Shekinah's Digital Junk Drawer

You should join the indie web

More and more people are saying ‘no’ to the time sucking algorithms, invasive advertising, persistent censorship,  and performativeness of social media, with some creating personal websites in its place.

Enter: Neocities.

It’s a big component of the indie-web because it lets you create your own website for free and encourages creativity.

I really encourage websurfing through the site (desktop is the best way). This is a GREAT starting point.

Literally, click everything on there and make sure you scroll. Even better, the Webmaster links websites she finds cool, which is not an uncommon thing to do.

It’s not without its problems—people migrate to sites like Nekoweb because of the dealbreakers— but the ethos of reclaiming of the internet cannot be erased.

I fell in love with all the cool sites there and the concept and created an account, but coding was neverrrrr going to be my ministry, so I used a template to my blog.

I would recommend the site if that’s something that interests you, but be warned that blogging is WAY more tedious when it involves coding, which makes it even more admirable that people not only make the code for the blog section but they have unique formats for it as well—AH, I feel like you can’t tell how geeked it makes me but know that I’m flapping my arms!1!!1

Vampiric World was posted there initially actually, but I messed up the code somehow and couldn’t figure out what I did wrong.

Explaining how I tried fixing it is so complicated but just know I couldn’t and just decided to abandon it and take the easy way out.

So no, I’m not a part of the indie web, but maybe one day I’ll bite the bullet and make my own site and join that lovely community.

In the meantime, I’d love it I could have my own blog “neighbors” to link to. Maybe that’ll be a new section of my site.

My reasons for blogging

I have had so many Instagram accounts over the years because I can’t stop myself from imploding.

I actually went Instagram less for like 4 months Freshmen year of college and I can’t remember how I coped or how I felt about it.

Actually, it felt good for the most part, natural I think,

I felt that instead of being flooded with what people from high school were doing, I could bump into them in stores or whatever.

Anyway, here’s a blog post I started writing April 10th, 2024 but never finished:

On the 23rd of October, 2023, I answered, “Bad,” when my bff asked about how I was doing and told her it was because of what’s going on in Palestine.

She shared similar sentiments: “It’s sad,” but thinking I was evading vulnerability, she pushed me to tell her, “what’s actually going on with [ME]. Not the war. Not your neighbors. You.”

But, since October 7th, Palestine has made up more than 98% of my thoughts, and not a day goes by that I’m not resharing posts about it. That’s what I told her then, and it’s still true now.

Weeks before deleting my Instagram account in November, I unfollowed any celebrity that stayed silent about what was happening. Then I turned my attention to my mutuals who were posting everything but Palestine. It was like Olivia Rodrigo, who was one of the first to go, said: “I love people I don’t like.” I don’t like people who stay silent the face of injustice.

Instagram was my main form of communication with friends and I have this thing where I don’t cut people off without telling them why I’m doing so because of all the bad experiences I’ve had with ghosting, so deleting Instagram was me being a coward and leaving those people behind.

Not everyone that I left behind is bad or stayed silent, but I just needed to get away. Truthfully I felt like I was going insane made up the ongoing genocide, but when I’d go unto Twitter I’d receive confirmation that I didn’t hallucinate everything.

Some non genocide happenings that factored into my deletion was my image being out of control. My main account was private and only friends could get in it but I decided to make a public account to keep in touch with acquaintances.

I like being unreachable.

I’ve always taken social media so seriously; it’s a way to connect with people and I guess I disconnect every time I feel there is one.

I don’t feel a disconnect this time, but sometimes the thought that I’m annoying all my followers creeps up on me and completely overwhelms me. I have an “Instagram Jail” mode on my phone that blocks only Instagram on my phone for that reason.

I don’t stay away from too long.

I have been a chronic Instagram story oversharer for most of my life and it’s not going to stop any time soon.

I’ve always maintained that if I ever gave birth, I’d live post it (wouldn’t post my baby though).

My mom has taken a dislike to my openness and has accused me of being desperate for attention.

I’m desperate for connection, maybe. Am I not human?

Due to my career path, I cannot disappear from social media, and honestly, I don’t want to.

Was social media a mistake?

When I look back on how my humilationship would follow girls like 3 hours away from him and like their pictures, I was disgusted with the unnaturalness of it all; it was like a breach of destiny.

People you would’ve probably never met properly in the good old days are just supposed are just a tap away…

I do NOT like how some men use Instagram as a dating app, ugh! So wrong. Connections shouldn’t be a numbers game.

Then I remember how talking to strangers online was the best decision I ever made in 5th grade through middle school.

Back on track.

This blog is for me.

What I love. What I’m doing. What I make.

I’m not interested in monetizing it or becoming popular.

I don’t really have to worry about others perceiving me here.

I don’t have to worry about posting a perfect photo dump or a picture of me stunting.

I’ve removed comments because if someone wants to reach me, they can do so through the contact box or my social media, so it’s kind of like screaming into the void.

Conclusion

Social media accounts come and go but blogs are foreverrrr.

And my attention span is shot as well, so hopefully as I consume more long form content, I will go back to my Bookish glory days.

This is all about intentionality and letting exercising my creativity.

I hope I get better at writing, reading, and collaging through this blog.