Farewell, Galaxy2

Robert W. Gehl, 26 October 2017

Tried logging onto Galaxy2, a Tor-based social networking site I've participated in since its inception in early 2015. It's been down for a while, and like many Dark Web sites, it looks like it's gone for good. We get a rare note about its closure, though, with a note from its founder, Lameth (see below).

Galaxy2 started after Galaxy, another Dark Web social networking site (one I've written about) shut down in late 2014. Lameth and a bunch of "Galaxy Castaways" met up on another DWSN, Visibility.i2p, and decided to start anew.

I feel very privileged to have seen these migrations and even participating in them. I'm very saddened by the end of this site. These days, social networking on an anonymizing network sounds bizarre, but of course connecting with other people via a pseudonym is as old as the Internet itself. Moreover, Lameth ran a very civil site. There were moments of discord, but overall, Galaxy2 (like Galaxy before it) belied the reputation of the Dark Web as solely comprised of criminals and pornographers.

I have documented much of Galaxy2 (as much as I could anyway) for my forthcoming book, Weaving the Dark Web, and I know other researchers have paid attention to the site. So it will not totally fade from the public record, at least.

And, perhaps someone will take Lameth's lead and make a Galaxy3...

Lameth's Message

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