The Web

The short version: I love the web. I think personal websites are one of the best things about being online and I think more people should have one. Personal websites aren't dead either, despite what some people will tell you, they're just not fashionable, and that's fine.

One of the things I keep coming back to is how we connect across the web. The art of hyperlinking is about making links that actually mean something, not just dropping URLs into the void. Encouraging small website discoverability picks up the same thread. Great small websites exist, they're just hard to find. Web directories, link blogs, and search engines that actually care about the small web help with that.

A lot of the tools that built those connections are making a comeback. Blogrolls, 88x31 buttons, and webrings were how the early web stayed connected, and they're worth using again. The Web Revival is the broader movement around this. People who've found their way back to building personal sites for the love of it. If you want to actively rebuild the web you want to see, the answer is mostly: link to people, add a blogroll, join a webring. Start small.

If you're thinking about what to actually build, personal fan sites are a great starting point. Pick something you care about and write about it. A beautiful website with nothing to say is the worst outcome.

For the more technical side, IndieWeb 101 covers the building blocks: h-cards, webmentions, microformats, and how they fit together. How I IndieWeb is a more personal walkthrough of the specific choices I've made on this site.

If you want to go exploring from here, my links page has web directories, link blogs, and search engines that surface the good stuff.