Neocities - your elevator pitch?

[shevek]

This intersects a little with other threads where we try to define what this side of the web is or what term to use, but didn't properly fit in those.

So recently, a friend and me were casually talking while the DM set up our current Cthulhu one-shot campaign. She brings up "So what is this newcities (sic) thing anyway?" and it caught me a little off guard.
I ended up saying "It's where you can make websites, but a little more unrestrained than other website builders, and many use it to build retro-looking websites." That was it.

Since then I've been wondering if I could have said something better and if I did Neocities dirty.

If someone casually asked you this same question because they saw a link to your site, and it's not the convo/situation to break out in a huge monologue and discuss this topic at length - what would you say? What would be your elevator pitch to capture the purpose and culture of Neocities in contrast to other website builders (Squarespace, Wix, etc.) and social media sites?

Spoiler

An elevator pitch, elevator speech, lift speech or elevator statement is a short description of an idea, product, or company that explains the concept in a way such that any listener can understand it in a short period of time. This description typically explains who the thing is for, what it does, why it is needed, and how it will get done. [...]
The name—elevator pitch—reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes. (x)

[close]

[BananaBoots]

I suppose I'd say that it's a site where you can build your own website from scratch (maybe also mentioning that you use HTML instead of drag-n-drop like ones such as Wix and Squarespace) and that a lot of people use it for fun and to make retro-themed/looking websites. So pretty similar to what you said, actually. I think that's probably the best way to go about it without explaining in detail the kind of websites people make, the whole indie web/old web revival, etc.

[Absentmind]

I'd say its an artistic web movement that seeks to enable creativity through hand-coded personal websites that use retro graphics as a form of political expression against centralised websites like Facebook and twitter.

[wygolvillage]

A place where you can easily create a personal website, with an added social aspect (the main Neocities site, following other users, etc.) that makes the transition from "new style" to "old style", as well as finding your community, a little easier. The only limit is your imagination and willingness to learn.

I've always been kind of bad at these kinds of pitches lol. I do want to get more people in on it for sure (the amount of people I've seen calling Tumblr "the last remnant of the old web" pains me. Oh, if you only knew...!!!)

[deuil]

i'd probably go, "well, you know how in the early 2000s people made their own websites before social media ? everyone had their own page and would visit each other's page like that and build communities. it's the same thing. people are doing the same thing. you code your own site by hand and you put whatever you want on it, and people visit your page."

is it convincing ? maybe not...

[nenrikido]

I think it depends on your audience. Different pitches are effective for different people because not everyone wants the same things from Neocities or the "small web" in general. I've found it most effective to emphasize creative freedom, but my elevator pitch changes depending on who I'm talking to.

If I'm talking to an artist or writer, for example, I pitch Neocities as a beginner friendly web host that allows them greater creative control since they often complain of constraints on mainstream platforms. If I know they enjoy collaborative, community-oriented hobbies, then throwing in the community aspect of Neocities can be a big selling point. If it's someone who is disintersted in socializing, I emphasize that they can turn off their profile if they want. If I'm talking to someone who's more tech-savvy but skeptical, I tell them about the Neocities CLI tool and about how the the site is open source, and they start to get more interested lol. Really depends!

[kurohaato]

Love a good elevator pitch! Here's mine:

Neocities is a webhost with a built in code editor that allows for complete customization of webpages beyond what's offered by services like Wix at a lower price than services like AWS. Its low barrier to entry and ease of use has allowed it to build a large community, with sites upon sites for everything from html help, pixel art, history essays, fansites, and beyond! The only limit is your dreams and if those dreams require dynamic pages.