LunarStorm: the world's first social medium

The BBS era before LunarStorm

For several years before that, Rick had been running BBSes, Bulletin Board Systems, a primitive kind of electronic notice board. They looked a bit like Teletext, no graphics and just 16 colours, but tremendously exciting. Back then you didn't surf to a web address, you dialled up a BBS on a phone number. It could get expensive, because you paid by the minute. Local, regional and international calls made it worse still, especially if you wanted to visit a BBS in another country.

The BBSes were populated by young computer nerds, and the discussions, sadly, were almost always about programming and Star Trek. Rick wasn't the least bit interested. On top of that you needed expensive, fiddly equipment, and the tools were anything but user-friendly. You simply had to know your tech. But Rick saw the possibilities. What if you could bring in the non-nerdy guys, and above all the girls? Then the conversations could be about everything we talk about in ordinary life. He dreamt of making it something for everyone.

A rather dull internet

In 1996, Rick encountered the internet for the first time. He sat at the public library in Halmstad clicking around on hyperlinks. The internet was static and dull. This was the era when everyone “googled” on Altavista, the browser was called Netscape Navigator, and every website had an Under Construction sign and a GIF of prancing moose.

There were a few ways to communicate, but each required its own program: one for email, one for the Usenet discussion forums, a third to chat on IRC. It still felt as though the old computer nerds ran the show with their baffling interfaces and abbreviations, as if they didn't want ordinary people let in. What if you could build a web-based, fully integrated, easy-to-use tool for relationships, completely free of computer jargon?

Rick started tinkering. To do it, he had to learn to program, something he still finds rather boring to this day. But he wanted to realise his ideas, so he gritted his teeth and hammered out code, pixelled graphics and wrote copy. The latter two were far more enjoyable pursuits.

Stajl Plejs Community is born

In October 1996, Rick launched the first version, back then called Stajl Plejs Community. At its heart was an easy-to-use, web-based chat: a handful of chat rooms where people could gather and talk live. So that you wouldn't have to ask “who are you and where are you from?” every time, he let members put up profiles, so-called Nooks. There you could tell people about yourself, so a new acquaintance could quickly get a sense of who you were. Suddenly it was both easier and more fun to get to know new people. The chat simply got so much better.

The green era

The design changed shape over the years. The first truly beloved look was the green era, bright green, pixelated and full of personality.

The apricot-blue-green era

Then came the apricot-blue-green era. The palette softened, but the feeling was the same: a place that was entirely our own.

From Stajl Plejs to LunarStorm

At the turn of the millennium, the site changed its name to LunarStorm and really took off. Two million Swedes grew up with it digitally. LunarStorm received the Great Internet Prize, with the citation that it had done more for young girls' digital maturity than the multi-billion-kronor Home PC reform.

The wildly popular Guestbook

The drawback of a chat is that it happens right now. If you're not online at exactly the right moment, you miss all the fun. So Rick began moving communication to tools with a longer shelf life. He launched the Guestbook, a semi-public way to communicate. Everyone could see what was written in a friend's guestbook and join in. “Semi-public”, because in practice it was your circle of friends checking out each other's guestbooks, not the whole world.

The Guestbook became by far the most popular way to communicate on LunarStorm. And the notification, the stamping feet, made your heart beat a little faster every time they appeared.

And now: Neenya

Neenya is a modern rebirth of exactly this feeling. The same Nook, the same guestbook, the same stamping feet, but built for today's web, responsive and beautiful. The story will keep growing. To be continued.