Alright, here I am. Seems like this is the small web. A part of the internet very akin to 90s and early 2000's internet where people create individual websites and post whatever they like, whenever they like.
I'll admit I'm very much a normie, my go-to mainstream apps are Reddit, Instagram, and YouTube, and I'm very new to this whole "small web" concept. I first came across this concept from a suggested video under this one. The suggested video in question was this video. which then led me to this video., which finally took me here, to Neocities, and make my own corner in the small web.
I am still learning about how to navigate the small web, what it is and how it works, and how to discover other sites. To give you a bit more context, I didn't use the internet while in it's infancy. I didn't have an internet capable device until 2012, which was my dad's 2007 work laptop he no longer needed. This means that I missed completely the "golden" age of the internet, and just started using it as it is now. In the "modern" age. Full of algorithms, suggestions, and the same 5 to 7 sites literally everyone uses. Those very same suggestions though, are what brought me here. LOL
Lately, it's very trendy to reminisce about early 2000s and 90s tech, and basically reject all modern things.
And that rejection for modernity, combined with fuzzy memories of my older siblings using the huge desktop computer they had in their room, has gotten me really curious about this bygone era. So this very first ramble is a POV from someone getting into the "old" new internet, perhaps someone comes across this and it serves them as a guide to the small web, removed from the mainstream web. I'll continue updating this page, along the entire site, with other stuff I have in mind.
Might sound like a broken record here, but the best way to discover the small web is literally just explore. Since I last updated this page, I spent a few hours googling about the Small web and just clicked on anything that seemed remotely related to the topic, and came across various (appropiately small) sites, explaining what it was. There are two, however, that stood out to me the most:
Ben's blog was very interesting to me, as it discussed in detail, not only the small web, but also small software. I highly encourage giving it a read. After reading it, I feel I understand the "small" tech concept in general, and quite like it! David's blog doesn't stay behind either. He discussed an internet protocol called Gemini, which is supposed to be an evolution of Gopher, an internet protocol used in the 90s. Gemini has it's own clients, and it's own set of pages, which makes it basically, another internet. Internet 2: Electric boogaloo. lmao.
So in a nutshell, best way to explore the small web? Literally, explore. You don't have to go very far, right here in neocities, you can explore God knows how many sites, that constitute the small web, and I'm sure that by using that as a starting point, you'll come across even more stuff that peaks your interest. Just explore! I'll also be adding a section on the main page of my site with sites I find interesting, check it out! I'll try to update it as soon as I find new stuff.
But that's enough rambling for today. I'll be back, soon-ish