I wanted a message board that did as little as possible.

Most modern discussion platforms are optimized for engagement and have somewhat lost the touch of simple communication. One can feel that modern social platforms feel paradoxical, overwhelming in activity, yet boring in outcome. Engagement metrics reward continuous interaction, not deliberate participation. The easiest way to increase them is to never let the user be done.

msg-bored is an experiment in the opposite direction.

It is a single global board, messages are short. The technical stack reflects this simple ethos. It’s an Astro app with a small server-side API, backed by SQLite. If it ever becomes slow, well perhaps it made it too far.

The goal of msg-bored is to be just that. A place where anyone can write a message into the abyss, when bored or otherwise. The fun of it not being in what you see scrolling, but rather in the act of deliberately participating. So why don’t you send a message to a stranger, or post your shopping list?

Try it msgbored.johntrager.net.