We need to rewild the internet
Calls to “rewild” the internet center on reviving personal websites, forums, and small communities—“digital gardens” that feel creative, weird, and user-driven rather than optimized for engagement and ads. Commenters note that such spaces still exist on platforms like Neocities, Discord, and Telegram, but are hard to discover amid SEO-gamed search results and dominant social networks that act as walled gardens. Many see self‑hosting and federated tools as part of the answer, while others argue that usability, legal risk, and user preference for turnkey services make large centralized platforms hard to displace.
Nostalgia for the “wild” web
- Many miss the early web’s “digital gardens”: personal homepages, under‑construction GIFs, webrings, odd deep dives, and small forums with distinct cultures.
- Some argue Geocities‑era content was mostly “crap,” but others say the fun was in participation and wandering directories rather than efficient search.
- There’s recognition that newer recreations (Neocities, MySpace clones, etc.) are inevitably tinged with nostalgia rather than feeling like the vanguard.
Personal sites, small communities, and validation
- Several participants are building or considering personal sites for photos, blogs, /now pages, and project logs, often with plain HTML and no JS.
- People report satisfaction even with almost no audience; “staking out a corner” and self‑directed validation beats algorithmic dopamine hits.
- Others say the time and mental load are too high; free time is precious and they don’t want another obligation.
Discovery and search degradation
- A recurring theme: the “wild” web still exists but is hard to find.
- Major search engines are seen as worse: query rewriting, SEO spam, affiliate lists, walled‑garden results, and poor handling of precise queries.
- Some say search still works fine for them; others pay for alternative search or use niche engines and random-explore tools.
Walled gardens and platform dynamics
- Discord, Telegram, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, etc. host much of today’s weirdness, but are criticized as closed, ephemeral, and VC‑driven.
- Some defend these spaces as real, thriving communities, often teen‑run or niche, though discovery and longevity are weaker than on static sites.
- There’s concern that LLM/chat and platform feeds will further bury small sites.
Self‑hosting and federation
- Self‑hosting is praised as key to “rewilding,” via personal blogs, forums, mail lists, and federated protocols.
- Counterpoint: self‑hosting is a “second job” (security, updates, legal exposure), unrealistic for most.
- Suggestions include: simple shared hosting, micro‑hosting services, preconfigured home servers, and “gardeners” who maintain infra for others.
- Fragmentation in federated systems (Matrix, Mastodon, Lemmy) and instance‑blocking makes onboarding confusing.
User behavior and structural limits
- Several argue consolidation is driven as much by user preferences—simplicity, stability, one account, one app—as by corporate strategy.
- Others blame monopolistic design, regulation, copyright, smartphones, and ad‑funded models for suppressing alternatives.
- Many are pessimistic that 90s/00s internet culture can truly return, though pockets of rewilding are seen as worthwhile hobbies.