I kinda dont enjoy the web revival as much anymore. Lemme explain why

[DiffydaDude]

So I dont know if y'all remember, but a few months ago, I made this weird, badly worded, badly formatted post, or 2, where I made these really crass arguments about things i didnt like. They got some, well, concerned reactions, and after a break from all things melonland, and also thanks to my friends, I finally realized why I made those terrible, terrible posts.
At the time, I felt like that, if I wanted to enjoy the web revival, and make the internet a better place, I had to be a certain kind of person, and do certain things. I thought i had to be some sort of anticapitalist philosopher writing zines about becoming an anti social media rebel who fought against corporations, and I thought I had to do this stuff if I wanted the internet to do this better place. But as i hung around the web revival community more, i started feeling conflicted. When I made my first zine, I didnt feel any passion behind it at all, but I forced myself to make it anyways even though it wasnt my thing. I started feeling annoyed at how little of these fun and cool sites there were being posted around in the web revival when most of them were about a few things in particular. And i disliked how drastic people were sometimes, always foreboding horrible things and always giving people something to worry about. So i ended up lashing out in those forum posts, against all these things I got so tired of, about how I felt like I was the only one who felt this way, and feeling so tired from that weird buzzy feeling i got all over my body when my mind started racing like it was. Eventually, i realized i didnt like my website, or what i thought i wanted to do, or the things that I saw here. So i ended up flipping everything around, making things that I really wanted. And I'd say I succeeded in making a website i can actually call home, one like how they really had done it back in the old days. I actually felt far better doing the things i actually wanted instead of forcing myself to do things i didnt feel comfy with, and I didnt feel like the web was as empty anymore. Traversing it felt more natural.
Im not saying that "ohh i dont need y'all i got myself", Im just saying that i feel like there's issues in the web revival that I want fixed. I think the best way of saying what I want from the web revival is that I dont think it should be a community, but a method. Something anyone and anybody can do to anything.

Sorry if this is a bit weird of a thing for me to post. I just really needed to get this off my chest. Im still gonna be in the "web revival" but i wanna do my own thing. And im not saying "ohh web revival was better before 2024" cuz im not here to be obsessively nostalgic, another problem i kinda have with the web revival. I just want to highlight some of my issues after 1 year in the web revival.

[Paprika]

I saw several posts from you over the months but didn't reply much because I wasn't sure how to respond but now I'm a bit more confident with myself.

It seems that you were super, super invested here and reading you here sound a bit like a "burnout", you were super active and always ready to do things and try stuff. It's very cool, but as living beings we have physical and mental limits and it seems to me that you've reached it.

Communities always have their up and down and as someone who was very very active in comic-books forums and groups I sort of understand your situation now. Exposing yourself on internet will often give you blunt answers or weird ones. If people are bored and angry, you'll even get hate, but that's not the point here.

You should take time for yourself and always work for yourself first because no one will do it for you. I've also felt bad about my website because there's a ton of talented people around, and I genuinely believed I was terrible at this. For a few weeks I struggled with what to do. But in the end I haven't revamped everything because I knew it wouldn't be "me" and decided to continue for myself even if my HTML and CSS are a mess, I'm having FUN and that's very important for me.

Take care of yourself, distance yourself a bit if needed and focus on what you like or enjoy 

You're a cool person, be kind to yourself, be happy 

[Eunice]

If I've learned anything from all my years of making websites and zines, it's that you cannot do what everyone else is doing. If you did, we'd be back to cookie cutter websites. Just do what you feel. I'm not some "anticapitalist philosopher writing zines about becoming an anti social media rebel who fought against corporations" in any way at all. I did feel the same way as you at first, especially as I was so much older than the people who made zines. They all seemed to be into roller derby, dumpster diving, etc and that was never me, even when I was younger.

You just do you. They shouldn't be any particular way at all. And the old days is relative. (Are relative?) My old days are the early 90's.   

[Memory]

[removed by author]

[DiffydaDude]

I should have said this before. I dont actually hate anticapitalism stuff, but its just not my alley. I got kinda wish-washington about it after a while cuz i just got annoyed with feeling like having to play along

You just do you. They shouldn't be any particular way at all. And the old days is relative. (Are relative?) My old days are the early 90's.   

I guess I shouldve thought about that. Mine is 2012-18. Pretty specific time period.
 

[grubbyfox]

My personal belief when it comes to "web revival", is that the most important thing people can do is to just actually be ...online. Ya know? By online I mean, outside the SoMe.

Hang out on forums, use stuff like MSN escargot...show their friends cool websites, forums, chat software, etc.

I suck at making websites, I dont know squat about HTML. I rarely have time to draw, so making 'zines about something is just... not something I have the energy for. I'm not interested in all the things a lot of web revvie lovers are. But I still dig forums, and making stupid little avatars and siggies and using smileys      and all that good stuff.

Imo the web revival shouldn't be so intense that it feels like it's being gatekept or that only the most intense anticapitalist people can enjoy it, or that you cant be a part of it because you dont own a website, etc. For me, the important part is to slow things down from the Zuck/Google/Elon doomscroll/ragebait stuff and hang out in spaces where you feel like you can enjoy yourself, and just get creative (if you wish) outside a ready made datahoarding platform.

[DiffydaDude]

IMO i dont like how the web revival has become less about having fun online and more about anarchism and anticorporatism

[larvapuppy]

IMO i dont like how the web revival has become less about having fun online and more about anarchism and anticorporatism

Why not both? 

In all seriousness, I think maybe you're looking at the wrong websites and following the wrong people? If you take this forum as an example, there are tons of newbies every week popping up with their silly and fun websites... You can curate your own web revival experience, no one can tell you what it is or isn't about   

[DiffydaDude]

Why not both? 

