Spacehey

Spacehey was created in 2020 by 18-year-old German web developer Anton Röhm (who was known only by his pseudonym "An" until August 2021, when he was announced as a speaker at the TINCON 2021 convention).[4][5] He stated that he never personally used MySpace in the 2000s because he was too young at the time, but added, "Thanks to older friends and the internet, I heard a lot about it. I came to the conclusion that you can't find something like this nowadays, where everyone can be this creative."[6]

Spacehey's official launch happened on 26 November 2020.[7] Three days later Röhm posted it on Product Hunt[8] where it was awarded #1 Product of the Day on the same day.[9] Röhm stated that the site had over 10,000 registered users by December 2020[10] and 100,000 users by February 2021.[11] In November 2021, Spacehey membership reached both 200,000[12] and 300,000.[13]

Spacehey is accessible without registration. However, in order to publish content or interact with other users, a user account must be created. New users only need to enter an email address and password.[14]

Spacehey has many of the same basic functions that Myspace had at its peak, such as profile pages, blogs, bulletins, and instant messaging.[15] In a blog post, Anton Röhm stated that it is currently not possible to implement the gallery function that many users want because it would take up too much storage space and the available financial resources could not provide the necessary space as of June 2021.[16]

A special aspect of Spacehey is the ability of users to fully customize the appearance and functionality of their profile pages using HTML and CSS, which was one of MySpace's most notable features.[17] However, this also results in security problems as it did with MySpace; users can use HTML to integrate external content into their profiles that could potentially be harmful to the profile visitor. For this reason, when a user visits someone else's profile page the first time, the website displays a notice to draw attention to these potential risks and refers to Spacehey's privacy policy.

Unlike Myspace, Spacehey allows the user to share posts on other social media platforms. It is also possible to embed content from YouTube, Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and Mixcloud.[18]

Röhm has called Spacehey "privacy-friendly", unlike most other social media platforms.[19]

Spacehey also has verified users on the platform. Verified users are identified by a verification check icon by their names on their accounts. Unlike other social media platforms, clicking the verified icon identifies the reason the user is verified. For example, user Marie Rousseau's reason for being verified is "Writer/Motivational Speaker"[20] and user Ramaj Eroc's reason is "Official Artist Account".[21]

Spacehey is free to use.[22] In a blog post from December 2020, Röhm called for ideas for funding to be sent to him.[23] Later that month, it was made possible to support the site by purchasing stickers; after purchase, a "supporter badge" will appear on the website next to the buyer's name.[24]

Spacehey has been discussed by media such as The Independent,[25] Vice,[26] BuzzFeed,[27] and the New York Post.[28] In December 2020, Fast Company published an interview with Anton Röhm.[29] In March 2021, BBC Radio Oxford interviewed him via telephone.[30]

The fact that Spacehey exerts little social pressure on users has been positively highlighted. Upworthy writer Todd Perry wrote: "The site doesn't have any algorithms, news feed, or like buttons. So that means you get to see everything as it happens in real-time and there's no need to worry about how many likes your bulletin received. The site is also highly concerned with privacy and careful about the information it shares with third-parties."[31]

Spacehey received criticism for its overly simplistic spam protection; in one example, Canadian journalist Clive Thompson wanted to indicate in his profile that he was interested in the work of the American poet Emily Dickinson, but his entry was blocked by the system because it included the word "dick". Thompson, however, took this "incident" with humor.[32]

• Official website
• Spacehey on Twitter
• Spacehey on Instagram