INTERNET NEIGHBORHOODS

Internet Neighborhoods

Started revisiting old websites from the early 2000s through the Wayback Machine. It's striking how different the internet felt back then. Not better necessarily, but different in ways that matter.

The web used to feel more like a neighborhood. You'd have your regular spots—forums, personal sites, blogs. You knew the people. Not by their real names always, but by their usernames, their writing style, their quirks. Communities were smaller but deeper.

Now it feels more like a shopping mall. Everything is optimized for maximum foot traffic. The stores (platforms) are all starting to look the same. You're always being shown what's trending, what's popular, what "people like you" are consuming. There's no room for the weird corner shops that only three people visit but those three people love.

The Architecture Changed

Social media didn't just change how we use the internet—it changed its fundamental architecture. We went from a federated network of independent sites to a handful of platforms that host everything. It's like if every store in the world had to rent space in one of five malls.

The old web was messy and decentralized. Finding things required curiosity and effort. Webrings, blogrolls, random surfing. You'd stumble onto someone's personal site about their collection of vintage typewriters or their photos of abandoned buildings. These weren't content strategies—they were just people sharing what they cared about.

What We Lost

We lost the friction that made discovery meaningful. We lost the possibility of true obscurity—of making something just for the dozen people who might appreciate it. We lost the ability to control our own spaces without worrying about algorithms or engagement metrics.

Most of all, we lost the sense that the internet was a place we were building together, rather than a service we were consuming.

What We Can Build

But here's the thing: that web still exists. It never went away. We can still make personal sites. We can still link to each other. We can still ignore the algorithms and build our neighborhoods.

It won't reach millions of people. It probably won't reach thousands. But maybe that's the point. Not everything needs to scale. Some things are better small.

This site is my attempt at homesteading on the internet. Claiming a small plot, building something by hand, inviting people over. No analytics, no optimization, no growth hacking. Just a space that feels like mine.

Maybe you should build one too.

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