Decades ago in a different earlier version of the web, many used services such as Geocities or Angelfire to maintain their own corner of the internet. This was long before Facebook or even Myspace when niche forums were the preferred means of discussion. The wide variety of tools lead to rush of creativity both good and bad. Many of us can all remember the autoplay music that started when the page loaded. As the tools got better, the pages were more available to Google pushing traffic to our pages talking about everything from hobbies to our pets. Even with the limitations, it was amazing to see your stuff online.
The rise of MySpace
Years later, Myspace made it easy and free to connect by signing up for an account. No domain name needed and no code to learn. Millions signed up to the new platform to connect with friends. The things you saw were chosen by the algorithm that curated the best without searching. For many, this was a welcome upgrade to connect with friends, businesses, and interests. It also meant giving up control of data and data portability. Your pictures became Myspace’s pictures to advertise around. Your next update became the reason for a friend to visit and view ads. Later, Facebook would even charge businesses to connect with their audience via the platform after spending years encouraging businesses to use Facebook for communication.
The return of the website and blog
As businesses became aware of the friction reaching their audience, many chose to maintain websites of their own under their business name such as businessname.com. By directing people ot their page from social media, they gained a measure of control against the platforms. In 2026, the rise of federated social media such as Bluesky on ATProto or Mastodon and others via ActivityPub have changed the landscape again. Instead of your social audience being locked behind a platform’s walls, you are in control. You can choose who to interact with, where to publish, and which comments if any to feature directly on your website. By removing the high walls of Facebook, an increasing number of communities are finding federated social media to be a better fit.
This continues the trend we saw started when businesses looked for control of their data. Open source systems such as WordPress give small business owners full control without building from scratch. That advanced starting point with a rich plugin environment helps you keep pace with others who have full development teams at their disposal. Now, AI can help supercharge that with custom design modifications in minutes. We hope to see more as the IndieWeb and federated social networking spread.