From ceb81fe2548f798b407c64dc790332d79d820a16 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Yuki Joou Date: Sun, 3 Sep 2023 16:04:50 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] yukijoou: New blog post: "own your place on the web!" --- content/yukijoou/make-a-website/index.md | 212 +++++++++++++++++++++ content/yukijoou/make-a-website/rainbow.js | 28 +++ 2 files changed, 240 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/yukijoou/make-a-website/index.md create mode 100644 content/yukijoou/make-a-website/rainbow.js diff --git a/content/yukijoou/make-a-website/index.md b/content/yukijoou/make-a-website/index.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5eac4f9 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/yukijoou/make-a-website/index.md @@ -0,0 +1,212 @@ +--- +title: "own your place on the web!" +authors: ['yukijoou'] +date: 2023-09-03 +description: "...or why you shouldn't create content for social networks in 2023" +--- + +hi, welcome! you've just arrived on my piece of the internet. you're reading +this article from my own website.[^ownership] i have full control over every bit +of this page. i can change the background to a picture of my cat, or make the +layout completely different, or use bad words and insults if i want to. +if you've arrived here, it's likely not because of google's search results -- +unlike most companies these days, i'm not using any tricks to rank higher in +search results or buy ads, and so i'm probably not easily findable through that. +i also don't tend to talk about trendy topics, or bring any value to google, as +that's not my goal... + +see, i'm just making things on the internet because i enjoy it! because i think +some of my friends may find it interesting, because i want to try something out, +or just because i like writing or making software for the fun of it. i don't +think it's worth the time or effort to be popular, or to play the google +rankings game, it'd just make it harder for me to do the silly things i enjoy. + +and i'm not alone! the "indie web", or, as i like to call it, the "*people*'s +web", is a bunch of independent websites, just like mine, made by people, **for +people**, with the main goal of sharing something with the world, or just +putting ideas out there. we're not in it for the money or the fame: most of us +hide behind usernames and avoid sharing as much personal information as possible +because we just want to make fun or share interesting things! + +we want to share the cute cat we saw on the way home, the program we made that +helps us study, or even how we block ads on websites and watch pirated copies of +movies, because we think it'll help out other *people*, or because we think they +may enjoy it. some of those things may not be liked by advertisers, and that's +one of the reasons why we don't want to use big platforms like instagram or +others. we don't want them telling us what's "safe" or not. + +we don't like ads on websites, so we don't use them. we don't like +corporate/uniform designs, so we try to be creative. we don't care about having +billions of views and interractions, so most of us don't even track that. and +most importantly, we want **people** to enjoy our stuff. not algorithms, not ai +chat-bots, not search engines. we don't care about those. + +# the problem with the state of "the internet" + +if you ask your parents what the internet is, they will likely answer that it's +"basically facebook" (or something similar), and possibly "emails" if they use +that. which makes sense -- when you think of internet content nowadays, most +people think of massive social network that make content creation and sharing +super easy. +in a way, it's really wonderful that anyone can share their opinion and say what +they want! thanks to the algorithms they have, finding people's stuff you like +is easy, and everything is centralised on less than a dozen platforms. + +and that's the problem. all that content is pretty much owned and distributed by +a dozen massive platforms. if one of them goes down (and one day they all will), +it's millions, if not hundreads of millions of people's content that gets +deleted in an instant. this also means it's up to the platform to decide what's +allowed and not allowed: if an employee in the right department of that company +doesn't like you, they can shut off your account in minutes, and you have no +recourse. + +the content creation process may be "easy", at least in comparaison to not using +those massive services, but it does restrict you to the platform's rules, which +often encourage you to make things that make advertisers happy, and allow the +platform to make as much money from its users as it can. these things often +don't align with what people want! most people are growing tired of +recommendation algorithms, people and companies keep finding ways of getting +around it, and instead of your recommendations being full of things you care +about, it's mostly just popular stuff, or things specifically made to make the +algorithm happy. + +making the content creation process as easy as possible also means killing a +good bit of creativity. when making a twitter post, you can write some 280 +characters in the box and share those with the world. no more, no less. no +formatting, no *emphasis* or **bold text**. some websites may give you more +options, but none will allow you to write your own code in the middle of your +blog post to draw a rainbow: + +*Click and drag in the window below to draw a rainbow!* +
+ +your browser unfortunately doesn't support canvas, no funny rainbows for you :c + + + +
