My Personal Website Journey
2024-11-04
I started working on notneelpatel.github.io over 3 years ago, and in that time, I have learned a lot. I was in my first year at university, with only some basic knowledge in Python and Java, and decided to jump into learning about web development. My first day of learning HTML and CSS got me to this point:
That was the entire website. A box with some text on it. As the months went by, I actually learned how to use HTML and CSS, making many other web pages along the way. Here are all the iterations of my website design thus far:
2021-2022:
2022-2023:
2023-2024:
2024-*:
It took literal years to get to this point, where I have a website that's just a handful of HTML/CSS files + some JS files whenever necessary (sorry 2021 me!). There were definitely some missteps that I made, like making my own blog engine, but I'm still happy that I created it, and it's still working for me after 2 years.
I realize that I don't really do things the "normal way," like using frameworks and whatnot. I've been asked many times why I don't use React or [insert trending JS framework here]. For me, it's similar to why some programmers prefer C, some filmmakers prefer practical sets/stunts over CGI, or why some woodworkers prefer hand tools over machinery. In all these examples, the latter option might be better for larger-scale applications or if we had strict deadlines. However, a personal website is fairly small-scale and is constantly evolving. Why shouldn't I take my time and do things my own way on my personal website? On top of that, I don't find a lot of joy in using frameworks. I'm one of like three people in this world who actually likes writing HTML and CSS.
I think another big thing that influenced me to only use HTML and CSS are websites from the 90s and 2000s. I'm not old enough to remember if I visited many GeoCities websites, but I certainly visited websites cut from the same cloth. That Spider-Man gif on my website is actually the first meme that I can remember, which I believe I saw on some random website in the late 2000s.
I feel like even though I knew nothing about anything as a kid, I visited way more websites back then than I do today. Unfortunately, social media removed the need for personal websites as it lowered the barrier for sharing media online to the point that even my grandparents can do it.
In 2022, I learned about the "personal web" and was even part of the now-defunct Yesterweb webring. I got a lot of cool ideas and was inspired by really awesome websites that had a similar style to mine. A lot of the websites I found through webrings were made by individuals, and they primarily used HTML and CSS. It was refreshing seeing these kinds of websites, and it almost felt like browsing the web as I did as a kid. There was one major problem that made it difficult to love.
There were so many "under construction" websites and even the websites that did have content had maybe 3 blog posts at most. Unfortunately, it feels like so many personal websites I visit have already been abandoned, and I completely blame social media for this. We live in a real-time world. Events don't last longer than a day it seems. Everything moves so fast that you literally miss things when you blink. The world of websites and personal blogs, on the other hand, is extremely slow. For example, in the last year, I have published 2 blog posts. Compare that to the literal billions of hours of content that has been published on [insert social media] within the last day, which you can access instantly by opening an app. There is no algorithm for the personal web. It unfortunately requires brain power and as a result, it makes it difficult to enjoy this compared to a frictionless experience on social media. Now that pandora's box is open, why would anyone switch back to this way of doing things?
Actually, there is one reason why someone would, which is because of a specific trend. The 2000s are now looked at with rose-tinted glasses, and fashion/cores/aesthetics have been taking a lot of inspiration from this era. The Y2K aesthetic has been in full swing these past couple years, and explains the number of young people making their own websites. Unfortunately, a lot of them lose interest very quickly since like I mentioned, it takes a lot of effort. What's left are remnants of cool ideas, but they never came into fruition. I guess "ghost websites" are nothing new, and it absolutely can happen on social media too. The algorithm helps a lot in making you forget about people who stop posting though, which isn't the case for websites.
Regardless of all the negativity, I still think it's important that people make their own websites or at the very least, create things. I find that websites are the best way to show off your works in an easy and accessible way, while being able to display what you want, however you want. I can only imagine how cool it would be if some visual artists took some time in designing their own websites. Even if you don't do art, it's still a good idea to make your own website. I look back at my blog posts to remember some of the things I was interested in or to see how my perspective has changed over the years. It's cool reading something I wrote a few years ago and seeing how much I've changed. Blogs are a great way to document your personal growth and it helps with your writing abilities, which is a criminally underrated skill for anyone to have.
One thing that exists now is the Personal Web Map which I am now archiving as the original creator has unfortunately deleted their presence online. They also had an accompanying (now deleted) YouTube video around this called "Basic Guide To The Personal Web", which is archived somewhere on the internet. The web map definitely helps in finding some of these communities and learning more about the personal web. I don't necessarily like everything on this map, but there are so many links to look at, so I think it is important to archive it. I highly encourage you to get lost in the webrings and hopefully you will be inspired to make your own website.
Making stuff because you want to make things is a really powerful thing. I don't know how many people will end up reading this post. It could be 1 person, it could 1000. I really don't care to be honest. I'm tired of the numbers game. At the end of the day, I think it's healthy to create things. It keeps the mind active. We should do more things for ourselves rather than for the satisfaction of others. Be proud of the things you create, and share them if only if you'd like. And if you choose to share your creations, why not make a website along with it? Who knows? It may open doors in the future.