Reading Schwulst’s essay made me rethink what a website can be. Instead of a polished final product, she describes it as a living space, a garden, a house, something that grows and shifts over time. It made me realize a website doesn’t have to be perfect; it can be a place to explore ideas and let them evolve naturally. I especially liked the idea of a website as a “river of knowledge,” where each page or element can flow and change. It inspired me to think about my own projects as spaces for experimentation, rather than finished products.
When reading A Handmade Web, I really liked how Carpenter talked about the web as a kind of handmade craft; something that was personal and imperfect. It is not polished or looks like any corporate sites we see today. This makes me think about how the websites that I end up visiting are all so similar, like they are made by machines and not people. I also liked how she connected the web to the body, and the idea of using/making websites takes physical and mental work to make. It made me think about how hard it can be to scroll through large amounts of code, as it is manual labor. This text made me want to explore more old-school handmade web designs and to try some of my own.
When reading Parimal Satyal’s essay “Rediscovering the Small Web”, it made me think about how much the internet had changed. This text brought up a lot of different senses of nostalgia and the early web era. The site feels more personal, unpolished, messy, creative, and fun. It really steps away from the Polish platforms that we see every day. This really helps me feel inspired in my work, but it's a bit sad to think about how much the internet has changed and become so commercialized. It's inspiring to think about there are still people out there who are building small, hand-crafted sites just for the enjoyment of others. The commercial website can feel so disconnected, so it's nice to return to a web space that has a personality over performance.
When exploring the “ A Friend Is Writing” website, personally, the style was really interesting to interact with and to explore. I felt as if the writers were actually talking to me since the text would pop up in a direction as if someone was speaking. The design of the page was simplistic but very honest and eye-catching, with all the different effects it had and the coloration they used. This site really shows the personality you can add to a website that isn't flashy but visually appealing. I feel more encouraged to try some code like this, where I can focus on my writing and enhance it by the effects I add to the text, and not just the site.
When I read The Internet’s Back-to-the-Land Movement by Becca Abbe, and it really made me think. It’s surprising how today’s digital trends mirror the 1970s back-to-the-land movement. I’d never considered the internet needing to be “sustainable,” but it makes sense, it's not limitless. It uses energy and has real world effects.What stood out most was the comparison between 1970s communes and today’s small, intentional online communities. There’s something refreshing about moving away from big platforms not by going totally offline, but by choosing slower, more meaningful spaces that reflect our values. What started as a creative, open internet is now full of ads and data tracking. Small steps ike a personal website or a tiny forum can make a difference. We might not build a perfect digital world, but creating better spaces still matters.
Reading The Good Room got me thinking about how the spaces we create online affect how we connect. Chimero talks about making “good rooms,” spaces that feel human and welcoming, instead of “machine rooms” that are all about speed and efficiency. It made me realize how most online spaces feel rushed, and how nice it would be if more of them felt thoughtful and calm.