How has the web revival community changed your relationship with the internet?

[DJoftheCoven]

I'm not sure how coherent the question is, so I'll try to explain myself better down here: Ever since I discovered the community of web revivalists on Neocities, I've found myself changing the way that I view the internet as a whole when I log on each day. I used to feel very trapped, mostly refreshing my Tumblr dashboard around 5 or 6 times a day even though I was obviously bored with browsing it at that point--but now I genuinely enjoy being on the web! I've started an attempt to cull my digital pacing on Tumblr and have taken to spending a little time browsing Neocities for an hour or so a day. Only a week after beginning this, I noticed how I was looking forward to going on the internet for the first time since I was in elementary school! (me at the computer)

I don't know if any of you guys will relate to this, but I'd love to hear about your stories if you happened to go through something similar!

[Cobra!]

When I first discovered them, I felt that spark again. It's always good fun to explore a Webring or Gemini. I also had a lot of fun building my site and capsule. I legit went to bed excited for the next day so I can build them further.

However, they're more or less complete now, and that spark went away. Suddenly, I didn't feel like I had the time to explore...

I should really force myself to do it and make time for it again. It's so much fun when I eventually do!

[MrsMoe]

I'm new to this community and I still use mainstream sites like Twitter all the time, but being here has made me realize that the forum sites are much better for both me and the internet in the long run. The biggest problem with social media to me is that it makes people prioritize clout and attention over saying anything actually interesting. Having separate corners of the internet dedicated to specific interests gets rid of so much pointless drama too.

I used to only use Twitter because I find sites like Instagram and TikTok extremely obnoxious (yes, even more obnoxious than Twitter), but finding stuff like Neocities and SpaceHey have given me a pleasant alternative. I hope a web revival site can really take off and gain popularity someday.

[morrysillusion]

quite a while back before i got into all this stuff with neocities (maybe 2019 or '1:cool: i was already starting to feel a pull away from social media. as DJoftheCoven says, i did the same in refreshing pages like tumblr mindlessly, bored... I started deleting social media apps (namely instagram and twitter) due to the way it often brought negative feelings with news or silly fandom arguments. i started to conmtrol my space more though- muting things, using plug ins to get rid of YT recommended/suggested feed, etc... i think that alone was my first step into understanding the internet better and making it more of "my space" and once i discovered people were making their own personal websites like this on neocities- it really clicked- this whole thing really allowed me to make the internet an experience i want to enjoy again.

probably more so with isolation from the pandemic, its made me feel like im in a nice little space of like minded people doing their own thing while i do mine. its the feeling i often got from being around art college or my internship i enjoyed- without the stress lol. it is cool to see a gathering of all kinds of people with similar intentions to make their own spot on the web for themselves, while not facing the negatives of social media sites. its refreshed my view of the internet a lot, as i was starting to dip into too many negative feelings about being online.

[Memory]

I first learned of Neocities in.. 2016 I think? And I was thrilled to find out there was a Geocities-revival thing going on and a community around it full of cool personal sites! However I didn't start making a site of my own until late 2017 due to my depression and huge lack of motivation and even after then it took a couple more years to get the ball rolling (especially as my life situation finally took a turn for the better).
It wasn't until more recently (like a year or two ago I think) that I finally just gave up and broke away from big social media sites like Twitter and Instagram. I originally came to those places to spread my work around as an artist and hoped to get it more well-known, but I only then found myself stressing about how frequently I produce art, promoting my "brand", comparing myself to others and the like. Now I've learned to come and accept that I want to just create work for me, whenever I want to and share it wherever I want to. I may not get as much popularity if I was an artist frequently uploading to Twitter and such, but frankly I feel happier just using DeviantArt (even though it's fazed out of its glory days) and my own personal space to share.
Frankly, I just felt like I wasn't getting much out of social media anyways. I felt bored and that I'd rather being doing other things with my time.

I'm just glad there's a great sizable community for older-style web stuff here too. It's made me feel like I have a place to be at home on the web, something I haven't felt in a very long time.

[creaturefeature]

well for one it made the internet fun again?
Also it gave me a new creative outlet. I feel like going to social media just, I dunno made me more passive, or having to worry about what other people think.

In trying to making my own site started to consider pick up drawing again and have a better space for my photos (i´m big into nature photography), and just explore whatever weird interests I have to my content.
Also this web revival scene looks kinda chill to me?
Like I still use twitter at times ( but tumblr more) and i´ve been trying to set more limits, even i´m not gonna completely abandon them (most of my online friends are there unfortunently)

[Memory]

It sparked the brain cells linked to feelings of "hope."

Learning that other people have the same nostalgia and desire to bring back the old web makes me feel less alone in the world.

Only a week after beginning this, I noticed how I was looking forward to going on the internet for the first time since I was in elementary school! (me at the computer)

I feel the exact same way. The past few weeks since I started browsing Neocities has rekindled the joy I used to get from being online.

It wasn't until more recently (like a year or two ago I think) that I finally just gave up and broke away from big social media sites like Twitter and Instagram. I originally came to those places to spread my work around as an artist and hoped to get it more well-known, but I only then found myself stressing about how frequently I produce art, promoting my "brand", comparing myself to others and the like.

I'm a bit like you. I originally started using social media as a joke. My first Facebook account was named "Enrique Igloosias" and my profile picture was an MS Paint drawing of myself living in an igloo and wearing socks with sandals. But I eventually started using it to promote my personal projects.

