The internet used to be* fun

I’ve been meaning to write some kind of Important Thinkpiece™ on the glory days of the early internet, but every time I sit down to do it, I find another, better piece that someone else has already written. So for now, here’s a collection of articles that to some degree answer the question “Why have a personal website?” with “Because it’s fun, and the internet used to be fun.”

If you’ve written something that feels like it belongs here—especially if your voice is one that’s frequently underrepresented—I’d be interested to read it! Holler at me via email (kwon at fastmail.com), or on Mastodon (mastodon.social/@rjkwon).

*(It still is, but it used to be, too)

Article Author Date published Date added ↓
Save the Web by Being Nice Andrew Stephens
2024-04-30 2024-05-27
We can have a different web Molly White
2024-05-01 2024-05-27
Is the internet dead? Are we? Chowder 3108
2024-01-02 2024-05-27
Manifesto for a Humane Web Michelle Barker
2024-04-06 2024-05-27
This Page is Designed to Last Jeff Huang
2019-12-19 2024-05-27
The life and times of a personal website Rebecca Mqamelo
2022-11-17 2024-05-27
The Internet Is Like a City (But Not in the Way You'd Think) Anton Cebalo
2024-05-01 2024-05-27
The Internet Isn’t Meant To Be So Small Kelsey McKinney
2023-05-01 2024-05-27
Internet manifesto sadgrl.online
-- 2024-05-27
404 Page Not Found Kate Wagner
2019-01-07 2024-05-27
The Impersonal Web Goodmode
-- 2024-05-27
Let The Internet Be Grimy Ernie Smith
2023-07-08 2024-05-27
What is the Web Revival? Lian
-- 2024-05-27
The "IndieWeb" feels like coming home Nathaniel Daught
2024-03-14 2024-04-29
You don't have to be a “content creator” to have a website. Ana Rodrigues
2024-03-14 2024-04-29
On content creation and personal web Juha-Matti Santala
2024-03-16 2024-04-29
Blogs are cool, actually Rina
2024-04-09 2024-04-29
The Analog Web Jay Hoffmann
2024-04-16 2024-04-29
Blogs Are Dead. Long Live Blogs! Gersande La Flèche
2023-03-26 2024-03-03
Surfing the Old Web Juan Villela
2023-01-11 2024-03-03
Why Personal Blogging Still Rules Mike Grindle
2023-04-12 2024-03-03
L'informatique, c'était mieux avant (Computing was better before) Richard Dern
2022-01-21 2024-03-03
shite: static sites from shell Aditya Athalye
2022-03-08 2024-03-03
Desktops.zip - Some thoughts on websites that look like desktops Simone Marzulli
2023-08-14 2024-03-03
Reviving Ye Olde Personal Home Page Dominik Rabiej
2019-06-30 2024-03-03
Digital Homes and Neighborhoods Jake Weber
2023-05-23 2024-03-03
Game of Content Deep H. Dave
2021-03-09 2024-03-03
The Internet Changed My Life Maxime Chevalier-Boisvert
2022-01-19 2024-03-03
Social Websites Matt Stein
2024-02-06 2024-03-03
The Web is Fantastic Robb Knight
2023-12-28 2024-03-03
Into the Personal Website-Verse Matthias Ott
2019-05-12 2024-03-03
Splitting the Web Ploum
2023-08-01 2024-03-03
Do You Remember the Internet Before Social Media? dear talula
2022-02-19 2024-03-03
Blog Bookmark Rot Skelly
2024-02-17 2024-03-03
Let Us Build a New Web Brad Enslen
2018-09-13 2024-03-03
Where have all the websites gone? Jason Velazquez
2024-01-08 2024-03-03
Ruminating on Walled Gardens Brandon
2024-02-16 2024-03-03
My website is a shifting house next to a river of knowledge. What could yours be? Laurel Schwulst
2018-05-21 2024-02-11
Rediscovering the Old Internet Vibe Noisy Deadlines
2023-09-07 2024-02-11
Click around, find out John Hoare
2024-01-21 2024-02-11
The Bullshit Web Nick Heer
2018-11-30 2024-02-11
The old internet Rebecca Toh
2020-01-16 2024-02-11
Computers: An Invocation for Soft Tech Katherine Yang
2023-09-01 2024-02-11
i really love the (hipster) internet Judah
2023-02-02 2024-02-11
Poor man's web Serge Zaitsev
2021-04-27 2024-02-11
The web is yours James G
2024-01-06 2024-02-11
