So I’ve actually done it! I’ve actually created my own website!

My own little corner on the internet, a place where I can post anything I want, without being subject to any kind of policy or algorithm.

For a long time now, I’ve never actually cared to have a website of my own, ever. Right from the time I knew what a computer was, till a few days ago. What changed you ask? Well, something just “clicked”. Now more on that later, probably in a different post.

But I’ve finally had the realization that a personal website on the internet is the original form of “social media” intended by the internet. Your own URL. Your own website, that can be viewed by anyone. Not some profile on a website controlled by one entity, where you and millions of others are subject to a bunch of policies and algorithms by that one entity.

Now, as for what I used to make this site, I went with Hugo, an open-source static site generator written in Go.

Why? Well, because I don’t do frontend (yet). I am primarily a backend dev, and where I work, frontend means either Android or iOS. So I really didn’t want to spend any of my (already little) free time learning a new framework or a library. All I needed was a website with an about page, a blogs section and a way to dish out updates via RSS. (Basically a social media profile.)

That and also Hugo just makes everything easy. It takes about 10-15 mins to setup and get started. And making new posts, is nothing but creating markdown files, as simple as that. Entries on the archives page and a tags section, all automatically generated.

Perhaps, one day when I have a good amount of free time and the impetus to learn a frontend web framework, I’ll maybe make a site from scratch, instead of using a static site generator. But for now, this is more than enough.

I really think everyone should do this, or at the very least, try this out. This really is what “social media” is supposed to be. As for this website, first, there’s going to be a lot of theming changes to begin with. And then, a way to leave comments, probably.. idk, and from there, well I guess just about anything goes. Let’s see what I end up posting/doing here.

This is the first taste of freedom on the internet after all.