Post #3318022

2026-06-08 04:13 UTC

But here's the thing. I made money making websites. I suspect a lot of people here, on this most nerdiest of social networks, made money making websites. And for a while, there was LOTS of competition for people who wanted to make money making websites. For a while, round my way at least, people used to say "I'm a web designer" as a synonym for "I'm unemployed," 'cause any random sod who was halfway-handy with a computer could make a website and if you don't have a job then you have more time to figure out how to make websites. We weren't special, we were just fucking unemployed. Knowing how to use a computer and make a website wasn't something that set anyone apart in a sea of other people who figured out to make websites because they didn't have a job. You had to compete based on How Beautiful And Interesting Can You Make A Website (at least until websites weren't beautiful anymore)

Replies (1)

@ifixcoinops@retro.social 2026-06-08 04:19

Raising the barrier to entry wasn't just down to, like, "Oh it's because phones" or "Fucking facebook and amazon," it was us. It was, like, "See this badge that leads to a code validation page, that means I actually know what I'm doing," it was shit like saying "Domain name" instead of "Web address" and when too many people knew what a domain name was we started saying "DNS Zone," it was telling people for fuck's sake don't go giving money to folk who still make websites using pirated copies of dreamweaver, give money to me instead because I know how to make a website the Incredibly Boring way. Our, Nerd Fucking Desire to be Special.

Open ##3318023