+ + +on popular social networks, if you want to do anything more creative than bare +text , you have to use an image or a video, which comes with its own set of +problems[^screenreaders]. youtube had fancy channel customisation +options[^smosh-2009] at some point, but it got removed in the name of uniformity +and ease of use. now, every channel looks the same except for a custom logo and +banner, and i think that's a bit sad :( +i've seen amazing personal websites with crazy designs, and on small social +networks like [SpaceHey](https://spacehey.com/), where people have the tools to +customise their profile page, you get amazingly unique things! + +and that's mostly why i think personnal websites are better: you can truly +express yourself, you're not at the mercy of some algorithms to know if your +content will be deleted, and you're not helping some company grow their market +share and increase their proffit margins[^corporate-hosting]. you're always in +control of your content, you can make backups and repost it wherever you want +super easily, and can, for example, at any point, [stop openai from using your +content in chatgpt](https://platform.openai.com/docs/plugins/bot). + +though, many people think the major platform's compromises are worth it for the +ease of use social networks have. to which i have to answer: + +# making a website isn't hard! + +of course, this is subjective, but making a website isn't a difficult skill to +learn, and will serve you greatly for anything related to the internet! there +are many tools available to make it even easier, and even more tutorials (i'm +also currently working on a guide to help you get started)! +it's not expensive either, and (depending on what you want to do, of course), +you likely can put something up on the internet for free (or really cheap) right +now (as long as you have a computer). + +and even if you can't put anything on the internet right now, you don't have to: +you can store all the files that make up your website on your computer, and make +your website accessible to anyone on your home internet connection for free +within minutes. it's a very good way to prototype things and just play around +with making internet content without any consequenses! + +while you may have to rely on some companies to make it work (like, an internet +service provider, a host if you don't want all the traffic from your website to +go through your home internet, and most likely a registrar to get a name for +your website), you have the option to switch to any other company providing the +same service at any point! you can always copy all your files to somewhere else +if you want to. + +all in all, the whole infrastructure i'm running for my friends and i costs me +about 15€/month, plus a few hours of maintance a month, for a blog, personal +websites for each of us, a social network, and an image sharing service -- it's +cheaper than a premium netflix subscription! + +------------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +so, if you have some time to spare, and want to start sharing content with the +world, i recommend making a website! even if it's just for reposting stuff +you're sharing elsewhere, it gives you a space that's truly yours, and that you +can keep as long as you're alive, and maybe more. it'll teach you general +computer and system administration skills, that'll always be usefull in life. +and most importantly, it'll let you express yourself however you like, share the +things you care about with friends, and make something *for people*. + +i'll note though that if you want to build a massive community, a website +probably isn't the way to go. but i'd say, you don't need a massive community! +people looking at your website are often much more engaged and interested in +what you're sharing than people scrolling though hundreads of posts, so you'll +likely get as many interractions, if not more, from actual humans! + +if you want to get started right now, i recommend you check out [mozilla's +"Getting started with the web" +guide](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Getting_started_with_the_web), +and if you're looking for tools to make your life easier, i made a [dead simple +site generator](https://yukijoou.kemonomimi.gay/site-inator.html) you might want +to check out. + +if you want to see some content made by indie web people, you can check those +out: + +* [rampancy.neocities.org](https://rampancy.neocities.org), including [this + beutiful digital shrine to the video game + SIGNALIS](https://rampancy.neocities.org/games/SIGNALIS) (cw: no reduced + motion support on both links) +* [possums.gay](https://possums.gay/), another yuki's website (cw: gifs with + slight motion on the main page, quite high contrast) +* [nano.lgbt](https://nano.lgbt/) (cw: gifs with slight motion, high contrast) +* [maia.crimew.gay](https://maia.crimew.gay/) (cw: gifs with slight motion) +* [sugary.kemonomimi.gay](https://sugary.kemonomimi.gay/) (cw: gifs with slight + motion) +* and of course, [my own website](https://yukijoou.kemonomimi.gay/) + +you should also check out [reclaim hosting](https://www.reclaimhosting.com/), a +company providing super cheap hosting (less than 4$/month) and domains for your +website. + +[^ownership]: well, not really "my own", it's my group of friends' website that i am + managing. + +[^screenreaders]: images are not readable by screenreaders used by blind people, and take + much more data than text to transmit. blind people make up a good part of + internet users, and metered connections are still definitely a thing in many + places. + +[^smosh-2009]: see [smosh's channel in 2009 on the internet + archive](https://web.archive.org/web/20090309121304/https://www.youtube.com/smosh), + i was not on youtube back then, so i don't have many examples, but i'm sure + some people managed to do some way more advanced things! + +[^corporate-hosting]: yes. i know, you will have to rely on some companies when + running a website, and they definitely make money from you. but i'll touch + on more how that works later, and i think it's still a much more honest and + transparent business model than most social media companies. diff --git a/content/yukijoou/make-a-website/rainbow.js b/content/yukijoou/make-a-website/rainbow.js new file mode 100644 index 0000000..52ff32a --- /dev/null +++ b/content/yukijoou/make-a-website/rainbow.js @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +const canvas = document.getElementById("rainbow"); +const context = canvas.getContext("2d"); + +const resizeCanvas = () => { + canvas.width = canvas.clientWidth; + canvas.height = canvas.clientHeight; +}; + +canvas.onmousemove = (event) => { + if (event.buttons < 1) return; + context.fillStyle = "red"; + context.fillRect(event.offsetX, event.offsetY + (0 * 5), 5, 5); + context.fillStyle = "orange"; + context.fillRect(event.offsetX, event.offsetY + (1 * 5), 5, 5); + context.fillStyle = "yellow"; + context.fillRect(event.offsetX, event.offsetY + (2 * 5), 5, 5); + context.fillStyle = "green"; + context.fillRect(event.offsetX, event.offsetY + (3 * 5), 5, 5); + context.fillStyle = "cyan"; + context.fillRect(event.offsetX, event.offsetY + (4 * 5), 5, 5); + context.fillStyle = "blue"; + context.fillRect(event.offsetX, event.offsetY + (5 * 5), 5, 5); + context.fillStyle = "violet"; + context.fillRect(event.offsetX, event.offsetY + (6 * 5), 5, 5); +}; + +window.onresize = () => resizeCanvas(); +document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", resizeCanvas);