alternate title: a zoomer feels nostalgic about times he didn't live in
I decided to rewrite my website (once again).
Recently, I came across an interesting community (or a set of communities): the 1 MB club, 512 KB club, 250 KB club, and no-JS club.
As 512kb.club put it: "The internet has become a bloated mess. Huge JavaScript libraries, countless client-side queries and overly complex frontend frameworks are par for the course these days. When popular website like The New York Times are multiple MB in size (nearly 50% of which is JavaScript!), you know there’s a problem. Why does any site need to be that huge? It’s crazy."
When I rewrote my own website recently, I realized how much can be gained by keeping things simple. Sometimes, pure HTML and CSS are all you really need to create something clean and efficient. A bit of optimization—like cutting out unnecessary scripts and making sure your images are properly optimized—can make a huge difference. It’s amazing how powerful a simple, well-structured webpage can be without all the extra clutter.
This shift back to simplicity also made me think about the days when everyone had their own personal website—places where we could share our interests and ideas. Today, most of that is replaced by Facebook, Instagram, and other social platforms. But I still believe there’s something valuable about having your own space online, where you can post what matters to you, without the distractions and bloat of social media.