It’s been a long time since I had an active presence on GeoCities (about 13 years by my count) but its still a site that holds a place in my heart. I got  started with website design, as did thousands of other people, by having a site on GeoCities many years ago. And within a few months of joining what was in some ways one of the earliest social networks of the web, I’d entered the “GeoCities Community Leader” program to help other people learn the technology, and learn to do more with the tools the free service provided.

Today Yahoo is shutting down GeoCities officially. For good. It’s been 15 years since the service got its start in 1994, and 10 years since Yahoo bought the company for over $3 Billion in stock near the peak of the tech bubble in late 1999. Yahoo was fairly patient with the service leaving accounts active in one form or another until today.  It is in many ways the end of an era.

Some sites are paying tribute to the venerable property. I can’t tell if xkcd is paying tribute, or reminding those of us who are a bit sentimental just what the web looked like when GeoCities was the major force behind free web space on the internet.  Either way, have a look at the xkcd homepage today, or if you’ve missed the boat on that one, click the image in the right for a look at their 1990′s inspired design.

RIP GeoCities.