The purpose of this website
You know it, I know it, the internet is bad now.
This isn’t a new or hot take, but I’ve been tired of settling for what it’s become. I mean, haven’t you? I can’t stand Facebook, Instagram, Google, LinkedIn and I never really liked Twitter to begin with before He-Who-Insists-On-His-Own-Importance-24/7 shoved his grimy little fingers in it.
TikTok, which I have a love/hate relationship with, helped me wake up to my own queerness, led me to my ADHD diagnosis, and even made me go viral, which ultimately led me to meeting my fiance. But it also destroyed my productivity, convinced me to buy useless products, and deteriorated my mental health.
The only exception for me right now is YouTube, and even she is pissing me off these days. I found it much less terrible once I started paying for Premium, but the fact that I need to pay just so I don’t have to be harassed with ads feels like setting fire to money. And because of the horrible YouTube algorithm, I have to jump from one account to the other just to get DIFFERENT content, because you can’t separate your interests. One of my accounts is strictly for news and politics, and I check it when I’m in a good headspace. Sometimes, I actually do have the capacity to digest what’s going on in the world! But that account’s feed is often hard to stomach. Not only that, but not all of the content I’m shown is even factual. I have been served fake news from fake news accounts that cobble together the whackiest of stories with clever editing and changing one letter to look like something more reputable. It’s extremely unsettling to know that these accounts are out there and seemingly no one is stopping them.
For the most part, I spend time on my happy channel, where I can listen to deep-dives on some stupid show I like, or learn tutorials on different art practices, or obsess over internet gossip. But even that account gets polluted with depressing content that I didn’t ask for. I have to regularly clean it up and say “not interested” when it tries to slip in something fishy or disagreeable.
When I was a kid, I thought that the internet was MaGiCaL. When I first learned to code at age 9 on Neopets, it opened up my imagination to what was possible on the web. I didn’t have to be just a passive user, I could be a world builder. That’s why I eventually went into graphic design. I saw the potential for what beauty and awe I could bring to online spaces. And I did. I made dozens of websites over the years. Portfolios, online businesses, blogs. Tried dozens of different web builders. I’ve always been a content creator. I prefer creating over consuming.
But getting people to care about all my hard work and actually check it out was increasingly hard, because mainstream social media would bury me, bury all of us. Why do they do this? Because the platforms don’t want us to leave them. They hate having to link out to another parts of the internet because they are focussed on infinite growth, and that means keeping users on their platforms for as long as possible, even if that means making their platforms less user friendly and more toxic. So you, you basic regular non-paying citizen, are just a source of data capture and a guinea pig to practice psychological experiments on. Whatever meager personal post you put effort into will reach others very sparingly, unless of course, you pay them. I only ever paid for a sponsored ad 3 or 4 times. Not only was it incredibly embarrassing to have to do so, but the results? I SAW how much it got me... Maybe 1000 views and 4 new clicks?
What was the fucking point of that?! It was a HUGE waste of money. And it’s this very reason that these platforms got too big to for their own good. They took our money, they bloated themselves with ugly annoying ads, and now, everyone is miserable while people like Suckerberg and other tech billionaires build underground bunkers or buy private islands. It’s disgusting. So fuck ‘em.
Truthfully, I don't know if anyone was ever going to care about my personal website, or support my business ventures. I did all of that because I felt like it was my only chance at being happy in my career. I wasn't happy with my work life and I was seeing all of these young women just like me getting to live out a dream online of "making it." But that's not actually something I wanted. I had moments of virality. I grew a YouTube channel to 5500 subscribers, but I found it exhausting and unfulfilling. I quit before I got too big. I just didn't want what social media was offering... The chance to become self-sustaining, through content creation, selling art, getting sponsors, all of that capitalistic hoopla? It scared me. It felt like a trap that I would be stuck in, feeding it more and more until there was nothing left of me to give away.
I just want a digital home that reflects me, and my individuality. Something more meaningful, human, and honest. I found exactly that in a growing community of cool people on the indie web. Neocities. A revival of the Geocities era, where you could have a free website with the freedom to play with customizable code. Only now, code can do so much more than it used to. You can make your website mobile friendly now. It's a lot more effort than sites like Squarespace, Wordpress, WIX, and other site builders, but it wasn't anything I wasn't already familiar with from my adolescent coding days.
If you feel similarly to me, I think it’s time you get the hell off social media too. Carve your own space on the internet. It’s NEVER BEEN EASIER to make your own website. Neocities is LITERALLY FREE. If coding is what’s scaring you from trying, here are some free resources to help you out. Or if you want some help from yours truly, message me!
