Building a Better Web in 2024

December 29, 2023

Last night I saw an excellent article by Robb Knight titled “The Web is Fantastic”. It popped up again this morning on the front page of Hacker News. When I started using Mastodon in late 2022, Robb was one of my first follows. His work is deeply inspiring and I envy how prolific he is. This post is similarly inspirational, and it makes me want to improve this site.

Over the last year, I’ve tried to get into the groove of posting to a place that I own and control. I’ve always had a spot of my own on the web, but I’ve only really used it in bursts. In the 2010s, I mostly added content to other people’s websites — even as I grew slowly more unhappy with them. Though I’ve only posted here sporadically this year, it’s been much more rewarding than posting to Twitter ever was. I want to do even more of that in 2024.

When I was in my teens and early twenties, I built a lot of weird, fun, stupid stuff on the web. I had what felt like infinite time back then and the web was new and exciting. Like many my age, I’m a lot busier now. My hope is that I can steal some free time from video games and social media to build more things for myself again. If you have the means, I’d encourage you to do the same. In his post, Robb mentioned that he’d help others build on the web. I’d like to extend the same offer. Reach out to me on Mastodon if you’d like thoughts or advice!

I think the indie web will always be a bit niche. Services like Facebook and Instagram make it so much easier to share your thoughts and memories with the world. I’m hoping that just a few more people will choose to build up their own corner of the web in 2024.