesting way to spend an evening.

Text was part of that freedom. Before someone had seen your face or heard your accent, they might already know you were funny, kind, or alarmingly well-informed about mushrooms. It didn't remove every snap judgement, but it gave your words a chance to get there first.

The lack of a grand purpose was part of the appeal. A conversation could be silly, wander off, or become unexpectedly important. You didn't need to know which it was going to be before starting.

And strangers felt like a possibility. There was a person behind that username, living some entirely different life. You could ask them about it. They might ask about yours.

What a cool thing to be able to do.

Memory is being very generous here#

Old chat rooms also had spam, harassment, creeps, tedious arguments, and people who thought "a/s/l" was a complete personality.

Some rooms had dedicated moderators who worked hard to protect them. Others barely had rules. And even a lovely little community could disappear when whoever ran it lost interest, money, or the password to something important.

There was no universal golden age of kindness. If your memories are mostly of being hassled, the nostalgia probably sounds baffling.

So when I say I miss the old internet, I mean the good moments. The curiosity, the hobbyist weirdness, the chance to meet someone without either of you trying to get something.

I'd like more of that. We can leave the unsolicited genitals in the past, thanks.

Rebuilding the feeling takes more than a text box#

You can copy an old interface quite easily. The harder part is giving people a reason to trust the space enough to be open in it.

They need to know that if someone is being awful, something will happen. That friendly conversation won't be treated as an invitation to flirt. That there's room for different opinions, and an expectation of respect when those opinions collide.

That last bit matters. A refuge doesn't have to mean a room full of people who agree about everything. Some of the most worthwhile encounters are with people you wouldn't have chosen if you'd only seen their labels.

It's possible to have strong rules about behaviour while welcoming a wide range of humans. I'd argue that the first helps make the second possible.

There are still little corners#

Hobby forums, IRC channels, small group servers, pen-pal communities, personal sites with lively little communities around them. The internet hasn't entirely forgotten how to do this. Sometimes you just have to look away from its busiest roads.

My own attempt is Wusoup. I started working on it in 2008, with a few breaks along the way. A perfectly normal amount of time to spend trying to make a nice place to chat.

It isn't a group chat room: it's 1-on-1 text chat with strangers. The rules are considerably stricter than the ones in those old rooms. I'd like the wonder back; the creeps can stay out.

The mission is to keep a small part of that hopeful internet alive. Not every chat will be memorable. Some will fizzle. But if even a few leave you a little more curious about the people around you, a little less inclined to assume the worst of strangers - isn't that worth trying?