They are known as sidewayseight or Oo. They were first seen in Toronto in 2003 and have since become visually prominent within Toronto's gothic community.

You've seen them in the clubs. You've seen the symbol everywhere. And you've probably wondered just what the heck the deal is. Are they a cult? Are they a neo-nazi group? Are they on drugs? Or are they just a group of people having some fun and connecting?

After being very frequently asked by numerous people what was going on, I decided it was time to investigate. I was given the contact information of two people who appeared to be the "founders" behind this organization, and began making arrangements for an interview. I compiled some of the comments and questions that people have asked me about the sidewayseight, and discussed and shared ideas with Steven (TG) about interview content.

On April 10th 2004, I went deep into the beta system of sidewayseight.com and chatted with two 'members' in an attempt to clarify this matter for our readers.

1: Jour aka Aigent 1 in sidewayseight.
8: Carl aka Aigent 8 sidewayseight.
dem: interviewer. toronto-goth.com

After some preliminary discussion and conversation, we started the interview. Below are the logs (keep in mind this was not an email interview, but a live, evolving discussion, with three people typing at once).

dem says: What is the sidewayseight?
8 says: It is a social network.
dem says: Can you expand on that?
8 says: Yes, no problem.
8 says: You have noticed the sidewayseight logo in allot of places: on people's t-shirts, patches on bags / jackets, flyers all over the place...
8 says: You may also have seen people wearing numbers...
dem says: That would be hard to miss !
8 says: :-)
8 says: What it is, is a common denominator - a baseline of conversation.
8 says: More for conversation.
1 says: oo is when your car is broken down on the site of a road in the middle of nowhere and somebody helps you. and you'll know how you know them.
8 says: See, everyone in sidewayseight knows someone by the nature of the social system design.
8 says: It allows social circles to integrate. We have seen this between "ravers" & "goths"
8 says: (example)
8 says: See sidewayseight is just people.
8 says: It is as infinite / diverse as people can be.

dem says: Ok. How did you choose the symbol/name, and what is its signifance?
8 says: As you can see sidewayseight oo looks like an infinity symbol. But even that has been skewed as a play on infinity itself
8 says: There is a synchronicity.
8 says: I answered your question before you posed it.
dem says: I know :)

dem says: Tell me more about this synchronicity.
8 says: That is another thing that is so interesting about sidewayseight. Coincidences seem to be increasing.
1 says: the synchronization we think of is like when you see a flock of birds flying in formation.
dem says: What coincidences do you refer to?
dem says: A flock of birds makes me think of a herd of sheep. Undiverse. Comments?
8 says: Well more how they are in perfect formation.
8 says: How they can move and change direction and keep a beautiful shape.
8 says: Sync just happens - what is responsible for these synchronicities that happen? There has been a lot of talk that we as humans are networked to a certain extent.
8 says: Coincidences as we have seen them are like what just happened earlier in the interview. Being one step ahead or more so completely in sync.
8 says: Like let's say I'm dancing on the dance floor & think I need water, the next thing I know someone is bringing me a bottle of water.
8 says: Almost like there is some kind of communication going on via some "other" network.
8 says: Possibly the network that ties us together. We rarely use it but when we do we call it a coincidence / synchronicity.
1 says: that is a matter of perception. human beings could be just as easily classified as undiverse and a flock of birds or herd of sheep as diverse.
8 says: Recently new forms of communication ie. cell phones / computers are connecting people in a way like never before.

dem says: Okay, let's talk about the logistics of the sidewayseight now. How do you recruit agents? Can you describe the process of obtaining an agent number?
8 says: the correct spelling is actually "aigent"
dem says: Why do you spell it that way?
8 says: It was a play on the word agent - possibly because the vowels "ai" make the sound A
1 says: or it could be an acronym for something, we really don't know
1 says: from the pilot in Toronto there is a base network of people and aigents. people who are in oo can become aigents after a certain number of aigents 'opt' or 'vote' for them. this can be as little as three opts but in some cases it takes a lot more
1 says: we're in oo just like everybody else, learning as we go

dem says: How many aigents are there?
8 says: In oo Toronto there are about 15 now.
8 says: There are many more people that just aigents in sidewayseight
dem says: What are these other people considered then?
8 says: familiars

dem says: You two are the founding members? Is there a power structure or hierachy to the sidewayseight?
1 says: no we are just beta testers
8 says: We are responsible for the sidewayseight presence in Toronto.
1 says: we work under contract with major corporations under strict non disclosure. one of these agreements applies to oo as well.
1 says: we are simply working on a Toronto pilot.
dem says: How were you chosen to do this?
1 says: we were hired becuase we're experts in social networking (Carl) and information technology (Jour)
1 says: we basically are providing professional services
8 says: The field work, etc.
dem says: This is all new to me !
8 says: Then it looks like we are having a successful interview!
dem says: Indeed, very informative :)

1 says: i have to leave, did you have any other key questions? carl will take over
dem says: i have a series of comments that the community has made, and will be giving you a chance to respond to them.
8 says: did you want to send those via email?
dem says: I think we can go thru them fairly quickly
1 says: no, you can just take them now
8 says: ok shoot!
1 says: i'll stick around as long as i can

dem says: "They are a militant, racist group. I've seen them in their uniforms, and also wearing gear reminisint of Nazis, and I find this quite disturbing. One of their members also recently caused some controversy on LJ with his racist views. Toronto went through skinhead bullshit in the mid to late 80's, and we don't need to go through this again. Is this how they really feel, and it is time to run them out of town?"
1 says: if somebody listens to rap music and shoots somebody, does that make all rappers killers too?
1 says: oo doen't control the actions of other people in any way
8 says: It is the case of there being one bad apple in the bushel and it spoils the whole bushel. Even though all of the other apples were spectacular. This is what has happened. There has been one member of sidewayseight (quite visible) who has been the root of this. There is no militant or any other connotations associated with sidwayseight - you can see this quite easily by visiting sidewayseight.com
dem says: But when the average person visits sidewayseight.com they are unable to view the site.
8 says: Yes, it is an introduction website. But at the same time you will not see anything militant associated via the home page.