Refuge in blogs and the IndieWeb Robert Kingett
2023-10-17 2024-02-11
I Love the Web fLaMEd
2021-04-06 2024-02-11
a personal manifesto Simone Silvestroni
2023-04-20 2024-01-04
Everyone Should Blog, And That Includes You Alexandra
2023-12-30 2024-01-04
My website as a home Nico Chilla
2023-11-13 2024-01-04
The Web Revival Melon
2023-11-10 2024-01-04
Make your own independent website Victoria Drake
2021-01-16 2024-01-04
Why the Indie Web movement is so important Dan Gillmor
2014-04-25 2024-01-04
It’s Time to Get Personal Laura Kalbag
2019-12-09 2024-01-04
Please for the love of Blarg, Start a Blog Jay Springett
2019-12-14 2024-01-04
Taking an Internet Walk Spencer Chang
Kristoffer Tjalve
-- 2023-11-12
tiny internets Spencer Chang
-- 2023-11-12
You Should Have a Website Mark Murphy
-- 2023-11-12
Notes on the small web Felix Pleşoianu
2022-09-10 2023-10-24
The Quiet Web Brian Koberlein
2021-02-12 2023-10-24
Rediscovering the Old Internet Vibe noisydeadlines.net
2023-09-07 2023-10-24
Soft tech Helena Jaramillo
-- 2023-10-24
How to fix the internet Katie Notopoulos
2023-10-17 2023-10-19
Social Internet Is Dead. Get Over It. Om Malik
2023-10-15 2023-10-18
Build your own website! Devastatia del Gato
2023-07-09 2023-10-16
The Importance of Personal Websites Hayden White
2023-08-29 2023-10-16
why the web? Justin Hall
-- 2023-09-30
Exploring the Personal Web foreverliketh.is
2023-05-06 2023-09-30
Why you should have a blog (and write in it) Leticia Portella
2020-06-21 2023-09-30
My 20th anniversary of blogging! Tracy Durnell
2023-09-23 2023-09-30
Bix's story of his internet Bix Frankonis
2020-02-24 2023-09-18
About me (localghost) Sophie Koonin
-- 2023-09-12
At home on the internet Johnny Rodgers
-- 2023-09-12
How I experience web today Li Guangyi
-- 2023-09-12
About this website Zinzy Waleson Geene
-- 2023-09-12
How the Blog Broke the Web Amy Hoy
-- 2023-09-12
I miss the internet. Joan Westenberg
2023-07-07 2023-09-12
Every person on the planet should have their own website Amin Eftegarie
2023-07-06 2023-09-12
Eight years of blogging Paweł Grzybek
2023-03-11 2023-09-12
Blogging is alive and well Colin Devroe
2023-01-11 2023-09-12
The Year of the Personal Website Matthias Ott
2023-01-06 2023-09-12
Bring back personal blogging Monique Judge
2022-12-31 2023-09-12
Passionless Web Manuel Moreale
2022-08-16 2023-09-12
Building a Digital Homestead, Bit by Brick Tom Critchlow
2022-03-08 2023-09-12
Early Web Design Helped a Generation Express Themselves Online. How Do We Capture That Feeling Again? Nika Simovich Fisher
2022-03-08 2023-09-12
The Joys and Sorrows of Maintaining a Personal Website "Cheapskate"
2022-03-06 2023-09-12
On building a home on the web Daniël van der Winden
2022-02-25 2023-09-12
How Websites Die Wesley Aptekar-Cassels
2022-02-21 2023-09-12
“Tom had us all doing front-end web development”: a nostalgic (re)imagining of Myspace Kate M. Miltner
Ysabel Gerrard
2021-10-07 2023-09-12
Why Personal Websites are Important Chuck Carroll
2021-03-25 2023-09-12
The Value of a Personal Site Marc
2021-03-15 2023-09-12
The small web is beautiful Ben Hoyt
2021-03-01 2023-09-12
envisioning my homepage as an online therapeutic space Winnie Lim
2020-11-22 2023-09-12
Hunting the Nearly-Invisible Personal Website "Cheapskate"
2020-08-27 2023-09-12
What is the Small Web? Aral Balkan
2020-08-07 2023-09-12
Rediscovering the Small Web Parimal Satyal
2020-05-25 2023-09-12
On attention management & owning your content Roel van der Ven
2017-06-04 2023-09-12
Stop Crowdsourcing Your Confidence Darius Foroux
2016-08-25 2023-09-12
Homesteading 2014 Frank Chimero
2013-12-21 2023-09-12
Death to Bullshit Brad Frost
2013-04-08 2023-09-12
A Brief History & Ethos of the Digital Garden Maggie Appleton
-- 2023-09-12
E/N (Everything/Nothing) JR (Sawv)
-- 2023-09-12