Listicle: 10 online platforms that remind us of a simpler internet

Can you scroll back in time to a web that was simpler? These 10 platforms remind us why we love the internet

Listicle: 10 online platforms that remind us of a simpler internet

• 
  Nokia 3310

  This tribute website has the iconic dark green shade that Nokia phones used to have, with the blocky, chunky font and low-resolution graphics. The site takes you back to the glory days of Nokia, lets you listen to the ringtone (which was plagiarised – IYKYK), and has a version of their snake game. If we spend enough time scrolling on the site, we can almost pretend it’s 2000 again.
• 
  Goodreads

  You can tell that the book-tracking platform launched in 2007. The UI is no-nonsense: No ads, no photos of people posing with their book stacks, no pretentious analyses that could’ve been a one-line caption. You can track your reading progress, add books to your Did Not Finish shelf (the newest update), and see what the people you follow are reading. And more text than photos, hurrah!
• 
  Letterboxd

  It’s where film nerds log the films they’ve watched (and the hours of their life they’ve spent obsessing over movies). The themed user-created lists are telling: Nihilistic Fever Dreams, Creepy Teenage Suburbia, Feeling Lost in Your 20s. See who loved Cocaine Bear but hated Paddington 2, and enjoy the comments. In the section for Backrooms, the new sci-fi horror directed by YouTuber Kane Parsons, @Mak delights that, “White boys are wearing crop tops in horror movies again”; @Yashley recommends they “just map the backrooms using Strava”.
• 
  Fandom wikis

  This is where to go to speculate what happened to a character after a series ended, or dive deeper into a game, anime or TV show. The wikis host 250K fan communities and over 50 million pages of fan content largely maintained by users. They build character profiles, list canon and non-canon appearances, and trace the background, history and lore of a character’s life. It’s text-heavy and heavily hyperlinked. Don’t be surprised if you started out reading about Grogu from Star Wars and ended up on the page for The Simpsons.
• 
  Last.fm

  Long before Spotify was a thing, this is where we’d track hits, trending genres and what people were listening to. Pick a genre or an artist. Then, browse through tracks listed by the number of plays they’re getting. See who your “musical neighbours” are and which artist’s songs are doing well (BTS’s Swim was listened to over 149,452 times in the past week). And there are smaller genres too: Post-hardcore, punk pop, alt-country.
• 
  Board Game Geek

  The platform is older than Wikipedia, features every obscure game that you lost the instructions to, plus hundreds you’ve heard of but never tried. Users hang out in the Geek Lobby and trade reccos, or go down a rabbit-hole learning about how a particular game was developed. The bonus: Photos of people costuming up to play Catan and Operation. So cute!
• 
  Imgflip

  YTMND (You’re The Man Now, Dog – don’t ask!) was the OG meme site back in 2001. Imgflip is its descendant, collating trending memes and Gifs as downloadable templates. You’ll find classics such as the surprised Pikachu face, the three Spidermen facing off, and the pensive Kermit, along with the newer cat reaction ones. No trolls, just memes. Bring back peak internet.
• 
  RetroNotes

  The Notes app, but with 2010s visuals – ruled lines, slightly yellowed paper, quirky fonts. Remember when we’d write heartfelt poems to our crush at 3am and confess our deepest, darkest secrets in those hallowed pages? It’s straightforward, no fuss, no frills. Could a flashback vibe help us get our life in order?
• 
  RetroCast Now

  American platform The Weather Channel has a feature on their website that lets you check today’s forecast in your city – but as if you were in the ’90s, not 2026. It’s a flat display, clutter-free, ad-free, and with typography that reminds you of early computer desktops. It’s like looking at the climate emergency, from a time before we knew those words. Who knew we’d be nostalgic about checking the weather?
• 
  Mochi Online Shoppu

  The Japanese restaurant and grocery brand Mochi, based in Austria, designed their website to seem like you’ve gone back in time and are ordering pantry staples online in the 2000s. It’s like a basic version of a website, with pixelated buttons, slightly blurry text and no promotional content and clutter. But it’s cute enough for you to randomly start craving candied yuzu peels and chilli mayo. From HT Brunch, June 13, 2026 Follow us on www.instagram.com/HTBrunch