You Should Have a Website
Thursday October 12, 2023
People don’t really make personal websites anymore. The homepage of Squarespace makes it obvious that most people use websites for business and social media for “themselves.” Maybe I’m the weird one, but I think having a digital canvas where you can do anything you can think of is the coolest shit ever. For most people, different combinations of social media websites have replaced the need for a personal website, but they are not the same thing. Social media platforms are advertisement delivery services. The “value” that comes from something like Instagram or Facebook is the immediate audience and the number-go-up dopamine drip feed they supply. You can make a Facebook account, add everyone you ever knew in high school as a friend, and acquire a sweet number 6 under your status update, maybe even a smiley face or two. Not only is there no waiting for people to find your website in the first place, but you don’t have to make anything. You have a web page that looks acceptable on every screen, and the words you typed are right there after touching one button. You may be thinking, “That sounds great. Why the fuck would I make my own website?”
Think of the people you actually give a shit about in real life. They would like your website, and you would like their websites. Fuck the person you spoke to one time at a party 4 years ago, they don’t need to get play by play updates about the concert you’re at. Your life is not better because 15 people saw your Snapchat story instead of 14.
I think people online should slow down and scale back. Personal websites are so much more, uh, personal. I think of it like sending a text message to someone versus sending them a letter. Seeing an update of any kind to a friend’s website would be so much more interesting than a Facebook status or a profile picture change. Again, maybe I’m the weird one. There’s a pretty good chance one of my friends is reading this right now and cannot relate to what I’m saying at all. If you can relate, check out Neocities. You have to write the HTML and CSS yourself, but to me that’s part of the fun. HTML isn’t all that scary. One Google search for “neocities themes” brought me to this cool little website. I don’t know shit about Squarespace, Wix, or any other super easy website builders. I assume I wouldn’t like them, but that isn’t the point. You can do whatever you want, that’s what makes it cool. Try Neocities. If you hate it, try something else.
It will probably suck and you’ll probably do everything wrong. You’ll figure it out. This is my 5th attempt at making a website and I think this one is okay. Just have fun.
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