Ozu Chat

Before Google, there was Ozú. For a whole generation of Spanish internet users, ozu.es was the gateway to the web: a homegrown Andalusian search engine — its name the classic Spanish exclamation of surprise — with its web directory, its news and, above all, a chat where friendships, couples and legendary arguments were born. Chat Ozu is where that community meets again twenty years later.

This is for the people who remember the 56k modem screeching to connect, packed rooms on a Saturday night, impossible nicknames and the art of flirting one text line at a time. They talk about what the internet was like back then, what became of the friends they lost track of, the music that played, the cybercafés and that feeling that the web still seemed a small place where you could really meet someone.

It isn't only about looking back: most are still up for conversation, for people their own age who share references without needing them explained. Anyone who was from Ozú instantly recognises someone else who was too. And those who never lived it are just as welcome, because nostalgia is contagious and there's always someone happy to tell you how it was.

All you need to join is a nickname. No registration, no downloads, no email: it runs on classic IRC — the very same — straight from your phone or computer browser. Type your nick, hit enter and ask the old question: «anyone here from Ozú?»