Entry 1: Websites I have known and loved

Originally Posted 9/30/24

Let's Set the Scene

You're in early high school. It's 2010. Smart phones exist, and are becoming popular. They're still pretty new at this point. You're hanging out with some friends, and they suggest you check out this website that allows you and friends to take turns playing music. This is great as you can all listen to the same thing at the same time, and it mixes through all of your songs! You give it a try.

Turntable.fm

Turntable.fm quickly became one of my favorite websites. Not only could I listen to a variety of music, but there was also a chat feature where I could chat to people from across the US! It was a really simple premise - create an account, and either make playlists on the website itself, or import them directly from YouTube. You could then join a queue to DJ. There was a stage and on it there would be 5 DJs, which were basically the next few people in line plus the person whose song was playing currently. If people liked your songs they could give it a thumbs up, and have their avatars dance along. If enough people didn't like your song, it would be skipped. There were different rooms which were typically sorted by music genre.

I used Turntable religiously. Almost every night I'd be home, in bed, supposedly sleeping, but in reality listening to music and chatting with people. I'd stay up extremely late most nights just chatting with strangers. And it was a blast! Listening to music, chatting with people, what a good time. Back then I had to use an iPod touch to join in on the fun, as my parents were slow to get us smartphones. It was funny too, one night I saw my brother in one of the rooms when both of us were supposed to have gone to bed a long time prior. Was one of those things that felt like "oo, neither of us can tell mom but we both know we're doing something we shouldn't".

Social Stories

I made a surprising amount of friends on Turntable, and even more surprising some of them were my age! I'm going to mention some of the more interesting stories below:

Jessi

The first notable person is Jessi. Jessi was someone else who was often on Turntable. We began talking and it turned out we were the exact same age! She lived more in the center of the country, while I lived more on the East Coast, but we were still able to become really good friends. For a while she was one of my closest friends, especially all through high school. Jessi loves traveling, and even flew out to the East Coast to go to prom with me! We still keep in touch here and there, but largely don't talk much anymore.

Danielle

Danielle (or, I think that was her name) was a few grades below me. We started chatting though and it turned out she used to live near me! But had moved away a few years prior. After talking with her a bit though, it turned out she knew someone I went to High School with! They had been really close friends, but had lost contact with each other after the move. I was able to get them reconnected! It made me feel really good about myself that I was able to help them out. This situation was also a great moment of the world feeling small.

The End of Turntable

Turntable eventually shut down, and that was the end of it for me. There were other sites that popped up, and did something similar, but I really didn't transfer much over to them. As I write this, I actually found out Turntable came back under another name. It's now called Deepcut. Might have to check it out again.

Reflection

When I first saw this prompt, I was a bit stumped. No website immediately came to mind, as there aren't many websites that I truly loved (outside of Cohost). I'm on all the standard social media sites - Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Discord, YouTube, etc. But I don't love any of them really. I use them because I want to stay up to date with my friends but... that's it. And I think that's a little... Sad? I spend a lot of time online but there's no place I love to be. What has the internet come to? Do other people have places they love online? As I'm writing this, I'm thinking of some other websites from my childhood. Club Penguin, Runescape. And those sites were fantastic. But does that exist for kids anymore?

It makes me happy that things like this rotator are happening. Cohost opened my eyes to a whole side of the internet I didn't know existed - a side full of people who are passionate about things like making your own website, and connecting those sites, and using the internet without algorithms. And it's honestly awesome. I hope this trend continues outside of just my circle of the internet. I'm doubtful but... maybe. As more and more people get sick of algorithms.

One thought I have as well is how important it is for kids to have a "third place" away from their parents. Where they can be around other people and kids. Now that I'm getting old enough to have kids on my own this... scares me honestly. The idea of my child just on the wide open web, talking with God knows who. But also... I learned so much and formed so many great relationships from being able to talk and interact with people online. I'm not sure how I'll approach this issue when I do become a parent someday.

Where to find me:

The best place to find me is on my website. You can see other posts I've made, some tech tutorials, and a bunch of other stuff!

Thanks for reading,
- Moose