What sets Lore apart is the understanding that the most used platforms today – Instagram, X, Reddit – were not crafted to support fandom. Their architecture was for something entirely different, but fans have had no other choice but to engage on these sites. “We deserve a platform that is designed for fandom,” Naqvi argues, whether that fandom... See more

No longer will anyone need to hunt down the appropriate Reddit threads, open up dozens of tabs to read relevant articles and watch explanation videos on YouTube. Lore promises to consolidate it all into one place, in a more intuitive and interactive way than what current fandom sites offer. Official developments and fan theories can be tracked with... See more

Lore’s vibe is “all about high fantasy worlds and internet archaeology”, she writes to me in an email after our interview. The artistic backdrop to the website will serve as an aesthetic reminder of the “lost magic” that the internet has always had the capacity to nurture.

Lore aims to restore this absent dimension. It’s designed not as another social media website, but as what she describes as a “community-driven multiplayer internet”. The first private beta version of the site goes live today.

The missing piece, she believes, is a centralised digital territory to express fandom and share appreciation for the creations that foment our imagination.

While the internet has evolved to be a sophisticated digital library for every part of life, it has lost some features along the way – particularly the magic of discovery, the joy of falling into rabbit holes and feeling safe on the way down.