https://www.otherstrangeness.com/2026/03/14/have-a-fucking-website/ Other Strangeness -- merritt k * About * Books * Comedy * Fiction * Games * Patreon * + Bluesky + Instagram + Mastodon Search [ ] Have a Fucking Website Website --------------------------------------------------------------------- Look, I get it. The foundations of the internet are broken and we've somehow gotten to a place where having a website is either expensive, complicated, or perceived as unnecessary, whereas social media platforms are cheap and easy. But still, please, if you are a business or an individual artist or creator, have a fucking website. "But-" fuck you, have a fucking website. I haven't had a Facebook account in a decade. I have Instagram blocked for most of the day so I don't waste time scrolling it. If you're a hair salon, or a tattoo artist, or a restaurant, or whatever, please just have a fucking website where I can go and see your rates and hours. Not all of your potential clients are on these platforms, and I suspect that even many of the ones who are appreciate a simple, unadorned site that tells them what they need to know at a glance. Not only that, but as we saw with Twitter a few years ago, platforms can change the rules overnight so that the following you've built up is suddenly worthless. Or they can decide to boot you for no reason and you'll have no recourse. I get that IG is easy for sharing updates with people but it is so, so simple to just set up a website once with a menu/prices/whatever on it, then you can rest secure in the fact that you can be found on the internet regardless of the whims of our drug-addled tech overlords. You don't own shit that you put on social media platforms. You don't own your follower counts, you don't own your posts. Stop giving away all of your shit to data harvesters and advertisers for free in exchange for the illusion of importance that comes with likes and a follower count. Set up a website -- and while you're at it, start a mailing list, because email is basically the only means of reaching your contacts that can't easily be taken away from you. The internet was built on websites that linked to one another. The concept of congregating in walled gardens owned by pedophilic fascist speed freaks who actively block the sharing of links in an effort to keep people scrolling on their platforms is very new. With any luck, it will pass sooner rather than later, and every time someone creates an actual fucking website, that day gets a little closer. March 14, 2026 merritt k Essay Tech, Yelling --------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 responses to "Have a Fucking Website" 1. jm Avatar jm March 15, 2026 you have no idea how bad i want this. i want to be able to delete my burner facebook and instagram accounts and not have to log into them ever again. Reply 1. threeboy Avatar threeboy March 18, 2026 Can't you? Reply 2. Matthew Cambion Avatar Matthew Cambion March 18, 2026 Then do it. What has *anybody* in your life ever done to you to justify your continuing to enrich Mark Zuckerberg by your continued presence on platforms owned by FaceMash? Reply 1. Jay Avatar Jay March 18, 2026 The mother fucking truth. Let's go back to surfing the web like it's 1999. Reply 3. Tyler Durden Avatar Tyler Durden March 18, 2026 Just do it. I did. If someone is only on social media, I search for another one. They lost me as a customer even before they got one. Fuck this social media shit. Reply 2. delirehberi Avatar delirehberi March 18, 2026 As a software developer, I completely agree--of course, I have my own site, but I see why it's a hurdle for most people. The UX of the independent web is still a bit broken. I think Nostr could actually solve this. I'm currently using it as a backend for my own blog (blog.emre.xyz) and even built a simple read-only client (nostr.emre.xyz). Imagine if a cafe owner could just post an update on Nostr and have it automatically sync to their own domain. It bridges that gap between 'social media ease' and 'owning your own platform.' Hopefully, as the network grows, this becomes the standard. Reply 3. ivor Avatar ivor March 18, 2026 This is so real, make this more famous please lmao Reply 4. screamingatmypc Avatar screamingatmypc March 18, 2026 It's never been easier to have a fucking website. JUST DO IT. Every time I am greeted by login prompt when I just want to see if an event is still happening, or what the new menu is at a bar or some shit I want to crash my car into a fucking wall. Reply 5. Colo Avatar Colo March 18, 2026 I still remember those old days when sadly facebook appear on the internet collecting victims worldwide and started to receive invitations from friends to join in to the social network, something I never did! Happy end for me! Reply 6. Fred Avatar Fred March 18, 2026 Yes, get a website! Thanks for the article Reply 7. DennisKabui Avatar DennisKabui March 18, 2026 I get what you're pushing for, and I agree with the core idea. But it skips over the part where most people don't know where to start, what the site should even contain, or how to keep it alive after the first week.. It's not impossible, but it's not a single step either. There's also the practical side. People don't just disappear from platforms because they now have a website. If your audience is somewhere else, that's still where you have to meet them. A personal site doesn't replace that, it just gives you something stable in the background. At the same time, it's not as complicated as people make it out to be. Most don't need anything fancy. One simple page that does the job is already enough. The barrier is more mental than technical. So yeah, the idea is solid. But it's not as effortless as it's framed, and not as difficult as people assume either. It sits somewhere in the middle, and most people just never get around to it. Reply 8. e Avatar e March 18, 2026 i almost agree except i hate mailing lists with a passion, i can't explain it except mailing lists i'd participate in i guess, but i think you mean a newsletter Reply 9. Petrie Avatar Petrie March 18, 2026 I'm in the process of learning Hugo. It has its pros, and cons, I'm working on it internally now and hope to eventually push it externally. Don't sell or spam my fucking email. Reply 10. Miguel Avatar Miguel March 18, 2026 Thanks a fucking lot that was funny Reply 11. pete Avatar pete March 18, 2026 preach! Reply 12. anon Avatar anon March 18, 2026 ... and do not get your website generated by AI-hallucination. Nowadays all websites look the same, please do your own design! Reply 13. Alberto Prado Avatar Alberto Prado March 18, 2026 Agree, having a website is great, and WordPress with Gutenberg makes it easier than ever to have one. Reply 14. Mark Avatar Mark March 18, 2026 I agree with your overall sentiment. I've never had a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram account. While I wouldn't tell a company not to use social media, they should understand it's not a substitute for a website. Reply 15. Theo Armour Avatar Theo Armour March 18, 2026 register with GitHub create a repository turn on the GitHub Pages feature Bingo! You have a free never-ending f-word website Reply 16. eli Avatar eli March 18, 2026 Totally agree. Social media gives you the illusion of presence, but you own nothing. One rule change, one ban, one platform collapse -- and years of work vanish overnight. A personal website is the only real estate you actually control on the internet. Same goes for an email list. It's old-school, but it's yours. Reply 17. Nin-k Avatar Nin-k March 18, 2026 Well said. I have also been there. I quit fb a decade or so. The only tool I use is viber/whatsapp. Only recently I created a bluesky account out of curiosity (https://bsky.app/profile/ nin-k.bsky.social.By) deleting your account from these platforms, it seems like a big deal from a first glance. You feel that you lose something precious. This is an illusion. The things you want to do in your life you're going to do them, with, or without these platforms. Also deleting accounts on these platforms seems like a marathon. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Comment * [ ] Name * [ ] Email * [ ] Website [ ] [ ] Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [Post Comment] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] D[ ] Other Strangeness -- merritt k