the web revival is not just about nostalgia

So after making my Neocities site I decided to explore other people’s sites (which Neocities makes very easy to do with its site directory), and I discovered the web revival movement: a whole world of old web enthusiasts who were just as tired as I was of social media toxicity. It felt so awesome to freely express myself in my own space and to see others’ creative spaces as well! As I spent more time online exploring personal sites and less time on social media, I felt my mental health improve.

There have been studies done on social media’s impact on mental health, which I won’t get into too much here. I’ll just say that one of the reasons the web revival is going so strong right now is because people know that too much social media is bad for their mental health. The constant need for validation, the comparing yourself to others’ carefully curated selves, the everyday exposure to bad news and negativity, and the corporations trying all they can to shove targeted ads in your face are all very draining. People want to get away from all that, but still want to enjoy being online.

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The web revival, despite being very much inspired by the old web, is about moving towards a better future. It is driven a lot by nostalgia, but it’s also a response to what the internet is today. There is a whole community around the web revival; people on Neocities linking to each other’s sites or chatting on forums like the Yesterweb forum and the MelonLand forum, and it’s through this community that people are having conversations about how we can make the internet a better place. In my time on the MelonLand forum, I have seen and participated in discussions about accessibility and modern internet features we like and want to include on our sites.