From ab6411bd6eca9dfd077a6740bf990fc6c2d43936 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: marleyrae Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2023 17:42:56 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] :sparkles: feat: Manifesto --- .gitignore | 2 +- src/about.liquid | 2 +- src/manifesto.liquid | 132 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 3 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) create mode 100644 src/manifesto.liquid diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore index 6e9b022..2f93a20 100644 --- a/.gitignore +++ b/.gitignore @@ -1,3 +1,3 @@ node_modules dist/** -.DS_Store +**/.DS_Store diff --git a/src/about.liquid b/src/about.liquid index 0b5974b..72700e9 100644 --- a/src/about.liquid +++ b/src/about.liquid @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ layout: layout.liquid

Absolutely everything on this site was coded by me and always will be, with only three exceptions - hit counter, - because NeoCities doesn't allow PHP and doing a JS only counter is a little more complicated (but will be done + because Neocities doesn't allow PHP and doing a JS only counter is a little more complicated (but will be done eventually); the cursor trail script, because I don't have the brain for that sort of thing lol; and the cbox.

diff --git a/src/manifesto.liquid b/src/manifesto.liquid new file mode 100644 index 0000000..468bf7c --- /dev/null +++ b/src/manifesto.liquid @@ -0,0 +1,132 @@ +--- +layout: layout.liquid +--- +

The Small Web Manifesto

+ +

+ I grew up with the internet. +

+ +

+ I was born in 1997. The internet was flourishing by then, but it was still the wild west of technology. It was a + place of wonder, of creativity, a place you visited rather than lived in. Growing up in the 2000s meant growing up + with the internet. I was slightly too young and sheltered to have my own Geocities page, but it was sites like that, + that I grew up with. +

+ +

+ In the 3rd grade, at my school's Scholastic Book Fair, I came across a copy of Petz 5. I begged and begged my + parents to buy it, and they did! This simple game, centered around raising virtual dogz and catz, is an intregal + part of who I am today. +

+ +

+ I don't remember how I discovered Petz fansites, but once I did, I was hooked. I spent hours downloading custom + breeds, clothes, and toys, and learning what the various game files did. I convinced my mom to make me an email + address so I could adopt petz from the people who ran these sites. I learned the sad truth that just because a site + is online, doesn't mean that it's active, and the cute puppies I requested were never arriving to my inbox. +

+ +

+ Computer game files were much more hackable back then, and I credit Petz for showing me that computers weren't + magic, they were created by a hundred little parts working together, and that by changing one part you could + customize your experience. Computers could be moulded to fit whatever I desired them to do. +

+ +

+ However, it was websites that really caught my fancy. +

+ +

+ I have always been an artist. Most people don't think of web design as art anymore, because most people only + interact with the internet through sanitized social media and clickbait article sites that all look more or less the + same. But websites used to be personal, they used to be unique, they used to be about self-expression. People made + websites to share something they created with the world. +

+ +

+ The world wide web is only 33 years old, and yet most people have already forgotten what it was invented for. At its + heart, the internet is about connection and expression. Anybody from anywhere in the world can talk to + someone anywhere else in the world, provided they have an internet connection and a device to access it through. You + can share whatever you want, however you want. +

+ +

+ This is something social media has tried to take away from us. Remember the days when you could customize your + MySpace profile? Or put as many blinkies on your Geocities as your heart desired? Twitter doesn't even let you set a + profile color anymore. Instagram will delete your photo if you happen to show a little too much skin. Neither will + let you show your feed in chronological order or only show posts from people you follow. +

+ +

+ These corporations have made you the product. Products don't get to chose how they're displayed or who uses + them. So is it any wonder that social media doesn't let you change the background or font color on your profile? Let + alone how your data gets used or even what's collected at all! +

+ +

+ So how do we fight back? +

+ +

+ Delete your social media. I'm serious. These sites may pretend their money comes from ads, but without their actual + product, the users, ad companies won't pay to show ads on these sites anymore. Ad companies buy ads on social media + because social media has put all of their users into highly specific ad profiles. Ad companies pay to target exactly + who is likely to use their product, or has already done so, and nobody else. Without users to fill ad profiles with, + ad companies won't buy ads. +

+ +

+ Besides, do you really care what your best friend's aunt's sister eats for breakfast every day of the week? +

+ +

+ I say this with the caveat that this isn't always possible, especially if you make money from social media. As much + as I hate what Musk has done with Twitter, it's the only social media left I'm allowed to be a sex worker on, and in + 2023 social media is unfortunately part of the job. So I can't delete it. +

+ +

+ Make your own site. Neocities is a wonderful place + to do so - it combines personal sites with a social media-esque following system, all while being open-source and + ad-free. Fill the web with personal shrines to self-expression again. +

+ +

+ The web is yours. It always has been. Let's remind corporations that this wild west belongs to the people, + not a bottom line. +

+ +

+ Stand up for self-expression. Stand up for freedom. +

+ +

+ Take back the web. +

+ +
+ +