I don’t know what got me thinking about this, but somewhere between scrolling through my algorithmically generated TikTok feed and seeing yet another cookie-cutter Squarespace site, I realized we’ve lost something important on the internet.
There was a time when the web wasn’t a series of corporate-owned feeds, and instead of profiles, we had websites—real, hand-crafted personal websites, each one a unique expression of its creator.
There was no template, no social media branding, no pre-designed “About Me” sections. Every pixel was yours to decide.
So let’s take a nostalgic deep dive into the era of personal websites, the golden age of the DIY web, and why maybe—just maybe—it’s time to bring it back.
1. The Geocities Boom – Where the Web Became Personal
If you were online in the late 90s and early 2000s, chances are you either had a Geocities website or knew someone who did.
Geocities was a free web hosting service that let anyone create a website about literally anything. And when I say anything, I mean:
• A page dedicated to your favorite TV show, loaded with gifs and MIDI music.
• A site filled with autobiographical ramblings, treating your life like it was some grand epic.
• Your first attempt at HTML, with neon-colored text on a black background.
Sites were divided into “neighborhoods” based on topics (e.g., Hollywood for movies, Athens for philosophy, Tokyo for anime). It was an attempt to create an internet “city”, where websites formed communities instead of existing in isolation.
Why It Was Special:
✅ No one told you how your site should look.
✅ Websites had personality—even if they were ugly, they were authentic.
✅ It encouraged creativity, experimentation, and self-expression.
Why It Died:
💀 Yahoo bought Geocities in 1999, then shut it down in 2009, erasing millions of personal websites overnight.
💀 The rise of MySpace and Facebook made creating a profile easier than building a website.
💀 People stopped wanting to learn HTML—they just wanted pre-built templates.
2. The Golden Age of the “Shrine Site”
Before Wikipedia made everything easily searchable, if you wanted to know EVERYTHING about a niche topic, you’d go to a fan-made “shrine” website.
Shrine sites were obsessive, hyper-focused collections of information. You weren’t just a fan; you were a curator of your passion.
Some common shrine site types:
🔥 TV Show & Movie Shrines – Episode guides, cast lists, theories, and GIF collections.
🔥 Video Game Shrines – Walkthroughs, fan art, obscure trivia.
🔥 Celebrity & Band Shrines – Fan fiction, rare photos, gossip speculation.
🔥 Paranormal & Conspiracy Shrines – UFO sightings, urban legends, ghost stories.
These were deep dives before deep dives existed. If you found a well-made shrine, you struck internet gold—the kind of dedication and detail that modern Wikipedia just doesn’t have the soul for.
Why It Was Special:
✅ It was 100% passion-driven—people built these sites out of love, not for money or clout.
✅ The best shrines were hand-crafted with unique designs and layouts.
✅ You often discovered them by accident, leading you into internet rabbit holes.
Why It Died:
💀 Google and Wikipedia made niche knowledge easily accessible—no need for dedicated fan sites.
💀 Social media killed the long-form personal project, replacing it with bite-sized content.
💀 Many of these sites were hosted on free services that eventually shut down, erasing them forever.
3. The Personal Blog Era – Before Content Was “Monetized”
Blogging did not start with influencers. It started with regular people, writing about their daily lives, random thoughts, and personal projects.
In the early 2000s, LiveJournal, Blogger, and WordPress made it possible for anyone to publish their thoughts online, and people used it like a public diary.
Some early blog types:
✍️ Personal Life Logs – People writing about their day-to-day in an almost journalistic way.
✍️ Tech Blogs – Coding tips, software reviews, and tutorials (before YouTube made them video-based).
✍️ Rant Blogs – The internet was FULL of rants—politics, gaming, culture, you name it.
✍️ Nostalgia & Retro Blogs – Even back then, people were nostalgic for the early web.
These were uncensored, unfiltered, and unapologetic. There were no engagement metrics, no “influencer marketing”, just pure writing.
Why It Was Special:
✅ You wrote for yourself, not for an audience or an algorithm.
✅ Blogs felt raw, honest, and deeply personal.
✅ They were standalone websites, not just another profile on a bigger platform.
Why It Died:
💀 Social media made micro-blogging easier—why write a blog post when you can tweet?
💀 The rise of monetization made blogging feel like a job instead of a hobby.
💀 Blogging isn’t dead, but it’s not the same freeform self-expression it once was.
Why We Need Personal Websites Again
The internet has become too uniform.
• Every website looks the same.
• Social media decides what you see instead of you choosing what you explore.
• People no longer own their online presence—they’re just renting space on corporate platforms.
Personal websites were expressive, weird, and deeply human. They weren’t about chasing engagement or going viral—they were about having your own space on the internet that reflected YOU.
And the best part? They’re making a comeback.
• Neocities is reviving the Geocities spirit.
• People are rediscovering the fun of personal blogs.
• Self-hosting is easier than ever.
Maybe it’s time we stop giving all our content to social media and start building something that’s truly ours again.
🚀 Did you have a personal website back in the day? What was it about? Drop a comment, or better yet—start your own site and bring back the magic.