xxafterlife: a retro social site for goths + alt folks that’s giving me life rn

plus a little of my own pixel doll art…

by avalon 15.10.2026

time to brush up on yer swirly eyeliner skillz and dust off those angsty teen diaries: we goths and alt folks finally have an old-web-style home in social site xxafterlife.com!

it popped up on my pinterest during a late-night scroll on the train home a month ago, and i could have cried at the nostalgia lol.

everything about the aesthetic and experience has been deliberately made by the developer to mimic the old internet - think MySpace meets VampireFreaks - and build a real community around alt subcultures, as well as encourage a slower way of being online.

and obviously as a girl obsessed with the old internet it goes without saying that i fell in love with the place pretty much instantly!

how can you resist a homepage that looks like that?! (check out the orange headers and pumpkin for halloween season!)

i’ve been meaning to write about the absolute phenomenon that is xxafterlife for a while (and even retroactively added the fact that i visit it to this post about being online like it’s 2007).

so give me a sec to enthusiastically rave about this incredible little internet sanctuary!

made specifically for those of us who are anywhere from a little to a lot alternative - goths, scene kids, vampire lovers, metalheads and more - the site’s layout inherently encourages users to browse on an actual computer (though there’s also an app, and mobile browsing still preserves the beautiful aesthetic!).

chatrooms.

forums.

online zines.

journals that act like blog posts.

music that plays when you open a page. points that you can earn (called vitae) to ‘buy’ GIFs, blinkies and other old-internet-style paraphernalia to decorate your profile with.

oh, and…ZERO ALGORITHM. and NO AI.

hallelujah and praise Gerard Way.

if i’m going to use social media at all, i’d definitely rather it look like this.

behold my profile lol. i spent hours spread over a few days making it pretty!

getting to customise my profile bordered on a religious experience, y’all.

it’s incredible how much sheer love and detail has been poured into every stunning facet of this website.

there’s even a sweet little mascot named Byte (she/they/he) who greets you when you log in and hangs around on the homepage!

i think Byte was the final thing that convinced me to sign up - you can’t not love their friendly little cyberdemon face!

it’s been so long since i last made fanart…but i couldn’t NOT make something for Byte! and ofc in my version they’re a pixel doll straight out of 2004. i couldn’t help myself.

i think that one of the most refreshing things about this site - aside from its old internet aesthetic and user experience, obvi - is that it feels like a bit of an online sanctuary as an alt girl.

sanctuaries - places where everyone in the community has something in common - are something i’ve sorely missed on the internet!

i don’t have to overexplain myself if i choose to post, because these fellow pierced and tattooed weirdos are my people lol.

and i have to say it again: i love that there’s no algorithm. i love getting to take the time to explore the xxafterlife world and slowly find friends, art and music by myself - instead of being fed by an algorithm, i get to go by my own curiosity and interests. and that definitely scratches an old-internet itch for me.

Y’all THIS is the kind of social media i want to see in the world. the vibes are immaculate and everything is so much fun!

if you’re a goth missing the VampireFreaks days and want to relive the nostalgia - with all of the best parts and none of the drama - i definitely recommend xxafterlife. i have a lot of regrets ever signing up for fb and instagram, but zero in getting an account here.

now if you’ll excuse me, i have to go get some more blinkies for my profile lol. ♡