The 32-Bit Cafe originally started as an adults-only Discord server in autumn 2022. With the 2000s and Y2K trends growing among a younger generation, notable websites of what's been called the "old web" have been a great way to get younger folks acquainted with the idea of building websites as a hobby. There hadn't really been many chatrooms for adults to converge in safe-for-work discussions about the webweaving, webcrafting, website-building hobby that focuses on self-expression and art without heavily focusing on that "old web" aesthetic or focusing on nostalgia. We wanted to be driven, productive, and focused about building up the personal web, so we thought we'd double-down on our own community of folks to do just that.
The 32-Bit Cafe, we learned, isn't unique. There are so many communities around the web who are driving the idea of getting more people to build websites, self-host their own instances of services, and help rebuild the independent web. We're one of many, but we're happy to be part of the movement of getting people to take back their sides of the internet. In order for this to work collectively, we believe decentralized communities are the way to achieve our goal of increasing the size of the independent web.
The Discord was started by Alexandra. Kaylee began moderating the Discord and providing the backend technical knowledge in order to turn the 32-Bit Cafe into a community project, taking the next step of helping others discover and grow this side of the web. We want to offer de-corporatized alternatives to popular services to help unplug from the corporate internet and help guide folks to express themselves on the web.
Key and fLaMEd also help moderate the Discord, providing the backbone for our moderation team to be able to make the 32-Bit Cafe a welcoming and encouraging place to build community and talk about building websites. Jay and Yequari joined the moderation team in October 2023.
While the Discord server is still adults-only, anyone is able to participate in events or aspects on the website, which are accessible by form submission. A great first step to getting involved is to create your own website. Be safe on the web, and express yourself!