Smaller and Smaller Against the Blackness of Space

I am going to describe a sequence of odd experiences I had with Worlds, a virtual reality chat program released by Worlds Inc. in 1995. Incredibly, this relic of the 1990s internet is still online, likely for commercial reasons that are not intuitively obvious; the reader can easily find information on this, so I will not go into the history of the program and the status of the company at present. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that Worlds is undergoing a small Renaissance because it has been re-popularized by Youtubers and denizens of other online spheres who have ventured into Worlds and reported back. Interest is driven by nostalgia, a search for the uncanny, and even a thirst for the lurid. This revival is remarkable, given the long decline of the chat program, which was kept going by a handful of dedicated users. On the other hand, it is certainly the case that this return of Worlds—however modest—parallels the wider trend of reviving the aesthetics of the early internet. Many readers will be familiar with vaporwave and related cultural phenomena. Interestingly, these trends have affected Worlds itself, with some newer strata reflecting these styles. Worlds is, therefore, not a simple time capsule, but self-aware and evolving. Because Worlds is a vast network of both official and user-generated virtual spaces, with a small number of figures drifting through the shifting ruins at any given time, its very form is enigmatic, and invites explorers to imagine all manner intrigue. Despite the protestations of users, a rumor has persistently circulated alleging that Words is the center of a cult. No doubt, there are plenty of user-generated and even official worlds that have gothic or dark themes (e.g., in one seemingly innocuous looking house, a fireplace opens onto a passageway leading to a Satanic ritual space). Posters on web forums have described peculiar interactions with Worlds regulars, and some say that these interactions give credence to the cult lore that has built up for at least a decade. For my part, I have not had any encounters that would lead me to believe that a cult exists, or that the Satanic imagery in some spaces is any different from the content of a spooky video game. In other words, the point is entertainment. Then again, anything could have come and gone in this virtual realm between 1995 and now, and I likely have seen only a tiny fraction of the user-generated content, and do not have access to the bulk of it (note that some areas may be forever lost, as servers have gone down and users drifted away over the years).

No.

Don’t stand with Israel. Stand against them.