I'm not an active poster on Cohost. Like Tumblr and LiveJournal before it, Cohost is a place that I check in on occasionally, and just appreciate that it exists.
The reality is that it's extremely difficult to make a social media website in 2024 that's sustainable, with or without being tainted by professional funding. Running it as a co-op is one of the few ways that might actually work without investors ruining its long-term chances. This incarnation didn't, but I'm grateful they tried. It led to a weird and special place that meant a lot to the people who used it. I hope other people learn from it and keep trying.
Last month, I invited Aidan and Jae to talk about Cohost at the final XOXO, our festival in Portland, and they talked about some of the amazing things people made here. https://cohost.org/staff/post/7463450-our-slides-from-xoxo
When introducing them, I was vamping a bit while they got their laptop hooked up and was just talking about how great I think it is that they're trying to do something people used to do ALL THE TIME in the early 2000s (including me!): launching an independent social app on the web.
It's really hard and you face so much criticism from people telling you that it's impossible or can't compete with VC-funded billion-dollar social media companies (duh), or that you're doing it wrong (there's no one right way!), or that it's going to fail (probably true!), but also who cares what they think!? Look how much fun stuff people made here! Look how much it meant to people. It's still worth trying!
Something about it, in that moment, reminded me of Chappell Roan's reaction to all the people in the VIP section who thought they were too cool to do the "Hot to Go!" dance.
"You're not fun! Be fun and try!"
So, that's it: they tried. Be fun and try.
