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

[armxnd.io]

Getting into the web revival scene has rekindled something I didn’t even realize I had been missing. I grew up online—spending hours just exploring, making weird little creative projects, and throwing them out into the small community I had built around me. But at some point, it all started feeling stale. I wondered if it was just me getting older, if maybe the magic had faded because I had "matured." But now, I don’t think that was it. I think the internet itself changed.

For a while, it felt like I was just screaming into the void of social media, hoping whatever I posted was polished enough to get a few Likes. But at the same time, I had to strip my personality down just enough to avoid rubbing anyone the wrong way—because anything forbid, I say something that invites an argument I never wanted to have in the first place. Social media turned everything into this weird balancing act of performance and self-censorship.

Then I found Neocities and the whole small web scene, and it hit me: I don’t have to play that game. I can just carve out my own little corner of the internet again, a space that’s mine, where I can throw together whatever I want without worrying about algorithms or engagement. It’s been like a slow retraining of my brain, pulling me out of that influencer-adjacent mindset we’ve all been shoved into. Instead of chasing validation, I’m just making things that I personally love, things that I’m proud of. And that shift? It’s been so freeing.

It’s also been incredibly inspiring. Seeing how other people build their sites, how they present their ideas in such personal and creative ways—it’s like a spark I haven’t felt in forever. I catch myself thinking, "Oh, this page I'm working on could use something extra," and next thing I know, I’m deep-diving into other sites, soaking in all the cool things people have done. Hours pass, and instead of feeling drained, I feel excited. Like, "What am I going to add next? What’s the next weird little idea I want to bring to life?" That’s a feeling I haven’t associated with the internet in a long, long time.

I really hope more people start embracing this kind of small-web again. I know that sounds a little contradictory, but I mean, I want to see the internet become more personal again. I’d rather visit a friend’s homepage and actually learn about what they’re into than scroll through another fleeting status update designed to go viral for five minutes. Give me messy, personality-filled pages over perfectly curated feeds any day.