One aspect of foreign internet cultures you often see is that they preserve and continue to use traits or things that Western Internet culture no longer does.
On Foreign Internet Cultures
in General
One example of this is Korean and Thai Twitter's frequent usage of RTs. When a tweet gets viral in either group, usually that doesn't mean it has a lot of likes but a lot of retweets. Er, reposts.
Third world internet also commonly uses outdated western memes
>>2
One counter-example is that Japanese Twitter users used to strongly dislike quote retweeting for a few reasons. Some view it as unnecessarily combative, whilst others (if they're retweeting art, as an example), view it as stealing likes and views from the artist's tweet. In the latter case, the accepted practice is to retweet the art, then make a post "LRT (last retweet): blah blah blah" with whatever they wanted to say about the art. This practice has actually entered some sections of Western Twitter spaces. Well, almost exclusively weeb spaces for obvious reasons.
>>3
The troll-face meme is a good example of this phenomenon. It was utterly dormant from like 2016 to 2020, then it was revived on TikTok by third worlders seeing it for the first time. Although even on TikTok, it ended up being used in a mostly ironic manner eventually, mirroring phonk.
One counter-example is that Japanese Twitter users used to strongly dislike quote retweeting for a few reasons. Some view it as unnecessarily combative, whilst others (if they're retweeting art, as an example), view it as stealing likes and views from the artist's tweet. In the latter case, the accepted practice is to retweet the art, then make a post "LRT (last retweet): blah blah blah" with whatever they wanted to say about the art. This practice has actually entered some sections of Western Twitter spaces. Well, almost exclusively weeb spaces for obvious reasons.
>>3
The troll-face meme is a good example of this phenomenon. It was utterly dormant from like 2016 to 2020, then it was revived on TikTok by third worlders seeing it for the first time. Although even on TikTok, it ended up being used in a mostly ironic manner eventually, mirroring phonk.
>>4
> In the latter case, the accepted practice is to retweet the art, then make a post "LRT (last retweet): blah blah blah" with whatever they wanted to say about the art.
Ah, I'd wondered why some of the artists I followed were always doing that.
> In the latter case, the accepted practice is to retweet the art, then make a post "LRT (last retweet): blah blah blah" with whatever they wanted to say about the art.
Ah, I'd wondered why some of the artists I followed were always doing that.
i've gotten blocked by japanese artists in the past for (friendly) riffing in a qrt or being horny (it was softcore)
Mentioned it on Twitter, but I think the best example of an internet culture seperate from that of the WWW is the ones that are literally seperate from it, videotex networks from the 80s. The most successful were Minitel in France, and PC Comms in Korea. They were effectively proto-web internet services that worked regionally and provided many of the same services like chatrooms and games. Unfortunately most of them are lost. What I find interesting about the French Minitel is that it is associated with early erotic chatrooms (and apparently escort services) called "pink rooms". Even when they were pioneers of the early web, France just used it to masturbate
>>7
My parents had a minitel. They used it to get their school grades or do paperwork stuff.
Minitel services were always called "36 15 something", so you typed in "36 15 Crédit Lyonnais" to see your bank account, "36 15 Exam" to see your school grades, or "36 15 any female name" to access the erotic chatrooms you mentioned.
Long after it stopped being used, in 2011 "36 15 Usul" was the name of a series of internet videos about video games. The guy who made them, Usul, ended up becoming a journalist at Mediapart.
My parents had a minitel. They used it to get their school grades or do paperwork stuff.
Minitel services were always called "36 15 something", so you typed in "36 15 Crédit Lyonnais" to see your bank account, "36 15 Exam" to see your school grades, or "36 15 any female name" to access the erotic chatrooms you mentioned.
Long after it stopped being used, in 2011 "36 15 Usul" was the name of a series of internet videos about video games. The guy who made them, Usul, ended up becoming a journalist at Mediapart.
>>8
Interesting. There is a lot of information about it I couldn't parse because I don't speak French. I saw a documentary which mentioned that France adopted the WWW slower than the rest of Europe because of the Minitel popularity. Did you have any experience with it? What would you say was unique about it compared to French uses of WWW? Are people in France nostalgic for it? Any cultural quirks from it that carried over to the modern day?
Interesting. There is a lot of information about it I couldn't parse because I don't speak French. I saw a documentary which mentioned that France adopted the WWW slower than the rest of Europe because of the Minitel popularity. Did you have any experience with it? What would you say was unique about it compared to French uses of WWW? Are people in France nostalgic for it? Any cultural quirks from it that carried over to the modern day?
>>7
I just found out they made a movie about the guys who invented the first erotic chatroom on Minitel. Adding it to my watchlist I guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6RoqohbOtU
I just found out they made a movie about the guys who invented the first erotic chatroom on Minitel. Adding it to my watchlist I guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6RoqohbOtU
Last edited 2026/08/01(Sat) 14:32:59
>>9
I was born in 2003 so I didn't really grow up in that period myself, from my understanding by the 90's use of the minitel was starting to be phased out because the hardware was becoming obsolete, I thought that if anything france would've been an early adopted of the WWW since we were already used to using computers domestically. But I guess sometimes people who are less interested in having the newest innovations would probably think of it in terms of "why do I need the internet when I already have the minitel?", so I could see that being true.
