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don't let big platforms own your place on the web
2020-11-08
What is so important about having your very own website? Why shouldn't you just have your online presence set up through a platform like Facebook, Twitter, or one of the other thousands of social platforms on the internet?
Well, that's easy enough - it's all about having more control over your online life.
Making your own website is quite simple. You can have it up and running with less than a day's work if you play with it enough.
What is so important about running your own site? Why is it such a rewarding experience? Well, for one, it is the absolute control you get from running a site of your very own. When you have a site of your own that you can do whatever you want with, you don't have to worry about one of the big platforms censoring, deplatforming, or "cancelling" you for any reason whatsoever. If you have an opinion that goes against the political norms, you can voice it as you'd like on your own site without worrying about upsetting someone on Zuckbook or one of the similar platforms, where they might report your opinions and get you banned from the platform.
What other reason would you have to cut the cord from social media and rely on yourself for your existence online? Well, if you're into web development and learning more about how the internet works, buying a domain, setting up a server, and learning how you run your own site really teaches you a lot about how the internet works. When you set up your own site on a webserver, you learn a ton not only about how setting up a site of your own really works, but also teaches you some great lessons that you will never forget.
Once your site is up and running, you can play with it on your server anytime you'd like. You can post whatever you want, you can try out any kind of web technologies on your site that you'd like, and more. It is so easy!
No worries! You don't have to be a pro with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to have your own presence on the internet. You can use other, easier solutions that allow you to build your site using nothing but drag and drop methods. One of the most well-known solutions for doing this is Wordpress, which allows you to build your own site on your own domain and server, for free. There is also Ghost, another great option for building websites. Both WordPress and Ghost are free and open-source software, easily modifiable and hostable by you.
I would generally advise for you to keep your site on your own webserver where you are in full control. It might be a bit more of a learning curve for a complete newbie, but it will be worth it when you aren't worrying about a platform like SquareSpace hosting all of your content and potentially going down if something happens to the site.
The most important rule of thumb when it comes to running your own website is to always host it on your own webserver. You don't want to have to worry about a centralized service where your site is hosted, like SquareSpace or Clickfunnels, to go down with you having no backup of your site. Always keep backups of your site files and always have it self-hosted so you aren't reliant on anybody but yourself when it comes to making sure your site is online at all times.
Since the advent of social media, the internet has become a lot more boring. Gone are the days of finding people's unique HTML sites about UFOs and their favorite musicians. We have collectively decided that a few companies (Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc) are in control of how we socialize with each other online. When you have your own website and buck the dependence on social media, you make a statement that you are not going to be one of the people controlled by social media. You are establishing your own presence on the internet, and not relying on someone else's server space to allow you to exist online.
Here are some of the resources I use when it comes to running my own websites.
That's all you need to get started! You can look into learning more about HTML and CSS if you want to learn how to build basic webpages on your own, or you can go ahead and learn more about setting up WordPress on your new server to get your site up and running quickly.
It's all up to you! Find a domain name you like, get a server up and running, and build your own online presence. You don't have to continue to be dependent on Big Tech platforms - you can use existing free and open-source technologies to get yourself setup online without having to worry about the permission of anyone else, and that can be a powerful feeling. Welcome to being an "internet landlord"!