Maybe this already exists. But couldn’t one theoretically create a world within a world that is like the Net we all knew and loved before it was enshittified? I know the wayback machine exists, but I was thinking something that is still alive. IRC chats, forums, flash games (maybe not, with security concerns…), video sites that didn’t suck absolute ass like Corptube, stuff like that.
If it does exist, I am sure this would be the place to find it! Or maybe is a matter of staying off of all modern corp sites. I don’t know. Maybe Lemmy is this fantasy world…
OP specifically says they’re not looking for the wayback machine or any other archival site, they want something “still alive”
archive.org IS still there. You can browse like it’s 1999 or 2007, whatever you want, some as far back as 1995, that’s its purpose.
An alternative is to age the browser and see what one from the era renders. I’d strongly recommend that you do so inside a secure environment.