about cybersoda
cybersoda.blog is a free social blogging platform built like the internet looked before algorithms took over: real customizable profiles, blog posts, guestbooks, a myspace-style top 8, webrings, and topic forums. no recommendation engine deciding what you see, no ads, no engagement mechanics, just posts in the order they were made and pages people actually made themselves.
it's built and run by one person, not a company, and it's free to join. sign up here or read the posts explaining why it exists.
frequently asked
what is cybersoda.blog?
cybersoda is a free social blogging platform built like the internet used to look before algorithms took over: real profiles, blog posts, guestbooks, a top 8, webrings, and forums. no feed ranking your friends by engagement, no ads, just chronological posts and pages people actually made.
is cybersoda a geocities or neocities alternative?
pretty much, yeah. like geocities and neocities, your profile is actually yours to break: custom css, and now a full custom html page mode if you want to write the whole thing from scratch. the difference is cybersoda also gives you the social layer on top: guestbooks, a top 8, a webring, forums, instead of just hosting a standalone page.
is there a modern version of myspace with a top 8?
that's basically what cybersoda's top 8 is. pick up to eight people and they show up on your profile, no follower count trying to turn friendship into a stat.
what's a webring, and does cybersoda have one?
a webring is a loop of sites that link to each other: prev, random, next, so landing on one member's page makes it easy to stumble onto the next. cybersoda has its own webring built in for members, and the site itself is a member of an external one (the retronaut webring) too.
can i customize my profile with my own html and css?
yes. custom css covers colors, fonts, layout, basically anything on your own profile page. there's also a beta "full custom page" mode that replaces the whole profile with html you write from scratch, rendered in a sandboxed iframe so it can't read cookies or touch anyone else's data no matter what's in it.
is cybersoda free?
yes. no paid tiers, no premium customization locked behind a subscription.
does cybersoda have ads or an algorithm?
no ads, no algorithmic feed. posts show up in the order they were made. if something's popular it's because people are actually linking to it, not because a ranking model decided to push it.
who built cybersoda?
one person (shoggi), not a company. it's a hobby project, not a startup, which is part of why it doesn't have the incentives that push most social platforms toward ads and engagement optimization.
how is this different from just using tumblr or substack?
tumblr and substack are still built around a feed and a following count. cybersoda's unit is the profile page, not the post feed, closer to how a personal homepage worked before "blog platform" and "social network" split into separate things. guestbooks, a top 8, and webrings don't really exist on either of those.