Some people are definitely nostalgic for it, but I don't think there are many cultural holdovers from that era as it wasn't really an open internet with forums or anything the same way it was in the 2000's, it wasn't about talking with other people, it was about accessing specific services. So there wasn't really any occasions to start building a specific minitel subculture. The only thing I can think of is people referencing the "36 15".
I never used a minitel personally but one time we found an old busted one in my great-grandma's house, it didn't work tho.
I was born in 2003 so I didn't really grow up in that period myself, from my understanding by the 90's use of the minitel was starting to be phased out because the hardware was becoming obsolete, I thought that if anything france would've been an early adopted of the WWW since we were already used to using computers domestically. But I guess sometimes people who are less interested in having the newest innovations would probably think of it in terms of "why do I need the internet when I already have the minitel?", so I could see that being true.
Some people are definitely nostalgic for it, but I don't think there are many cultural holdovers from that era as it wasn't really an open internet with forums or anything the same way it was in the 2000's, it wasn't about talking with other people, it was about accessing specific services. So there wasn't really any occasions to start building a specific minitel subculture. The only thing I can think of is people referencing the "36 15".
I never used a minitel personally but one time we found an old busted one in my great-grandma's house, it didn't work tho.
there is actually as a matter of fact some small communities that have revived minitel services, but it's really a specific hobby thing.
https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2025/12/30/qui-utilise-un-vrai-minitel-ce-soir-a-la-rencontre-des-fans-qui-ressuscitent-l-appareil-culte_6659789_4408996.html
https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2025/12/30/qui-utilise-un-vrai-minitel-ce-soir-a-la-rencontre-des-fans-qui-ressuscitent-l-appareil-culte_6659789_4408996.html
Last edited 2026/08/01(Sat) 14:57:07
I guess the biggest difference between WWW and the Minitel is that Minitel really wasn't user-driven at all, it's something you use to buy a train ticket, read the news, etc, not to talk with other people. So "internet culture" appeared in France at the same time as everywhere else.
>>11
I see... So do younger people in France not care about it at all? Or is it brought up in the media from time to time? I recall one of the reasons it really took off is that it was distributed for free to anyone who had a phone line, so it looks like it was always intended to be a one-way utility than something for leisure. I wonder if those pink chatrooms ever brought up a legal issue or caused controversies because some of those chatrooms (allegedly) had undercover law enforcement on them. In Korea, the PC Comms network was closer to an actual early internet with chatrooms and all, and older Korean people still use that slang and culture in modern WWW use. Were there any games on the Minitel that carried over, similar to how the Korean PC Comms network acted as a testing ground for the later popularity of online games there? Since PCs were already well adopted in the country, I'm sure PC gaming had a bit of a boom after internet adoption. I read about it in a Felipe Pepe article but he didn't go into much detail. If you can, do you know any books, documents, etc that provide more information about the service in French? Untranslated is fine
I see... So do younger people in France not care about it at all? Or is it brought up in the media from time to time? I recall one of the reasons it really took off is that it was distributed for free to anyone who had a phone line, so it looks like it was always intended to be a one-way utility than something for leisure. I wonder if those pink chatrooms ever brought up a legal issue or caused controversies because some of those chatrooms (allegedly) had undercover law enforcement on them. In Korea, the PC Comms network was closer to an actual early internet with chatrooms and all, and older Korean people still use that slang and culture in modern WWW use. Were there any games on the Minitel that carried over, similar to how the Korean PC Comms network acted as a testing ground for the later popularity of online games there? Since PCs were already well adopted in the country, I'm sure PC gaming had a bit of a boom after internet adoption. I read about it in a Felipe Pepe article but he didn't go into much detail. If you can, do you know any books, documents, etc that provide more information about the service in French? Untranslated is fine
>If you can, do you know any books, documents, etc that provide more information about the service in French?
There's a wikipedia article on the "pink minitel" which exists only in French and Occitan.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel_rose
Apart from that I'd have to look for more stuff.
Some of the pink chatrooms got in trouble because of "family protection associations" and catholic groups, who are always first in line when it comes to ruining everyone's fun. Can't even jack off without these people taking an interest smh.
fun fact: Xavier Niel, one of the guys who made a fortune on these services, is now the CEO of one of France's biggest internet providers.
>So do younger people in France not care about it at all?
No, not really, unless they have an interest in retro stuff. In my life, my four interactions with minitel have been:
-finding one in my great-grandma's cellar
-seeing a character use it in a comic from the 80's
-3615 usul
-old leftists making fun of millenial and zoomer internet activists ("back in our day we didn't protest on our minitels!")
There's a wikipedia article on the "pink minitel" which exists only in French and Occitan.
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel_rose
Apart from that I'd have to look for more stuff.
Some of the pink chatrooms got in trouble because of "family protection associations" and catholic groups, who are always first in line when it comes to ruining everyone's fun. Can't even jack off without these people taking an interest smh.
fun fact: Xavier Niel, one of the guys who made a fortune on these services, is now the CEO of one of France's biggest internet providers.
>So do younger people in France not care about it at all?
No, not really, unless they have an interest in retro stuff. In my life, my four interactions with minitel have been:
-finding one in my great-grandma's cellar
-seeing a character use it in a comic from the 80's
-3615 usul
-old leftists making fun of millenial and zoomer internet activists ("back in our day we didn't protest on our minitels!")
Last edited 2026/08/01(Sat) 17:10:00
