Why have a website?

There are many reasons to have a website, but here are some of the more pressing reasons to roll your own.

Learning and Experimenting with Tech

Building and maintaining a personal site is a great way to learn or practice web development, design, writing, (or marketing skills if you are that way inclined).

Its a Portfolio

It can be used to showcase your work, hobbies, or whatever.

Personal Branding

You are a shallow creature, probably in marketing, and want to build your personal brand because somebody somewhere said this is something that you need to do. There is a high probability that your domain name will be an eponymous one because vanity and SEO.

Avoiding Enshittification

Social media and third-party platforms are great to use, until they aren’t. This process is known as enshittification, and it is how they seduce you in, then over time, get worse and worse, but make hard, if not impossible for you to leave (because network effects are a thing)

Control

Instead of relying solely on social media or third-party platforms, your website is something you fully own and control. This is one of the principles of the IndieWeb people, and which they describe as own your data.

Avoiding the Nazi Bar

Social media or third-party platforms can be rewarding on many levels, and they do make it easy to join and engage. Some pursue what they call “freedom” and “anti-censorship” and a bunch of other terms which indicate they’re on the path to becoming, if they are not already, a Nazi Bar.

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