My Website is born

Why start a blog in 2025? When you enter this question into one of the big search engines, both the “AI” summary and the articles and videos that pop up will assure you that yes, even in 2025 it is still possible to make money with blogging. They will then proceed to give advice on how to “establish your brand”, make money from advertising, and “build a business” with your blog.

That’s good to know. However, if that was my motivation I’d most likely be blogging about something popular on Substack instead of setting up an obscure, self-made, minimalist blog under my name. that is unlikely to be found and where I post book reviews and write about random topics that interest me personally.

So why did I start this blog? The answer is simple: because I feel like it. Because I really enjoy writing and because I have the (maybe mistaken) idea that this could be fun. And perhaps somebody else will find value or enjoyment in the things I have to say. Sounds like a potential win-win situation to me.

The astute reader might remark that this does not explain the part about the obscure handcrafted blog with the domain name that is unlikely to be discovered by chance. If I want to share my thoughts with others who might be interested in them, wouldn’t it be far easier and more effective to just post a lot of my “hot takes” on social media platforms like Twitter/X? And to set up a blog on Substack (or at least on Neocities) for the longer content, where other users congregate and where some algorithm could help with discoverability?

I think the trend towards a great centralization on the internet is very lamentable. There used to be lots of personal websites, blogs and small forums on the internet, covering all kinds of topics. Discovering them was fun and they felt unique and individual. Nowadays they are either gone or undiscoverable because they no longer show up in the results of the major search engines.

What will show up instead: the same handful of big sites and platforms we all know, creating the impression that you have to join their flock if you want to partake in the modern internet. And expecting you to conform to their rules, code of conduct, culture and aesthetics, to submit to their algorithms and curated content while they, in passing, harvest, collect and sell as much of your personal data as possible. Why do we put up with this? Why do we readily hand over our independence and data to the big companies behind those sites? Because everybody else does so too. Because it is convenient.

It would be absurd and completely delusional to think that by creating this independent personal website I can make any difference to that general trend and the course of (digital) society. But I will certainly not relinquish my independence, digital or otherwise, and personal ownership of my data just like that, out of convenience and comfort. Besides, maybe I like fighting windmills. Some of us refuse to desert a lost position, out of principle. So here we are, this is why I set up this website: for fun, out of principle and with the nice added benefit of expanding my technical skills.

Having said all of that, while unconditional surrender is out of the question, a compromise is necessary. Participation in the modern internet indeed always means making such compromises, unless you are in a position where you can afford to boycott 90% of the internet. Unfortunately we cannot completely avoid “big tech” monitoring us and collecting our data.

But I strongly believe that everybody would be most well advised to choose the occasions and amount of data shared on big sites and services with great care and prudence. If we make informed decision on which services to use, to which extent and for what ends, while actively taking the steps we can for preserving our independence and privacy, a lot would already be gained.

In my case, eventually I will most likely also share some of my posts on Substack or a similar aggregator site. Simply because I don’t feel like writing into the void. Otherwise I might as well just keep an old fashioned pen and paper diary for myself. That would unironically be the best solution for maximum independence and data security.

But for the time being, the plan is to simply enjoy writing and the process of setting up, tweaking and managing my personal blog and homepage. And I have to say: it feels quite rewarding and fun so far!