Have your space on the internet || Old Internet

Introduction - Personal websites before the boom of social networks. || 18/november -2024

I'm from a time when it was common for each person to have their own individual blog, as their social account to publish topics that interested them. It was a different culture, where internet use was to access one website at a time, before going to another. There were no third parties interfering in the flow of posts/images. There, it was a space that allowed you to expose all kinds of subjects. You were used to seeing each website as a complete hub for exposing the person's interests. It was site by site, there was no randomly organized content mixed into a feed.

There was no need for everything to be exposed or consumed quickly. It was usual (if you liked it) from the personal website, going back and forth a few times to see parts of the blog, I haven't had time to see it yet.

There was an exploit within the site when opening each page that took you to other pages presented different facets of the author. As if on a website, there were small places that could be visited. Not such a direct search. There are pages with texts I didn't know yet, but as you get to know them you come back to read more and more.

Visual customization

Let's not forget that visual customization reflected the person's tastes. The website changed a lot between them, since different people followed different trends and aesthetics.

When we saw one after the other, it became clearer that personal websites had their own visual identity. When we browsed the internet, we were used to seeing this every day. Creating a personal website was a creative exercise, similar to organizing a new house. Where adding furniture to match the functionality, appearance, and personal taste was a way for us to do it our way. Our choices defined the result.

"The written content gained more beauty when a website looked like it."

Individual quality

Because websites/blogs were their main space for display.

There was a dedication to distinguishing it from other people because there was this openness to making, in addition to the written content of the website, the visual part also reached the status of a visual work, pleasing visitors who would access the website daily. Today, there is a longing for this popularity of having more individualized spaces. Where everyone has the possibility of having a visual place with a more personal aspect, escaping from this standardization that cannot be changed.

Use as a means of Presentation/Recording

PRESENTATION PT1

as a whole. Having your own website allows you to create a better place to present your ideas, having a visual that matches your taste. Being able to think about the best way to organize the content is part of it, as well as being creative in imagining what it could be while writing codes and designing the layout.

It's nice to see when a website expresses what the author wants to show us as a priority. One of the problems with predefined templates is that you are messing with other people's code, and you may not fully understand it if you don't have much experience in programming. This makes it difficult when you want to make big changes that will greatly alter the site.

Creating your own makes it easier to see the progress of the development, setting it up at a level so you can make changes and add new features.

RECORDING PT2
I also like the aspect of recording. A website is a good tool for having a public place to document things. Being a safe haven for those who want to read, learn, know, and entertain themselves with what they create.

No matter how much time passes, it all depends on you to keep the website active. Social networks come and go, but the individual website remains.

The personal website returns the rhythm to the author again, short texts, long texts. It is no longer a question of others, I like that it is something more organic, especially nowadays, those who access your website are because they are really looking to discover more.

Since the website is exclusive to you, it is much easier to scroll.

Among the posts made, the chronological order is only yours, there are no interruptions or fragmentations. This is far from the current social networks we are used to; we are used to infinite scrolling, which encourages users to forget about some accounts if they take too long to appear on the home page, due to lack of frequency and prioritizing new content that the algorithm suggests. Also, because different texts, images, and videos appear in a very short space of time, presenting different information, they can greatly pollute your choice with excess. What is being presented, what will you see in sequence, sometimes speeding up too much when that is not the objective.