I still have my accounts, but Facebook is only there because of a few estranged friends and family members who can't get a hold of me any other way, and I just creep on Twitter to keep abreast of what's going on with a few people I follow. I haven't posted anything myself in years.

Modern social media is simultaneously too big and too isolating. Instead of a small community centred around a common interest, you have one big, generic space with way more people yet way less communication. You get a "like" or a brief comment and that's it.

[debleb]

it made me realise just how much more the web can be. when i started using the internet it was already around the start of web 2.0; by the time i could use it well we were solidly in it. so i only ever knew the internet as what it pretty much is now and kinda didn’t question it. getting into making my own personal sites and finding out about the web revival movement totally changed how i saw things though! now i know how fun the internet can really be beyond the boundaries of big-tech social media. and now i’m a lot less okay with the state of the modern web    !

[levya]

scrolling social media feels so mindless now, while browsing personal sites feels fun and exciting! as a result I've been using social media a lotttt less and I think my mental health has improved.

I feel like the web revival community has changed my relationship with life in general too. instead of looking for something quick to distract me from bad news in the world and feeling sad when I have no distractions, I've been exploring different hobbies that take up more attention and feel more fulfilling. like seeing people's blogs has gotten me into blogging when before I had no confidence in my writing, or seeing a recipes page has encouraged me to try cooking and baking more stuff!

I used to spend hours scrolling on twitter, but now I'd rather literally touch grass haha

[moonunions]

it's definitely made me cut down my social media consumption. since discovering so many cool sites (and this forum) i've definitely stopped mindlessly checking my twitter/instagram/tumblr throughout the day. tbh it was starting to depress me, i didn't realize how awful i felt when being bombarded with ads all the time, whether they were posts from actual companies or "influencers" who constantly show off products from sponsorships. i made a rule for myself to only check social media once per day (twitter/instagram in the morning, tumblr at night) which has GREATLY impacted my mental health for the better.

seeing so much creativity through personal websites finally helped scratch an itch i didn't know i needed. it also boosted my need to be creative, even if it's still like pulling teeth trying to get myself started on any project haha.

thank you so much to all creators who put so much love, time, and effort into their sites. also thank you to this forum for helping me come out of my shell and actually post my thoughts and feelings on the internet again it's boosted my confidence a little and i'm grateful to everyone who takes the time to make posts!

[halcybutton]

it's given me a drive to share my creations and express myself like never before! i always felt pressured to fit in and be cool on other platforms, especially since people are so quick to attack each other, but now i can post what i want and talk about what i want and feel good about it. if people wanna look, they'll genuinely interact. other places interaction almost felt like a competition. i usually have always stuck to more niche services (my favorite social media app as a teen was vent for example, not twitter or instagram, though i did use the later), so the web revival circles have always just felt perfect for my tendencies

[soapfriendo]

it rly helped me to not take the internet for granted as much and actually appreciate it, it's like the online equivalent of sitting outside and appreciating the world and ppl around you despite everything

like. u just kinda stop and realize that despite how the mainstream net may be, the internet still makes it so that u can buy things overseas, make lifelong friends, and even make a videogame or webcomic in your own home and then just post it online, among many other things, and i think that in itself is cool as hell

[syrupnx]

before neocities, i never really used social media. most of my internet (and generally computer) use was relegated to youtube and gaming. i became a small part of the planetminecraft community sometime in 2019 (if you were there and somehow remember gratifiedgranola, that was me). PMC being a creativity-driven site not just in regards to minecraft but also with user profiles definitely prepared me for joining the web revival community, though i didn't know that at the time.

i discovered neocities i think in 2020 because one of my friends i was in a discord server with at the time had and still has her own site, which eventually led to me making my own site in 2022.

i had known about geocities and other similar things in the past, but the many sites on neocities definitely opened my eyes to how big the internet still is today, even if most people only see the parts ran by big businesses.

[Semper]

The web revival has definitely improved my relationship with the internet. Like everyone else here has been saying, I look forward to going online, working on my own website, and surfing the sites of other netizens. I think the biggest surprise for me was that it improved my relationship with social media. For almost a decade the impression that I had was that you could only be on a social media site, and any website one might have was a professional one that remained mostly untouched and uninteresting (I'm mainly thinking of artist portfolio sites). This paradigm had me feeling caged, and social media became a deeply miserable place for me. I couldn't escape the negative aspects of it because it was the only place I could be online. Now that I have my personal site as my home base and playground, social media is just as funny little place to me. I drop my art in there for promotional purposes and then take off. I don't need to be bothered by whatever is going on there nor feel like I'm missing out. This has been made even easier now that I am part of a couple of forums and log on to read them instead of any feeds or a dash.

Also being in web revival and small web spaces make me feel less like I'm in a PVP zone like social media used to. I feel more comfortable talking to people one on one and putting myself out there. It's good vibes. We're all just hanging out and parallel playing with our toys :D

[Paprika]

Same for me. Since I built my own space, I don't need other big websites and it's a bit like the life before was in black and white and now if full color. It also the change the way I use internet. I'm starting to rely less and less on google and focusing on my website and my content and it's more or less auto-fueling me with passion and happiness.

Seeing other people's websites on Melonland Surfclub and Nekoweb is amazing, it warm my heart to know that it's not a fully dead internet theory out there. I'm really glad I discovered both Neocities and this forum, I wouldn't be where I am right now in my life. I hope a lot of people will experience this kind of internet in their lives.