Big Web vs Small Web:
Over the years I've dabbled with various blogging platforms: Wordpress, Medium, Substack, Drupal, Joomla and back to Wordpress again. I've become weary of the amount of work involved in managing sites and the emphasis they place on monetising content. I'm tired of manipulative social media, promoting false realities and expectations. I'm tired of websites awash with pop-up banners and ads, click-bait and cookies.
We've all heard of 'PHP', right?
Originally stood for 'Personal Home Page', back in the day when personal home pages were actually a thing, back in the day when producing online content took a bit of thought and not inconsiderable effort.
I've been introduced to the Small Web - back to basics, self-coded sites where simple content can shine. Complete control and the opportunity to learn new skills, without the intrusion of corporate billionaires.
Many moons ago (about 40 years) I was into computer programming as a hobby, opting for Visual Basic. I've just 'Googled' it (Wikipedia entry) and apparently it's a legacy software, support for which stopped in 2008. I guess I still have a desire to dabble with programming, not having done any for about 30 years - so the 'small web' scratches that itch. It won't be as polished as Wordpress or the like, but I find it far more satisfying than 'drag and drop'.
Footnote - In fairness to Obsidian, I played with its webhosting facility and found it very good: simple, easy to use, straightforward file management - but, being a cheap-skate, I've decided to self-host. I don't produce enough material, or likely to get enough traffic, to justify professional hosting fees.