Staying safe while engaging with others in the web revival scene – some tips

[shevek]

Hi, thank you for being part of this community!

While exchanging ideas about the web revival scene or small web here, it can be important to know that the topics of old tech and nostalgia, reclaiming the web from corporate design and ads, and the personal freedom of designing your own space can mean something else to different people!

It's worth it to look into how others understand and live these values on their personal websites. Especially as a webring host accepting new members, as a person willing to join a webring, or when you’re exchanging buttons to link to people’s sites.

• People might use the freedom to design their own website to host and spread hate speech, conspiracy theories or banned content. It's attractive to them because there is no (easy) way to report it or for anyone to engage with it in a discussion.
• "Reclaiming the web" might not just be about reclaiming it from corporate design restraints or ads, but about driving out or silencing minority groups such as the LGBTQ community and others, or creating spaces without them. In their view, the small web might be a space where they are free from these groups.
• Nostalgia can sometimes be used to idealize and romanticize very traditional views that are be sexist, racist, homophobic, or transphobic and hide it behind a veil of appreciating the past. For example, they'll imply that the past internet was better before these groups arrived, or before progressive ideas were spread over the internet.
• While criticizing social media sites and bigger corporations, some people take it as a cue to start talking about an "elite” and spread some antisemitic opinions.

This is just your reminder to check some sites more thoroughly to make sure you’re having a good time and connecting with the types of people you like and that respect you.

Remember to take breaks when things get too upsetting and to not share personal details that can be used to identify you offline against your will.

[randomtangent]

yeah definitely

me being queer and ND, i've come across my fair share of hate sites. though i haven't seen the most hateful stuff in a while, i still try being cautious?

especially since on the indie web it's generally felt better for me (as a girl weeb) because i see far less NSFW crap, but at the same time i still see a fair bit of it. though i still wish i was in transfem places like in the past, but Reddit is just insufferable these days, and i don't want more trauma going through Discord servers and stuff.

though i honestly felt worse cuz going through other weeb spaces is a nightmare? you just see creepy and gross stuff a heap. so far already found (assumed) around ~60%ish of them just being creeps with zero morals.

though bringing the mood up again (i guess), i've been at least trying to 'push back' against it! more just going full doujin and avoiding any form of fan crap of anime/adjacent stuff. like Vocaloid is really nice to be in Project DIVA 2nd instead of... i dunno, YouTube? Touhou is great - i love the lore, the characters, the games, and etc. plus my whole OC and etc are generally anime-style or at least imagined so.

[randomtangent]

also sorry for another comment right after the last, but i have some things i wanna say with weeb stuff right now, to stay safe in.

if you're queer, a woman, or anything really, it can really feel violating being a weeb these days. though it's not exactly impossible to stay safe!
though, what i do specifically will probably vary depend on platform and person.
but this is how i do it:

• the mainstream sucks, and do not go to any form of fan content. this is because the mainstream especially is just dominated by gross crap, and don't go to big corporations either (like Crypton Future Media, Hololive, Nijisanji, etc)
• avoid anything fandom-related. try only using official sources (like wikis and stuff), make your own art, and only share your stuff/talk with people you know.
• the indie web isn't perfect either, there's still that kinda stuff on it. if possible, use Firefox, uBlock Origin (to block specific URLs for some people's personal sites), and try avoiding main search engines (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo).

^ those above are just some that i remember right now, but i thought these might be helpful (^_^)[/list]

also, adding this on (10:16:31 @53.15) since i don't wanna clog up this with more posts.
i've noticed a little uptick in edgy kinda people, at least lately, though it's likely it's just a micropattern than anything.

especially on abandoned sites with a messagebox, please avoid them if you can.
one in particular i've been on has been filled with hate speech and bypassing the censors in their messagebox, and the site itself is still well and truly up, and it's ad is still on NavLink too, which is concerning at least to me.

in general, nowhere online is perfect for us, though at least trying to avoid it and blocking the URLs and stuff is probably one of the only options in the indie web scene, other than if a page feels off, it probably is. don't go too far into anyone's site unless it doesn't feel off.