Join the 128kb challenge!

Instagram, Twitter, TikTok… All the main platforms that technically have the required features to connect emerging communies for Creative Coding and can be visible beyond are… total crap. Flooded with ads and bullshit content. I very often feel sad and trapped in this perverse system. Is there an easy way out? No. But I recently had an idea: would it be possible to develop a frugal alternative to these platforms for the creative coding community, an MVP, nothing more than a simple feed? Then I started to develop a prototype just for fun, where I noticed problem number one: With large media files, i.e. videos and animations, the platform quickly becomes so big in size that it would be expensive and time-consuming to keep it running. And then I thought that it would be exciting to simply radically limit the file size. For example to 128kb. Problem solved.

Problem number two is communication. Developing a website where members can write comments, follow each other and publish posts autonomously requires a lot of technology. A database, for example. And a front end that can communicate with this database. Insanely complex. But there are solutions: For example, moving all communication to a program like Discord.

This is how the project 128kb.timrodenbroeker.de came to life. Don’t get me wrong, it was never intended to serve as a real alternative to social media, that would exceed my capacities. But maybe it can be at least a symbol, a frugal alternative, a prototype and perhaps one day even a collection of many valuable ideas from the creative coding community, a snapshot of the scene at the time.

Now, here’s the thing: You can participate, because it is connected with a challenge: Whoever submits a 128kb gif animation gets the chance to be featured in that feed. You can find out how it works here. I have also created a dedicated channel on our Discord server where resources and results can be shared.

I would be really happy to see people submitting their work here!

Let’s make this a inspiring cyberspace! ✌️😊