Congratulations! If you’re reading this magazine, you’ve already made it here. This corner of the internet is known as the Small Web. It’s also known as the Web Revival, the Indie Web, and a whole heap of other names. Chances are you’ve got a website already, even if it’s just a very basic one for now. If so, great; if not, don’t worry! It doesn’t require any fancy skills to set up an account on Neocities, Nekoweb, or another hosting provider of your choice, and there are countless guides online to help you if you get stuck at any point during the process.
Done that? Fantastic! This article’s about what comes next.
Let’s start by figuring what exactly it is that you want to get out of your experience on this part of the Web. And don’t worry, this isn’t going to shoehorn you in to one particular approach. What you want might change. For example, back when I first joined the Small Web, I think I wanted both to become independent from social media and to curate a collection of my favourite links. Now that I’ve officially quit most social media platforms and amassed a treasure trove of links on my website, I’m focusing on other aspects of the Small Web, like the serendipitous joy of making new friends on forums or by leaving comments in people’s guestbooks. Given that most of my own experience has been centred around trying to reach out to people and make new friends, that’s what the bulk of my advice here will focus on as well. I hope you come to find it as rewarding as I do!
Forums
Joining a forum is one of the best ways of meeting new people in the Small Web. Where else could you find such a rich milieu of people in such a tight-knit online space? There are all sorts of forums out there for all sorts of netizens, whether you’re looking for somewhere that’s dedicated to one of your favourite TV shows, hobbies, or bands (a good friend of mine swears by EvThreads, a forum based on the band Evanescence), or whether you’d prefer somewhere more generalist like the MelonLand Forum, where thousands of users from all walks of life flock to discuss their websites, share their original writing and art, and play forum games.
In truth, most forums — even the specialised ones — will have areas where you can chat more generally about miscellaneous topics, so this isn’t necessarily the be-all-and-end-all. You’re free to try a forum out for as long as you like and move on if you don’t feel particularly at home there.
One more little-discussed forum tip for you before we move on: try using an RSS feed reader to stay up-to-date with what’s going on in the forums you frequent! If you’re like me, you might end up with accounts on a real smörgåsbord of forums, which can make it a chore to visit each one manually. Having each new post appear in your RSS feed makes it much easier to keep tabs on each forum, meaning you’re less likely to miss your chance to chime in on a topic that interests you!
Be bold and reach out
One of the biggest strengths of the Small Web is the fact it doesn’t rely on an algorithm to give you access to its vast bounty of hidden gems. That said, if you’re used to certain features from social media, like an automatically generated list of people you might know or get along with, you might be disheartened to find such tools absent from this more decentralised part of the internet.
But don’t fret! Even if forums aren’t your cup of tea, there are plenty of ways to meet people online that share your interests. Most likely, you’ve come across websites already made by users that strike you as someone you might like to get to know. Well, I’ve got some good news for you: in many cases, you can do just that!
As I mentioned previously, guestbooks are a tool for website owners to allow visitors to leave comments or just to say hi as they pass through on their journey through the Web. Pro tip: you can actually reply to the messages that people leave in your guestbook! It sounds simple, but I didn’t realise you could do this until months after people had started using it. D’oh!
From there, emails are a fantastic way of keeping in touch. Discord and similar services work well too, of course, but pretty much everyone has an email address already, and I find that the kind of long-form communication that’s possible in an email really meshes well with the slower pace of the rest of the Small Web.
Let your freak flag fly
Of course, if you want people to come and leave messages in your guestbook or to send you a friendly email, you’ll have to get your website off the ground first. Suppose someone happens to share exactly the same hobbies and interests as you, but you haven’t mentioned any of your passions on your site. How would they know your interests align with theirs and that they’re missing out on a potentially wonderful friendship?
If you’re as heartbroken by that thought as I am, you’ll be glad to know the possibilities for self-expression on your website are endless. Perhaps the easiest way of getting started is to blog about your interests, whether that consists of sharing video game tips or arguing about your favourite Star Trek captain. (Or maybe something less nerdy than that. Write what you know, as they say!)
But if you’re not enthralled by the idea of all the writing that blogging would entail, then there are other options. Notably, webshrines (also simply known as “shrines”) are a fun way of paying homage to the things in your life that you care about. I have a Doctor Who shrine on my own site, for example, and I plan to share not only reviews and recommendations, but also cool images, GIFs, blinkies, and the like.
Or perhaps a Now page is more up your street? A Now page is designed to showcase all the stuff that you’re up to right now: what you’re watching, listening to, reading, playing, and so on. I like to pop a few reviews on my Now page to let people know whether I liked something or not—that way, people don’t judge you for reading utter rubbish when you didn’t know any better!
I also recommend joining fanlistings! I don’t think these are as commonly used as any of the above ideas, but it’s not only a good way of sharing what you’re into; it’s also a decent way of generating a small amount of traffic to your site. Basically, when you find the website for a fanlisting you want to join, you’ll fill in a form that gives you the opportunity to put in your URL, and doing so lets the webmaster include a link to your site when your name is added to the list of fans.
In a similar vein, webrings—which seem far more common than fanlistings in my experience—are another great way of demonstrating the sort of niche your site fits into. Unlike fanlistings, these aren’t usually based on pieces of media you’re into (although there are, of course, exceptions). Think of them more as a friendly circle of netizens linked by a particular theme, all of whom recommend each other’s websites. They’re a fun way to stumble across new sites, too—and for people to stumble across yours in turn.
Don’t just take my word for it!
I mean it! With such an open-ended question, there are no real right and wrong answers. What works for me won’t necessarily tick all the right boxes for you. In fact, I bet you’ll find something in this article you disagree with, and if that’s the case, I invite you to write your own version in response! Perhaps you might even make it into a blog post?
I’m not saying this because I’m a glutton for ridicule or anything as silly as that. I’m saying it because the ethos of the Small Web is similar to the ethos of punk, in that creating things for yourself—no matter how much of a “noob” you think you might be—is often considered better than just sitting back and consuming whatever everyone else has made.
So really, that’s it. That’s the crux of this whole spiel. If you take nothing else away from this article, take this away: the web is yours to create, not just to surf. Express yourself through whatever means you find most enjoyable, whether that’s blogging, art, or anything else that tickles your fancy. Only by showing the Web who you are can you hope to meet people who like you for who you are. Go forth and be you!
When Sophie Coombes was three, her parents found her on the family computer one morning trying to check out from the Toys 'R' Us website with a basket full of shopping. For some reason, they let her keep using the computer, and it's been everyone else's problem ever since.
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