what the blog

This might be nostalgia talking, but I’m sure the web used to feel like it was full of life, not just walled gardens and algorithmic treadmills.

I think for some people those places come with a sense of community that cancels out the negatives, but I’ve never been much of a poster. I don’t like how it feels to feed feed The Platform inane details of my life for it to surface to randoms, and replying to people often feels like butting into a stranger’s conversation on the bus. Sure, it’s all in public, but is this person actually looking for input from strangers or just using the platform as a convenient way to commune with their friends and colleagues?

The social contract of a personal website is much simpler. You clicked a link or typed the URL and can close the tab if you like, so I can write whatever I please and you can take it or leave it. I don’t have to worry about staying on trend or “maintaining a personal brand” or writing run-on sentences with either an inadequate or entirely superfluous number of commas.

I’ve come across a ton of people in recent months who are doing something to reclaim their corner of the web. I fell head first into a digital gardening rabbit hole and it was honestly so refreshing to see so many hand-crafted sites reflecting the different ways the authors think and perceive things. Then there’s the indieweb and yesterweb movements, grappling with what a rehumanised web could be and how to make it happen.

It feels grandiose to say my wee website (weebsite? no wait) is part of reclaiming the web from the big tech dragons who insist on hoarding it, but in a small way it’s true. Everyone who publishes on their own site and links to others helps build a more meaningful web. One which has space for people to exist as people rather than mere posters, influencers, and content creators.

So what is this? A blog? A digital garden? Hard to say, but I feel like I’m fizzing with ideas I want to get out of my system. The only rule I want to keep is that this is my space, so if I think something’s interesting or important or fun enough then it’s up for grabs. Maybe I’ll get two posts in and find the well has run dry, or maybe I’ll realise I love writing book summaries or tech support posts or dev logs or explorable explanations and get into a routine. If things get messy I can always add tags and filters. Most of all I think I just want to have the space. A channel for inspiration, should it strike, but more importantly a low stakes way to start writing and put something out into the world. Or also like, this post could be all you’re getting.