August 19, 2023 Neocities: A 5 Month Retrospective
HEYYY HIIII!!!! HEY (POSSIBLY NONEXISTANT) BLOG READERS. HOW ARE WE DOING??? I'VE GOT ONE FREE DAY LEFT BEFORE SCHOOL BEGINS AND I'M PANICKING.
THATS A BIT OF AN EXAGGERATION. I'M JUST... UGH. I'M GONNA HAVE A LOT LESS TIME TO WORK ON THE SITE BECAUSE I'M *NOT* THE AMONG THE ALTERS THAT PRIMARILY HANDLE THE SCHOOLWORK. THAT'D BE MY IDIOT PALS OHMA AND RALSEI. BUT I DO END UP DOING FRIDAYS WITH MY BOYFRIEND MOST OF THE TIME, SO I'M JUST A LITTLE MAD... WEHHHH.
ANYWAYS!!! DID YOU KNOW THAT IT'S BEEN FIVE FUCKING MONTHS SINCE THE FULL, POLISHED RELEASE OF CONFETTIGUTS. THAT IS ACTUALLY FUCKING WILD. I STARTED TOYING WITH THE CONCEPT OF A NEOCITIES SITE OVER A YEAR AGO NOW AND 2022 HOONIS WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHERE SHE IS NOW. I'VE MET SO MANY INCREDIBLY COOL LIFEFORMS AND SEEN SO MANY COOL SITES AND LEARNED SO MANY NEW THINGS. I'VE DISCOVERED GENRES OF INTERNET USERS THAT I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW EXISTED. I DISCOVERED THINGS ABOUT MYSELF THAT I WOULD'VE THOUGHT WERE WEIRD AS HELL YEARS PRIOR (NEW PAGE. WINK WONK.)
BUT, WHAT'S BEEN MOST IMPORTANT TO ME THUS FAR IS BUILDING SOMETHING FROM THE GROUND UP THAT'S A SPACE *FOR ME*. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I STRUGGLE SO DEEPLY WITH WHEN IT COMES TO SOCIAL MEDIA IS COMMUNITIES THAT I PREVIOUSLY CONSIDERED SAFE BEING INVADED BY A DISTURBING AMOUNT OF BAD OR NASTY INDIVIDUALS. AND I KNOW THAT WON'T HAPPEN HERE BECAUSE *I* CONTROL WHAT GOES ON IN HERE. IT'S A SPACE SPECIFICALLY CURATED FOR ME. AND, DESPITE THAT, I ABSOLUTELY MEAN IT WHEN I SAY IT'S FUCKING HEARTWARMING THAT OTHERS CONSIDER THIS A SPACE FOR THEMSELVES, TOO. TO SEE OTHER LIFEFORMS ONLINE TELLING ME IN MY CBOX OR IN MY GUESTBOOK OR IN MY TUMBLR ASKS THAT MY SITE INSPIRED THEM OR GAVE THEM THE PUSH THEY NEEDED TO BEGIN WEBMASTERING MAKES ME TEAR UP A LITTLE WHEN I THINK ABOUT IT!!! BECAUSE I KNOW SEVERAL INDIVIDUALS WHO INSPIRED ME, TOO. AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO. KEEP INSPIRING.
AS MUCH AS I'D LIKE TO CLOSE THIS THERE, I HAVE SOME LESS 'FUN' DETAILS TO SHARE ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE THUS FAR. AS I DID WITH MY CARRD ENTRY, HOWEVER, I WILL MAKE SURE THINGS END POSITIVE BECAUSE NOBODY LIKES A SOUR TASTE IN THEIR MOUTH.
ONE THING I LIKE ABOUT NEOCITIES: THE FREEDOM!!! ONE THING I DISLIKE ABOUT NEOCITIES: THE FREEDOM. THIS IS NOT REALLY REFERRING TO LIKE ... WEIRD WEIRD SITES ... BECAUSE YOU CAN MAKE THE ARGUMENT THAT YOU CURATE YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE AND SHIT YADA YADA (THOUGH I STILL WISH THEY DIDN'T EXIST). THIS IS MORE ABOUT HOW A LOT OF NEOCITIES USERS SEEM TO BE *HEAVILY* AGAINST ACCESSIBLITY. LIKE, FOR NO GOOD REASON. I UNDERSTAND NOT HAVING THE CODING KNOWLEDGE TO OPTIMIZE A SITE YET (HELL, I'M STILL WORKING ON IT) BUT ACTIVELY REFUSING TO LEARN AND WRITING SHIT LIKE "FUCK MOBILE USERS" AND USING ADJACENT LANGUAGE/GRAPHICS ON A SITE JUST KINDA... HM. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S OUT OF IGNORANCE. I IMAGINE IT PROBABLY IS, BUT... I DONT KNOW. RUDE FOLKS WILL BE RUDE. ALSO WEIRD OTHER TANGENT I'M THROWING IN HERE AT THE END BUT STOP USING PX IF YOU CAN. PLEASE. I PROMISE. I'VE SEEN SO MANY SITES THAT JUST COMPLETELY FALL APART IF YOU ZOOM OUT EVEN A LITTLE BIT AND I... I REALLY CAN'T HELP BUT ROLL MY EYES.
BEYOND JUST REFUSAL OF OPTIMIZATION, WHAT REALLY MAKES ME ANGRY IS SITES WITH INTENSE FLASHING GRAPHICS OR THE SORT WITHOUT ANY KIND OF WARNING. I CAN PARTIALLY UNDERSTAND, SAY, BRIGHT COLORS WITHOUT A WARNING BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THAT ON A PREVIEW. EVEN STILL THAT'S NOT IDEAL, BUT, SINCE SITE PREVIEWS ARE STATIC, A BEING THAT MIGHT BE PHOTOSENSITIVE HAS NO WAY OF KNOWING THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE BOMBARDED WITH A TON OF BRIGHT STROBE-Y FLASHING COLORS AND LIGHTS UPON CLICKING IN. IT JUST SEEMS REALLY DANGEROUS.
ALL THAT NEGATIVE SHIT ASIDE; GOD, I FUCKING LOVE IT HERE. I'M GONNA BE AROUND FOR A WHILE. WEEKLY UPDATES WILL NOT STOP UNLESS I, LIKE, LOSE ACCESS TO FRONT OR LITERALLY DIE. CONFETTIGUTS IS LITERALLY MY PRIDE AND JOY. THE SITE THEME MIGHT CHANGE IN THE FUTURE... THE SITE *NAME* MIGHT CHANGE IN THE FUTURE... HELL, I MIGHT CHANGE IN THE FUTURE. I PROBABLY WILL! BUT ONE THINGS FOR SURE, I'M GONNA KEEP THIS THING BREATHING FOR AS LONG AS I PHEASIBLY CAN. THAT'S A PROMISE TO *YOU*, THE READER, AND MYSELF.
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW !
HOONIS ~