This ’90s-esque social media site only works for three hours a day

For the past few weeks, every day at 7:38 PM ET, I get an email titled âseven39 is open again.â From 7:39PM, I have exactly three hours to check out an experimental new social media site before it completely shuts down. Itâs not an empty threat, either. If you visit seven39.com outside of that three-hour […]

Apr 3, 2025 - 17:05

This ’90s-esque social media site only works for three hours a day

The vibes at seven39 feel distinctly like the internet of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. | Image: The Verge

For the past few weeks, every day at 7:38 PM ET, I get an email titled âseven39 is open again.â From 7:39PM, I have exactly three hours to check out an experimental new social media site before it completely shuts down.

Itâs not an empty threat, either. If you visit seven39.com outside of that three-hour window, youâll be greeted by a red âcurrently closedâ sign. Youâll also get a brief explainer of its mission: âSocial media is better when we’re all online together. No endless scrolling. No FOMO. Just 3 hours of fun every evening.â

To my tired old bones, thatâs a compelling pitch. Iâve tried all the flavors of social media poison since the downfall of Twitter. In 2025, all social media has the same formula. The never-ending doomscroll keeps you on the platform. The longer you scroll and the more you engage with clickbait and the main character of the day, the more ads and affiliate links you can be fed. By bedtime, your attention span is shot, youâve been mildly entertained, and sometimes, you feel angry for no real reason.

With seven39, the scroll is finite. There are no ads â just a single chronological feed from users against a purple backdrop. It …

Read the full story at The Verge.