So, in the beginning of August, I made a harsh blog post in response to Mariteaux's Article "Passion", where I didn't even bother to spell his name correctly. I honestly wish I could delete it, but I'm keeping it up to let others understand how wrong and unfair I was.
The reason why I'm talking about this is because I actually got a response from Mari! I won't share the details, but he made me realize how vindicative and consdescending I was towards an article that was made five years ago. Mari made that article when he was a teenager, and while I know what it's like to be a teenager who thinks they're smarter than everyone else, it wasn't my call to essentially "beat a dead horse". I also didn't even bother reading his article on revisiting that article I responded to. You'd think a 30-year-old like myself would know better. How embarrassing.
Reading Mari's articles again, I realize that the only thing I didn't like was his tone, but that's just me haha. I can't expect everyone to write everything in a positive and/or neutral tone. I thought he had a "holier-than-thou" mindset, but I realized he never once claimed to be better than others. Mari just wanted others to do better with their own sites, his words having that very same passion that he believes was missing in Neocities at the time.
Do I still stand by the points I made? Yeah. Do I still think Mari was being "gatekeep-y"? Maybe, but he had good intentions and he still does.
I honestly appreciate his definition of "passionate" and "interesting" people, being those who can talk hours on end about a specific interest they have. I don't describe myself as an interesting person, but I'm sure some of you know by now that if you so much as utter the name "Doctor Strange" in front of me, I will recite a mile-long (and badly-written) scroll of things I love about him.
Although there are a lot of things I am passionate about, there aren't a lot of people whom I can share these passions with, aside from my wonderful wife and friends. I've bored many people offline, and it's apparent that I'm starting to bore people online if I'm not posting artwork. I can only do so much from just posting art alone; I want to keep talking about my interests! Social media does not allow that since it's so easy to ignore long-winded rants by just scrolling past them. On social media, we worry so much about what would get us the most attention: the most "likes", "retweets", and "reblogs" and such. We've become so obsessed with these numbers that being able to talk about your interests just isn't "socially acceptable" anymore, unless said interests are super popular like "Genshin Impact". No offense to fans of it; I'm just...so tired of seeing it overtake nearly everything at anime conventions lol.
I understand people wanting to make "aesthetic" blogs and sites, but I don't know...I personally find it more interesting to read someone rambling about their favorite obscure video game and why it has some of the most memorable characters out there, or reading someone's blog about the lolita dresses they've collected. That's the stuff I want to hear, and I'm pretty sure that was the point that Mari was trying to make that completely went over my head just because I didn't like his "tone".
As much as I do enjoy seeing sites with a million flashing GIFs, I do find it sad that having a ton of flashing graphics on your site is the only way to get any sort of attention. I don't think it's a bad thing to have a collection on your site. Heck, I have a pretty extensive collection myself. However, I've recently been finding myself wanting to find more sites that talk about more obscure things and why said things speak to that person on such a deep and emotional level. Plus, my eyes have started to hurt after looking at hundreds of blinkies. If only there was something users can use to make their pages a bit easier to look at (sorry for the shameless plug lol)
Conclusion
"So, what now, Bec? Are you saying that you agree with all of Mari's points now?"
Yes, actually! He brought up so many good points on how Neocities could be better. It's like he said, "passion means taking a risk", which I feel is needed on the Internet nowadays. I want more people to share their passions and interests with the world, no matter how obscure or weird it may be. My only hope is that those interests aren't actually harming anyone, but I digress.
I still stand by my stance of "keeping the Web free", and just like what Mari mentioned in his articles, people should be free to talk about their passions. You like that thing that isn't well-known or liked by a lot of people? Talk about it, anyway! Keep the Web free!