In all seriousness, I think maybe you're looking at the wrong websites and following the wrong people? If you take this forum as an example, there are tons of newbies every week popping up with their silly and fun websites... You can curate your own web revival experience, no one can tell you what it is or isn't about   

well the thing is, its not like theres a lot of variation in the web revival, it feels like every site links back to the same sorts of sites, especially the anarchist ones, and a lot of sites dont have much to offer. Like the old websites would have fun stuff to show off and download like songs and funny pictures and videos and further links to stuff they like or their own stuff. But in the web revival, it often feels like a circle where you find the same dokodemo or online spyware watchdog or piracy megathread link on most of these sites. Its really hard to not be bored when all the sites are really similar to one another and have the same stuff. I want more kinds of sites with games and activities and challenges and tidbits and videos! I just dont like how the web revival is feeling less like a portal to a better internet and more like a bubble.

[xixxii]

that hasn't been my experience at all! i am an anarchist and i find that people on neocities tend not to be especially political, especially folks on melonland! i would love some examples of what bits of the scene you've been looking at - i'd love to have more sites with a focus on anarchism and anticonsumerism to visit. we should swap links! i've done some looking through the surf club sites, but i guess we've been looking at different parts!

here's some sites that seem like the thing you seem to be looking for:

edit: my formatting keeps getting all messed up for some reason 
edit 2: finally fixed it i htink   

• pamtre berry
• sorahana
• starrs
• silly beanies
• the monastery of blamensir
• tyoma.cool
• space dandelion
• leusyth
• indie tsushin
• sunnygetready
• doll archive
• linwood
• marigold town
• squidknees
• kallistero
• divergent rays
• solaria
• lostletters
• amorphophalex
• hillhouse
• everest pipkin

you could also check out stuff like the html review, indieweb's blog carnivals, the tiny awards, sunday sites, muse ariadne, 32 bit cafe's code jams, the neocreatives webring to find more stuff that interests you!

[bingus_baby]

It really does sound like you're in the wrong spaces. Check out more webrings. All sorts of sites are in there, like hotline webring.

Sites usually link "up" to sites they look up to, as well as mutuals. Hence everyone and their mothers linking to Dokodemo, Melonking, SadGrl, etc. If you wanna find the rare, weird, unusual sites you have to dig. Deep. DEEPER! Into the bedrock of the internet. Weird, good sites are out there, but they're small and unknown, and thus not linked to. You have to find them. Checking Neocities tags also works well, then check who everyone is following. I'm sure you've done this all before, so do it again! Also keep in mind demographics. Neocities has every kind of person on the site, but the community is largely what you're talking about, as well as artists who mostly post art, not various files and widgets. But then again, this is my perspective! If you follow sites on Neocities, your feed will be those sites, not whatever is outside your bubble. I get feeds from personal blogs and artists. But that's not all that's out there!

I'm rambling again. In short, check the "last updated" tab. Check other web hosting sites. Join new webrings. Have you looked at everyone's sites here on Melonland? The Surf Club would be another good place to check.

I'm kinda out of the game, so I don't have more suggestions. But make sure to be the change you wish to see in the world!

Edit: Another good MK webring - https://melonking.net/free/software/flood

[BlazingCobaltX]

Please point me to any and all anarchist/anticonsumerist pages you find because I've actually seen relatively little of those and I'd love to read them. 

I've held off replying to this thread as I've found it quite hard to place your tone. Truthfully, it sounds like you are just complaining for the sake of it. I get the impression that you initially mingled with a clique and subculture that didn't work out for you, which can really suck the joy out of a hobby. But in both the previous thread and the current one there were several suggestions for you get into alternative, more light-hearted circles. What gives then that you are still so dissatisfied by what the many corners of the web revival have to offer?

Maybe the hobby as a whole doesn't work for you at this moment. Don't feel bad about taking a break from it.

[arcus]

Your site is yours, and you should do whatever you want with it. No one is going to judge you for not having a manifesto.

IMO i dont like how the web revival has become less about having fun online and more about anarchism and anticorporatism

It has been anticorporate since the very beginning. An important thing to note is that Yahoo did not release an archive of the site. The only reason there's an archive around, is because multiple archive teams spent months straight archiving it. It's only natural that a movement influenced by such an event is anticorporate.

[brisray]

@Eunice got it exactly right "You do you." We're lucky, there are more choices today than we ever had in the "olden days", just pick and choose the technologies or sites you want to use and ignore the rest. The great thing is, you can always change your mind later.

You're not going to "fix" the web revival to be the way you want because there are differing views of what it actually is. Libre.Town has some interesting ideas on what the web revival means to different groups of people. The same as the wider internet, you can pick and choose which bit of it you want to particiapte in.

My own interest is people creating their own sites and chatting with other people about what I'm interested in. When the big well-known hosting sites disappeared many abandoned the sites they had made, but the internet was changing anyway and personal sites got scattered and more difficult to find. Anything that encourages people to create their own site and showcases them is great.

[bees]

Please point me to any and all anarchist/anticonsumerist pages you find because I've actually seen relatively little of those and I'd love to read them. 

This exactly.

I haven't really seen many anarchist sites and the ones I've seen are more tech-oriented. The personal neocities sites I've seen aren't really all that political, other than many users openly identifying as LGBTQ+ and some Palestine banners/buttons. Now I wonder if I'm looking in the wrong places!

⚑ Moderators Note ⚑

Service Announcement: Use this thread to find and exchange anarchist web-revival-sites.