Growing up in Vanuatu, I wasn’t surrounded by high-speed internet or the latest digital trends — but when I did get access, it opened a whole new world. One of my earliest experiences online was through IRC (Internet Relay Chat). Back then, IRC felt like magic. You could connect with strangers from anywhere in the world, chat in real time, share files, play music, or join fun group conversations. It was raw, simple, and surprisingly social. There was a sense of community, even when we were all just anonymous names on a screen.

First Impressions of 4chan

Then came the name 4chan — and my first reaction? Honestly, I thought it was just a weird, messed-up place for porn and trolls. And that stuck with me.

I never understood why people liked it. What I saw was mostly toxic stuff: rude posts, offensive content, and a lot of things that made me question how people could enjoy being part of it. I didn’t explore it much, because what little I saw already told me it wasn’t for me.

How 4chan Shaped Internet Culture Today especially with Memes

But fast forward to today, and I’m surprised at how much of the internet’s culture seems to have roots in places like 4chan — even if I don’t like it. Memes, jokes, and even certain “DIY” trends that end up on social media or TikTok often trace back to these early online communities.

Even though I was never part of it — and I still don’t find it appealing — I can’t ignore the fact that platforms like 4chan, IRC, and others had a strange influence on where the internet is now.

Why IRC Had That Special Spark

For me, IRC will always be the better memory — chatting with friends, learning how to send files with simple commands, customizing nicknames, joining random international channels. It had its chaos too, but it felt more human, more connected.

What made IRC truly fun were the scripts and the little powers admins had. Being an operator (Op) meant you could Op or DeOp people — basically giving or taking away control in the channel — and that was a game in itself! You’d interact with NickServ to register and protect your nickname, and with ChanServ to manage channels — from setting topic locks to assigning Ops automatically. On top of that, you could download and customize scripts to add cool features, run simple games right inside channels, or even automate tasks with bots. It was like building your own mini internet society with rules, roles, and rewards.

Bots, Proxies, and Digital Turf Wars

Bots were especially fun — they guarded channels, kicked troublemakers, and could even help take over a channel during a network split (when servers disconnected and rival groups fought for control). It was like a digital turf war!

And then there was the excitement of using proxies to hide or change your IP address, confusing others about your real location. It added a whole layer of mystery and playful trickery that made every chat session unpredictable and entertaining.

The Rise of Regional Tech Collaboration

The popular IRC server for me back in the day was chat.hosting4u.net (not much a fan of Undernet or DALnet), where I spent most of my time. But few years later, things really evolved when agencies like the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) in Fiji began rolling out ICT projects across the Pacific under the EDF8 program. One key component of that work involved installing MapServers throughout the region, built on a FOSS platform called TikiWiki.

That’s when the Freenode IRC network became central to our work. With the formation of the Pacific Islands Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC) and the rise of regional tech collaboration, Freenode was the obvious choice — it hosted support channels for nearly all major open source software projects. It became the ultimate geek network: always online, full of active developer communities, and invaluable for real-time support, documentation, and troubleshooting. For those of us deploying platforms like, MapServer on TikiWiki running on Mandriva Linux, Freenode wasn’t just helpful — it was essential.

Goodbye Stack Overflow, Hello ChatGPT

In between those early IRC days and more structured tech deployments, there was a noticeable shift in how we searched for help and solved problems. At first, we’d just Google everything — digging through old-school bulletin boards like Slashdot, browsing obscure personal blogs, or checking out early YouTube tutorials. Over time, platforms like Stack Overflow rose to dominance, becoming the go-to source for technical answers. Then came Reddit, GitHub Discussions, Microsoft TechNet, and eventually, even Discord became home to active developer and sysadmin communities. But now, the game has changed again — AI-powered tools like ChatGPT have quickly become the new first stop for troubleshooting, explanations, and coding support. It’s wild to think how far we’ve come: from IRC command lines to simply asking a chatbot.

Back then, Freenode was the central IRC network for open source and free software communities, especially vital for those working on regional ICT projects in the Pacific. Agencies like SOPAC, under the EDF8 program, were heavily involved in deploying Linux-based solutions—Mandriva Linux being a popular choice—to improve ICT infrastructure across island nations.

Freed from proprietary constraints, Freenode hosted official support channels for these Linux distributions and many other FOSS projects. This made it an essential hub where regional tech teams could instantly connect with global experts to troubleshoot, share custom scripts, and collaborate on solutions tailored for Pacific environments.

All these little things made IRC a unique place to hang out — a mix of chaos, creativity, and real connections that felt unlike anything else online at the time.

4chan? Not my thing. But looking back, both platforms remind me of a time when the internet was still growing — wild, weird, and unpredictable.

And sometimes, that’s worth remembering.

Remembering the dial-up days and early web tools

Back then, internet access meant the screeching sound of dial-up modems connecting through telephone lines — painfully slow by today’s standards but magical at the time. Browsing was done with Netscape Navigator, one of the first widely used browsers, or Internet Explorer, which was just starting to grow. Instant messaging wasn’t just on IRC — MSN Messenger was another popular way to chat, with friends appearing online as little green or red icons. It was simple but addictive.

Building Our First Websites — GeoCities and Angelfire

Creating a presence online meant building your own website — not called blogs yet — on platforms like GeoCities or Angelfire. These were free web hosting services where anyone could create their own “homepage” filled with basic HTML, flashy gifs, visitor counters, and whatever quirky content you wanted to share. They were like digital scrapbooks or personal billboards. We spent hours learning to tweak the code, choosing backgrounds, embedding MIDI music, and proudly sharing these pages with friends.

The Wild Frontier of the Early Web

That era was the wild frontier of the web — messy, colorful, and full of possibilities. It taught a generation how to be creators, not just consumers, of internet culture. And for those of us growing up in places like Vanuatu, it was a window to the world beyond our islands, opening doors to new skills, friendships, and ideas.