If you are a human on the internet, chances are you've thought this at one point recently: Wow, social media really sucks.
Like, okay. Social media connected us en masse in ways humanity has never seen throughout history. Fine. We'll give it that. However, the way humans interact fundamentally online has been co-opted by tech billionaires and social media megacorps. They give us convienience at the expense of our individuality and creativity; they treat our personal data as currency in the pursuit of profit.
What was once a bright world of myspace profiles, geocities sites, blinkies, MS paint drawings, and blogs has now been reduced to a username, profile picture, and feed.
It's corrupt, it's depressing, but worst of all, it's boring.
Fear not! It doesn't have to be this way! You can write your own website that isn't beholden to a man with a complex. Or anyone at all, except you. You probably think that making your own website is hard. It's not, and I know you can do it. It'll just take a little investiment, and a little more effort than pressing a "Post" button.
It's also fun, immensely rewarding, and a new art form you can do for free if you have a computer. Neat!
"Most social media is about self gratification; how many likes you get or how many views you have. The community on neocities and the wider web revival movement is about creative feedback. Here, it doesn't matter if you have five or five million views, your work is valid, interesting and usually has something to offer even the most veteran netizen."
- Melonking, Melon's Manifesto 1.1
Seriously, these are like, really great reads. If this was a philosophy class with a reading list, these articles would be on it.