Where Have All the Websites Gone?

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Personal websites and small independent blogs are seen as increasingly drowned out by ad-driven SEO spam, corporate platforms, and algorithmic feeds, making the open web feel narrower and less discoverable than in the 1990s–2000s. Commenters trace this to centralization (social media, app stores, TikTok-style video), changing user behavior (people preferring passive scrolling and video over text), and search engines that favor commercial content, but note that many niche sites still exist and can be found via alternative tools like Marginalia, Kagi’s “Small Web,” wiby.me, or curated link blogs. Some hold out hope for a revival of decentralized, hobbyist-driven spaces—through personal sites, RSS, the fediverse, and protocols like Gemini—while others are resigned to a future dominated by walled gardens and AI-shaped content.

Why “websites” feel gone

  • Many argue the sites didn’t vanish; the users did. Time-poor adults default to frictionless feeds instead of “surfing”.
  • Others counter that people clearly do have time (hours on social apps); the real shift is toward low-effort scrolling over active exploration.
  • For some, the web feels “shrunk” and monotonous, like an ecosystem where variety exists but is harder to stumble into.

Centralization, platforms, and incentives

  • Social media, app stores, and a few big platforms absorbed traffic that once went to independent sites, forums, and blogs.
  • Hosted platforms are easier than running your own site, so creators follow the audience.
  • Corporate incentives (ad revenue, data control, “engagement”) drive walled gardens and algorithmic feeds, echoing old AOL-style enclosures.

Search, discovery, and SEO spam

  • Many say interesting personal sites still exist but are buried under SEO-optimized, affiliate-heavy garbage across major search engines.
  • There is enthusiasm for alternative search and directories (small‑web indices, curated blog lists, “random page” features) as modern StumbleUpon‑style tools.
  • Popularity-based ranking is blamed for extreme concentration of traffic on a handful of domains.

Ads, paywalls, and user experience

  • Recipe/guides sites and news are criticized for intrusive ads, trackers, popups, and bloated layouts, especially on mobile.
  • Some users rely on blockers, reader mode, or printing to escape the clutter; others dislike needing “crap to block crap”.
  • Paywalls are seen as understandable but further reduce discoverability and casual reading.

Formats and user behavior (video vs text, apps vs web)

  • Several commenters think younger users default to short video and app feeds rather than reading long-form web pages.
  • Others note people always read less than ideal; what changed is where attention goes (TikTok, Instagram, etc.).
  • Mobile and native apps are seen as more convenient than typing URLs or managing bookmarks.

Anonymity, communities, and moderation

  • There’s nostalgia for pseudonymous, playful forums and personal sites; many feel today’s real‑name, monetization‑driven culture is timid and self‑branded.
  • Others note that open anonymous spaces often devolve into spam, abuse, and extremist content, forcing heavy moderation or closure.
  • Private, invite‑only groups and niche forums are described as remaining pockets of the “old web” social feel.

Nostalgia, open web, and futures

  • Some argue the web is “corporate and ad-driven now” but still holds huge numbers of independent sites; discovery and culture changed more than absolute quantity.
  • Proposed remedies include: better decentralized protocols (ActivityPub, Gemini), small curated directories, RSS, link blogs, and more personal sites.
  • Pessimists foresee further consolidation and AI‑generated noise; optimists hope niche tools and “small web” nostalgia will keep an alternative ecosystem alive.