1 says: okay give us one more and then i have to go!

dem says: With their appearance and behaviour, as well as their secretive membership requirements and strange rules, they must be some sort of cult.
8 says: Is livejournal a cult? Up to about a month ago you needed a "code" to be able to post on that site...
dem says: Well, you could also pay for membership on it... So you would maintain that you are not cult-like then?
1 says: there is no consistancy or guidelines on how we dress or behave. there is nothing secrative about our membership requirements. there are very few simple rules because a web site exists that keeps things organized. oo is not a cult.
8 says: On the subject of "secretive membership" we are quite open and everyone is invited. If it truely was a "cult" or a "dark secret" i doubt we would conduct this interview ;-)
dem says: Ok, not a cult then :)
8 says: Yep!
1 says: there are no plans that we have heard about charging for oo access
1 says: we put oo in everybodys face non-stop because it isn't a secret!!!
8 says: :-)

dem says: I am hoping this interview will clear up to people what oo is all about !
8 says: Definitately

dem says: Okay, I have a few more comments from people.
8 says: Sure
1 says: ok Dem, thank-you so much for pulling this together. Carl will take it from here.
8 says: bye JOur!
dem says: Okay, thank you Jour, it was nice chatting with you.
1 says: c iao
1 has left the room

dem says: Speaking of putting faces online, here is a related comment. "All they seem to do is run around taking pictures and posting them on their website which I can't look at because I'm not a member. Once they even took pictures at a fetish night, which is completely unacceptable if consent is not given."
8 says: On the first note we take pictures just like anyone else who takes pictures when they go out. They are not a requirment of sidewayseight. The system works and has been working without oo cameras.
8 says: On the subject of that cyber fetish night last year. The only pictures that were taken were from people who gave consent and they were taken with the person against the wall.
8 says: Those pictures were even asked to be removed by Heather (aignet 821) and they were removed the instant the request was made.
dem says: Sounds like respectful photography, and an effective complaint process to me !

dem says: I have one more comment from the general community, and it's an extreme one.
8 says: Sure
dem says: "Our dark scene is made up of people who don't belong in other communities. The sidewayseight is made up of people who don't even belong in our scene, so they had to form their own group in order to have a sense of belonging to something, and also to try to raise their status within the scene."
8 says: The only community sidewayseight belongs to is people! :-) So there is no community associated with oo.
8 says: And again sidewayseight is not a "group"
8 says: Unless you just want to call the human race a "group" then yes we would be to that extent
8 says: sidewayseight is as diverse as people are.
dem says: Like sheep and flocks of birds :)
8 says: there is no age / gender / interest / dress code / type of music style or any other requirment for being in sidewayseight.
8 says: because it isn't even really "being in sidewayseight"
8 says: it is just a system for people to use for themselves to get to know other people they might not have been able to meet who share similar interests, etc.
dem says: Just to make this point clear, there is no race requirement either?
8 says: No race requirement. Right now we have limited access to humans.
8 says: :-)
8 says: But I guess if aliens land then we can extend the system to them too.
dem says: The aliens are probably already here :)
8 says: Well in that case...

dem says: Okay then ! That's probably enough comments from the community, unless there is anything else you've heard about the sidewayseight that you feel needs clarification?
8 says: I think you covered the major points.

8 says: Did you have any other questions?

dem says: The only other thing I'd like to ask is what the future holds for the sidewayseight?
8 says: Sure, do you see this chat room we are in right now.
8 says: Well these will be plentiful within the sidewayseight community - there will be people who have joined sidewayseight chatting about in here. You will be talking with someone that you have seen when you are out & be able to know the common friends you have through the degrees of separation logic that will be built into the system. Generally people will have new ways of meeting people outside of the club...
dem says: So you will be using the website and chatroom more extensively as a meeting and connection place?
8 says: Yes, but I do want to mention that sidewayseight is more of a real life system than a virtual system. It only exists because of the real world.
8 says: That is why it is so personal (visual chat)
8 says: It will be great to see what the effect of synchronicity will be after the system gets out of beta!
8 says: Looking very forward to that.
dem says: When do you expect that to happen?
8 says: I would say the system will be fully complete by the end of spring.
8 says: Well version 1 anyway :-)

dem says: Do you have any closing comments before we finish?
8 says: I want to extend a thank you for providing us the opportunity to clarify what the "deal" is with sidewayseight to the Goth community. I can completely understand their comments and questions and I will be happy when they see the truth of what sidewayseight really is.
dem says: You're most welcome ! This interview has been very enlightening for me, as I'm sure it will be for readers of toronto-goth.com. Thanks !