My website, James’ Coffee Blog, is now over five years old. I seldom thought about how old my website was until recently, when I looked and realised that years had passed since the single black-and-white HTML page that comprised my site. “Hyperlinks are my friend,” I said, in a playful tone whose message foreshadowed my deepening appreciation for the web and what the web could be. Five years on, I find myself as invigorated about the web as I was at the beginning. I started what would become James’ Coffee Blog interested in blogging, seeing a personal website as a way to share words on the web. Those words would help me nurture my passion for writing. My website could, I learned, be a place for me to grow and experiment as a writer. Having a website encouraged me to ask the question what could I write today? Whether or not I published what I wrote, I was writing. I was making something. I was proud. My passion for the web is fuelled not only by my own experiences writing, but by seeing what others make. Seeing others’ websites, I have asked myself questions like How did they make that?, spurring my interest in web design. Web design is a topic I would later find the motivation to study in greater depth. I have been delighted by stories that people have shared, eliciting reactions in me from I see myself in this to That was fascinating! Blog posts on personal websites have made me curious, they have made me feel seen, they have satisfied my interest in learning – they have opened up new worlds, from the technical to the poetic, from the introspective to the collaborative. When I was thinking what would be a good fit for The Good Internet Magazine – a publication whose very existence makes me excited about the future of the web – a question came to mind: “what have I learned over the years that a new web weaver would find interesting?” Here is my answer to that question.
You Should Make a Website - Ewan’s Blog
I grew up on an internet that mostly asked me to make accounts. It took me until seventeen to realise I could make a place instead.
A Brief History & Ethos of the Digital Garden
A newly revived philosophy for publishing personal knowledge on the web
toward a new aesthetic
Lately I’ve been thinking about what being online looks like. The actual look of it. The aesthetic. As I continue to think and write and talk about escaping...
The IndieWeb Movement: Owning Your Data and Being the Change You Want to See in the Web · Jamie Tanna | Software Engineer
A look at what the IndieWeb is, why you should care, and how to get started with it.
How the Web Was Lost – James Gleick
This Is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Webby Tim Berners-Lee with Stephen WittFarrar, Straus and Giroux, 389 pp., $30
An Ode to Links
Writing about the big beautiful mess that is making things for the world wide web.
Gradients of intimacy and creating shelter: An interview with Erin Kissane
How might we use nature as an inspiration for creating online communities?
Making my blog feel like other people are here - keith.is
I wired my homepage up with playhtml so dragging a sticker, waving the hand, or starting a song all happen for everyone who's on the page at the same time. Notes on what I built and why I keep chasing this "we're all here together" feeling.
Beyond blogging platforms
A blog is a blog is a blog. At least that’s what I used to think. In reality, it isn’t quite that simple. Some people just blog and don’t care about the...
gregpak.link: Yes We Blog! Webring
A webring for real people who actually blog. Yes, a functioning webring in 2025!
