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Those of you who were teenagers or tweeners in the early 2000s probably remember MySpace,

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the big dog in town before Facebook came along to seal its thunder, even once accounted

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for over 4% of all US website visits.

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That's a lot, and it was a place for friends and a crazy vortex of sparkly unicorn gifs

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and bad emo songs. And while MySpace had problems with spam and poor design that ultimately led to its downfall,

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plenty of folks do still miss it. And now, my MySpace clone called SpaceHey that popped up in late 2020 already has a user

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base well into the six figures. But why has it become popular all of a sudden?

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Is it just a nostalgia rush for those of us who miss a simpler time, or is it really

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offering something the big social networks don't? Well, aside from the combo of millennials wanting a blast from the past and zoomers curious

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about the way things used to be, SpaceHey is actually notable for what it doesn't have.

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According to a developer, a teenager from Germany, there are no algorithms that try

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to feed you content that's addictive, spammy, or annoying.

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So forget about a feature that's like TikToks for you. There isn't even a like function or a news feed pushing posts at you, so SpaceHey clearly

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isn't built for chasing your dopamine fix. In fact, there are no algorithms at all.

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And no ad tracking, meaning it's a lot like the older web where you had a relatively

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blank slate, strobing banner ads notwithstanding, that you'd populate it with whatever you

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wanted to say or to show to people, and that was kind of it.

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SpaceHey profile pages themselves are almost an exact replica of MySpace.

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You get a small profile photo, an about me section, a prominent area that displays people

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you've friended and any comments they may have left for you, as well as a section to

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list interests. Blogging, forums, and instant messaging are all supported, as well as custom HTML and

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CSS, so you can make your profile page just as gaudy and terrible as it was when MySpace

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ruled the world. That's a bad idea, by the way.

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Custom HTML is like really exploitable.

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But that's about the end of the feature list. SpaceHey feels like a foil for the major social media services like Twitter, Instagram, and

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Facebook, which are extremely pervasive in our lives.

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Not just because we use them so much, but because when we do use them, there are always

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so many things jockeying for our attention. Between promoted ads, algorithmically optimized outrage, and people trying to dunk on each

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other in the replies, many users report feeling overwhelmed and burnt out.

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And the algorithms can't work without collecting lots of data on our lives and preferences,

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so it isn't surprising that these services, notably Facebook, have been embroiled in huge

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amounts of controversy over how this data is handled.

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And even when it isn't the companies themselves misusing the data, there's a strong argument

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to be made that the post as often as you can nature of these services promotes over-sharing

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and this feeling of having your life being made a little too public.

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Combine it with controversies over disinformation and low self-esteem promoted by these algorithms,

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and it shouldn't be surprising that enough people just want some kind of alternative

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they can at least use on the side. Of course, we're not going to say Space Hay is going to be the next big social media giant,

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but it's not trying to be. It's likely to remain a niche service for the curious, the exhausted, and the minimalist.

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But isn't that just what we might all need these days?

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Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go listen to some MCR.

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Thanks for watching, guys. Like, dislike, check out some of our other videos, comment with video suggestions, and

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