These ‘CSS crimes’ turn social media posts into games

theverge.com:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you build something on the internet, people will find ways to creatively break it. This is exactly what happened with cohost, a new social media platform that allows posts with CSS. Digging through the #interactables hashtag on cohost reveals a bounty of clickable, CSS-enabled experiments that go far beyond GIFs — there’s a WarioWare mug-catching game, an interactive Habbo tribute, magnetic fridge poetry, this absolutely bananas cog machine, and even a “playable” Game Boy Color (which was, at one point, used for a “GIF plays Pokémon” event). Yes, there’s also Doom.

The cohost team embraced the madness. It was the beginning of a creative avalanche that simply isn’t possible on other social media sites — a phenomenon that the cohost community has since dubbed “CSS crimes.”

While major social media giants cling to uniformity and standardized posts, cohost throws all of this corporate banality out the window. My first encounter with this nascent platform was like stumbling across a bygone era of computing — one where websites were unchecked reflections of personal expression and delightfully weird, often awkward vibes. Most importantly, cohost has cultivated a thriving demoscene full of artists, designers, creative coders, and ambitious shitposters ready to push the envelope of computer art.

At first glance, cohost is a simple blogging website. Posts (coposts or, half-jokingly, “chosts”) have no character limit, and there’s an option to make multiple pages for different themes or projects. You can make a collaboratively co-owned page that multiple people can use, like for crowdfunds or podcasts. It’s like meeting the awkward offspring of Tumblr, Twitter, and a hint of Reddit.