We need more unpolished spaces online. We need more spaces to hang out.
For a lot of "Web 1.0" people would exchange geocities URLs that would just be collections of DragonBall Z gifs. We'd be proud of getting a glitter effect to sparkle over our MySpaces. An ugly Neopets page didn't feel so embarassing.
As software engineers we should create more spacers for users to create and engage deeper.
Think about Spotify and Bandcamp. It's hard to compare the two; Spotify in 2019 had about 130 million subscribers and Bandcamp sold 5 million digital albums. An easier way to think about the two is to ask anyone if they've heard about Bandcamp, and you're going to find a lot more "nope"s than if you ask around about Spotify.
Spotify is just easier to use than Bandcamp. There's an element of hanging out incorporated into Spotify with the Discover playlist. It's easily integrated into apps like Discord, where in less than five minutes of set up you can queue a playlist for your voice channel.
Bandcamp's strength is it is beloved by its users. They pay their artists more fairly. The company is profitable and growing.
I would love a Bandcamp, or any space where the user is invited to create. Maybe you can fiddle with your all time favorite bands. Spotify has those year end music charts (which feel very similar to the Last.Fm scrobbler).
People love sharing what they love. People love hanging out. And in the case of Bandcamp, I think they should lean into this old internet vibe of just hanging out.
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