You waste all of this time scrolling Instagram and TikTok, why not reclaim your time and make something worthwhile, personal and if you really want, private. That’s all possible with your own website. You can password protect pages so only important people have access to them. When people ask you what your social media is, you can tell them about your website instead. Make business cards if you have to! Whenever you want to post something new, put it on your site instead of on Zuckie’s hellscape.
Common excuses-*ahem* reasons people stay
WHAT IF ALL OF MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY ARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CONNECT WITH THEM IF I DELETE MY ACCOUNTS? WHAT IF I CAN’T CONTACT THEM IN ANY OTHER WAY?
I would argue that these platforms are actually the weakest forms of communication and connection. You cannot tell me that double taps from your Aunt is the only way you can stay connected to her. Come on. Don't believe that. People who really want to stay in contact with you will find a way to, especially if you give them ample warning. What did you do before Facebook and Instagram? Call? Text? Email? Try that instead. If they won’t contact you in any other way, ask them why. Maybe they're feeling exactly the same way you are. They want to get off and find other ways to communicate too, but the few people left still using these platforms are keeping them there. Research alternatives that work for both of you.
I RUN A BUSINESS AND I NEED TO ADVERTISE ONLINE WHERE MOST PEOPLE ARE. OTHERWISE NO ONE WILL FIND OUT ABOUT MY PRODUCT / SERVICE / EVENTS.
That’s a completely valid concern. It feels like if you’re not on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll disappear. But here’s the truth: relying on them is actually hurting your long-term growth. Facebook and Instagram are not built to help you; they’re built to profit off of you. You don’t own your audience, Facebook does. Your posts only reach a small percentage of your followers, unless you pay for ads, which, like I said, ISN’T WORTH YOUR MONEY! You are competing with an algorithm designed to keep people scrolling. You will be amidst a sea of garbage.
The advice I'm seeing nowadays in marketing is not the same as it used to be. Real retention and community is built through email, a strong website, and real-life in-person community-based marketing. This way, you can reach 100% of your audience without fighting an algorithm. People are exhausted with these platforms anyway. They’re tired of the noise, the ads, the distractions, and they would love any reason to leave. They don't leave because people like you keep sticking to social media to promote yourself. Tell people where you are going before you go. Give them a chance to decide that they want to follow you there too. You will make a deeper, more memorable connection with the people you want to reach, and I guarantee you, they will understand.
I need it for news and staying informed.
Babe, no. Social media is optimized for engagement, not to spread the truth. Outrage, misinformation, and doomscrolling keep you hooked. Algorithms prioritize sensationalized content over accuracy, making it harder to distinguish between credible journalism and misleading clickbait.
Instead, curate a list of reliable news sources. Subscribe to email newsletters from trusted publications, use an RSS reader to follow journalists and bloggers directly, and engage with independent media platforms. Podcasts, long-form articles, and books also provide a more thoughtful, in-depth understanding of current events without the distortion of social media engagement tactics.
And if you build your own website, you can give yourself quick links to find all of the sources you want to keep up with. You can make your own literal web to the content that you should have been seeing all along, if only social media wanted to show you the actual accounts you followed in the first place!
I'LL MISS OUT ON EVENTS AND COMMUNITY UPDATES.
Many groups, from local communities to niche interests, have alternative ways to stay connected. Mail lists, Discord servers, private forums, or even old-school message boards. The idea that social media is the only way to stay updated is a myth created by the platforms themselves.
Facebook and Instagram, for example, limit organic reach, meaning that even if you follow a page, you might not see its updates unless you constantly engage with it. In contrast, email newsletters and dedicated websites ensure you receive important updates without relying on an algorithm that decides what you do or don’t see.
Additionally, social media creates a passive relationship with communities. You might see updates, but you don’t necessarily interact in meaningful ways. How often do you have to screenshot something so that you don't forget? If I lose a post, I may NEVER find it again.
It’s my main source of entertainment and downtime.
Social media is engineered to be addictive, often leaving you feeling drained instead of relaxed. And short-form content is one of the biggest culprits.
Endless scrolling through bite-sized videos rewires your brain to crave constant novelty and instant gratification. It reduces your attention span, makes it harder to enjoy long-form content like books or films, and trains you to feel restless when you're not consuming something right now. Instead of being a real break, it keeps your mind overstimulated, making it harder to focus on meaningful activities.
Try replacing mindless scrolling with books, niche forums, creative projects, or even watching videos on platforms that don’t dictate your next click. Real entertainment leaves you feeling inspired, not exhausted.
Last updated March 11, 2025.