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Category: Indie Web
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The Indie Web Isn’t Dead – You’re Just Not Looking in the Right Places
The web didn’t die. The algorithm just buried it.
There are thousands — maybe millions — of personal sites still thriving. Artists, writers, coders, curators. People putting weird and beautiful things online without trying to go viral.
But if you only browse what the big players surface, you’ll miss all of it.
Because search is broken.Social is even worse.And discovery? It’s been quietly replaced by recommendation engines that filter everything through what they think you already want.
You’re not bored because the web is boring.You’re bored because it’s all starting to look the same.
There’s more out there. You just need a different map.
The good stuff — the sites built with care, not KPI pressure — won’t show up in a trending feed. They’re hidden in plain sight. Sometimes on the fringes. Sometimes on Neocities. Sometimes behind a quirky domain name someone’s been renewing since 2003.
But it’s all still out there.
You just need a way to find it.
Webrings were the original discovery engines.
Before search took over, webrings were how you explored the web. They linked together sites with a shared vibe or theme – not to rank them or monetize them, but to connect them. Like mixtapes for websites.
Webrings don’t care if you’re perfectly optimized.They don’t care how big your audience is. They don’t care if you’re a pro designer or a curious beginner.
They care that your site is alive. That it has a voice. That it belongs in a constellation of other voices worth hearing.
That’s why we built Webring Studio.
To bring back a little of that magic. Not with nostalgia goggles, but with fresh tools that make it easy to join or build your own ring — no tech background required.
It’s for people who want the human web back.Who believe discovery should feel like wandering, not scrolling. And who want their site to be found by people who are curious, not just passing through.
The indie web isn’t dead. It’s just not playing by the same rules.
If you’re ready to step off the feed and into something more human, slower, and more meaningful – you’ll find a whole world waiting.
Just not where you’re used to looking.
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Why Webrings Are Quietly Making a Huge Comeback
It’s happening. Quietly. Organically. One personal site at a time.
The webring – that humble little link circle from the early internet is back. But this time, it’s not a gimmick. It’s a rebellion.
And it might just be the future.
What Died (and What Didn’t)
Let’s be real. A lot of what made the early web magical got bulldozed. Blogrolls faded. Forums were abandoned. Personal sites turned into feeds, and feeds turned into fenced-in timelines.
But the urge to connect outside of the algorithm? That never died.
Webrings survived in corners. Now they’re stepping back into the light.
The Rise of Digital Gardens and Personal Sites
More people are building their own little corners of the internet again. Not for clicks. Not for brand deals. Just to share, to think, to document.
These sites don’t need to go viral. They need to be found by the right people.
And that’s exactly what webrings enable – slow, meaningful discovery between like-minded creators.
The Need for Non-Algorithmic Discovery
Search is broken. Social media is noisy. The platforms shift daily. People are tired of fighting to be seen by robots.
Webrings don’t rank. They don’t optimize. They don’t track. They just link – in a circle, on purpose, with care.
The Vibes Are Back: Webring Revival
The modern webring looks different than it did in 1999, but the core idea is the same:
- Small
- Human-curated
- Free to join
- No pressure
- All vibes, no grind
It’s discovery the way it used to feel. And creators are responding.
Who’s Building Them (and Why)
You won’t see these webrings trending. But they’re quietly multiplying.
Coders making rings for niche dev blogs. Artists making rings for aesthetic sites. Writers linking up their essays. Archivists sharing knowledge vaults. Designers banding together to uplift each other’s work.
It’s less about audience and more about orbit.
How to Join the Movement
If you’ve got a site with heart, you’re welcome here. You don’t need to be big. You don’t need to be polished. You just need to show up and say, “I’m here too.”
Just make sure it’s a real site – not a Facebook page, not a profile link tree, not a sales splash screen. Even a one-pager is welcome, as long as it feels like you.
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When Did the Web Get Boring?
There was a time when the internet felt like an adventure. You didn’t scroll – you wandered. You clicked glowing gifs, tripped over someone’s deeply personal homepage, and found yourself in an entirely new world built out of passion, not platforms.
Now?
It’s clean. Optimized. Predictable.
Every homepage is a timeline. Every discovery filtered through an algorithm. Every creator expected to perform for an audience they can barely see.
- We stopped linking.
- We stopped wandering.
- We stopped finding each other.
But here’s the thing: that version of the web — the weird one, the human one — it’s not gone. It’s just buried.
Webring Studio is our way of digging it up.
We’re bringing back the old-school webring – not as a throwback, but as a revival. A rebellion. A quietly powerful way to connect creators who still care about personal sites, handmade corners of the web, and being discovered for who they are – not how well they hustle.
It’s simple. No algos. No followers. No pressure.
Just you, your site, a tiny badge, and a growing circle of kindred spirits.
If you’ve got a blog, a personal project, a digital garden, or a tiny shop you’ve poured yourself into – there’s a place for you here.
Let’s make the web feel alive again.