Re: Growing with my website
James asked: "How have you changed since you started your website?"
Ever since I built my personal realmlets on Nekoweb and Bear Blog, I became more intentional and unconstrained with my online activities than before. Because of the personal web, I managed to pick up my long-forgotten interests such as programming, pixel art, and RSS feeds.1 I discovered many people who are willing to take care of their customized spaces and share their perspectives on various topics. I even started to become immersed in the world of indie web, which encourages unfettered access and creative expression.
On the flipside, I am less active on social media. I guess that algorithms, commercialization, and doomscrolling were not worth it anymore.2 Not to mention the worsening user experiences in popular realms like Instagram and Twitter (now known as X). So, I opted for public discovery feeds like powRSS and Bubbles.town to explore some personal websites.
Now that I have my aforementioned websites, I can express my true self with more freedom and less pressure. I shied away from account sign-ups at certain realms so that I can make a dedicated page within my domain instead.3
Although I like the free features in my preferred indie web realms, I feel like financially supporting these spaces. Since I am earning some income from remote work, I can spend my money for a monthly subscription in Nekoweb (via Stripe)4 and even a one-time purchase here in Bear Blog. In return, I get additional features and storage space for maintaining my personal domains.
In short, I became more active on my personal websites than on social media. I have more creative control and less stress with the former.
By the way, how did even I get my first exposure to RSS feeds? For some reason, I remembered subscribing to BBC News on Firefox during the early 2010s.↩
Speaking of commercialization, I made nonchalant farewells to Facebook and Pinterest. I cannot even fathom looking at the machine-assisted, ad-supported slopwork there. Thankfully, there are openly accessible alternatives like the Fediverse and Are.na.↩
For example, LorelOCs instead of Toyhouse for my original character repository.↩
I was supposed to use Patreon for that one, but I was not billed for this month. So, I switched to Stripe since I did not need to pay any processing fees there. Thankfully, my transaction went through with just my country's virtual debit card.↩