3 ms·

Part of what gets me about relics from the Geocities era, apart from the eye-catching and charmingly amateurish maximalist aesthetic, is that personal webpages

Part of what gets me about relics from the Geocities era, apart from the eye-catching and charmingly amateurish maximalist aesthetic, is that personal webpages were a space in a way a Twitter or Facebook profile just can't be. A profile page where you can't change the background, font, font size, font color, sidebar content, overall layout, etc, is to a webpage as a prison cell is to a home. Still, webpages can't compete with the shareability and "virality" of social media by default; it's what made them popular. The simplicity of use is also a prerequisite; there's millions of people who can't write a line of HTML or CSS, and 99% of them never will. I sometimes daydream about some service that will somehow combine the best of both worlds. Total customization with viral sharability, and without requiring technical skill. Maybe something like that's already been made; maybe we can learn something from why it failed.

Y_Y 4y ago
I think you're describing MySpace. Anyway isn't it good that it's difficult or expensive to make a pretty website? Otherwise the likes of me can post things that look good, just like government agencies and people who give a shit do. I'll just tell you to reject pandemic protocols and vote against established politicians and try absurd and dangerous pseudomedical cures. Isn't it better that me and my ilk have to design our own websites and hence signal our shittiness by having shitty aesthetics?
- Aeolun 4y ago
  Money isn’t really a problem if you have billionaires to fight your fight for you.
pipeline_peak 4y ago
I miss it too, but the web is much larger and more complex now, despite how it looks from a user pov. With all those customizations and widgets also opens doors to injections and other vulnerabilities that companies simply don't want to worry about. They're too busy competing with other social media platforms that also don't have those vulnerabilities.
reaperducer 4y ago
a space in a way a Twitter or Facebook profile just can't be I can't speak for Twitter, but Facebook in its early days was incredibly personalizable. Not to the extent of GeoCities or MySpace, but you could do all kinds of things with your profile page. "Pieces of Flair" was my favorite: http://www.krembo99.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/20070720piecesofflair3.jpg http://www.krembo99.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/200707... Then one day, Facebook went corporate, and all of the customization stuff disappeared. I imagine a lot of small businesses ceased to exist when that happened, because people used to sell different Facebook customizations. It seems to me that if it was easier for ordinary people to add custom CSS to their browsers, a cottage industry could be made for skinning people's social media feeds.
- wink 4y ago
  I don't remember this, so if they indeed binned that pre-2009/10, then FB winning the majority had not even started outside the US, I think. (at least in Germany FB was still kinda growing and not completely widespread when I signed up, we had other stuff).
timeon 4y ago
With profiles and even managing CMS portals [0] you are just filling the forms. [0] maybe with exception of something like Gutenberg in Wordpress.

Y_Y 4y ago

I think you're describing MySpace. Anyway isn't it good that it's difficult or expensive to make a pretty website? Otherwise the likes of me can post things that look good, just like government agencies and people who give a shit do. I'll just tell you to reject pandemic protocols and vote against established politicians and try absurd and dangerous pseudomedical cures. Isn't it better that me and my ilk have to design our own websites and hence signal our shittiness by having shitty aesthetics?

Aeolun 4y ago
Money isn’t really a problem if you have billionaires to fight your fight for you.

pipeline_peak 4y ago

I miss it too, but the web is much larger and more complex now, despite how it looks from a user pov. With all those customizations and widgets also opens doors to injections and other vulnerabilities that companies simply don't want to worry about. They're too busy competing with other social media platforms that also don't have those vulnerabilities.

reaperducer 4y ago

a space in a way a Twitter or Facebook profile just can't be I can't speak for Twitter, but Facebook in its early days was incredibly personalizable. Not to the extent of GeoCities or MySpace, but you could do all kinds of things with your profile page. "Pieces of Flair" was my favorite: http://www.krembo99.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/20070720piecesofflair3.jpg http://www.krembo99.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/200707... Then one day, Facebook went corporate, and all of the customization stuff disappeared. I imagine a lot of small businesses ceased to exist when that happened, because people used to sell different Facebook customizations. It seems to me that if it was easier for ordinary people to add custom CSS to their browsers, a cottage industry could be made for skinning people's social media feeds.

wink 4y ago
I don't remember this, so if they indeed binned that pre-2009/10, then FB winning the majority had not even started outside the US, I think. (at least in Germany FB was still kinda growing and not completely widespread when I signed up, we had other stuff).

timeon 4y ago

With profiles and even managing CMS portals [0] you are just filling the forms. [0] maybe with exception of something like Gutenberg in Wordpress.