I'm really loving neocities so far. It's inspiring to see pages people have made and to be give simple but rich tools with the trust and hope that you will make something, anything. But also I, as I often do, have some thots on it all.
A lot of the featured or popular sites I've encountered so far are very much centered on nostalgia for an early 2000's internet. It feels silly to comment on given that Neocities is clearly a spiritual sucessor to geocites and the pages of that time. However, my return to the web is driven by want of substance not aesthetics. I want a different kind of digital presence and experience than what has shaken out of the social media age. The current model stresses me out, and I suspect it stunts my creativity, drive, and overall wellbeing. I want to go back to a more deliberate use of the internet I suppose.
I love the aesthetics of the late 90's and early 00's. It was a very formative period of my life, and given that the web was a window out of my irl life and a refuge, I have fondness towards it. But, while I appreciate the past I don't want to live in it.
So far I've only surfed a mere smattering of sites here, undoubtedly popular in part because of their nostalgic aesthetics. I hope to see many more creations, especially ones that do more than roleplay in the past. I'll admit it's rather fun though, in a renfaire sort of way!