We Bring the Ring: The Rise and Fall of Old-School Webrings

It was like joining a secret society. Except the secret was Sailor Moon fanfic and a blinking “Next” button.

What Was a Webring?

Picture this:

You’re deep in a fan site for Sailor Moon. You scroll to the bottom. There’s a little badge that says:

🌙 “Member of the Moonlight Magic Ring.”
[Previous] [Next] [Random] [Join Us]

You click “Next” and – bam – you’re on someone else’s Sailor Moon shrine. And they have a badge too. And so on. And so on.

That’s a webring.

A circle of sites, linked by a shared passion and a willingness to copy-paste some sketchy HTML.

The Culture of the Ring

Webrings were:

• Personal
• Niche
• Hand-curated
• Occasionally broken

They were built by fans, hobbyists, and chaos magicians of HTML. There was no algorithm. No platform. Just vibes and trust.

And they worked.

You discovered amazing sites. Made friends. Sometimes even got into ring drama. (Yes, people beefed over who was let in. Humans are consistent like that.)

How They Worked

• You found a ring that fit your site’s theme
• You applied to join (via actual email)
• If accepted, you were told to copy a widget and slap it on your homepage
• That widget looped users through the ring (previous/next/random)

It was basically…

DIY discovery.
Curated coolness.
Social connection without the noise.

Why They Disappeared

• The rise of social media and Google made centralized discovery easier
• Many rings died when host sites went offline
• People just forgot how special they were

And let’s be real – they were a bit janky. If one site broke the chain, the whole ring could glitch like a cursed necklace.

But Now? They’re Coming Back.

Because people are tired of the algorithm.

Tired of fighting for attention.

Tired of yelling into the void of social media with no response.

Webrings say: “Hey. If you’re here, you belong.”

That’s powerful. That’s personal. And that’s the future we’re rebuilding.

Join the Revival

Cringe Web Weekly lives on a modern webring and you can start one, too.

Try Webring Studio if you’re craving:

• Custom vibe-based rings
• Easy setup (no cursed HTML required)
• Tiny tools that feel like home