Why I prefer a website over social media

Created: 31/01/2025

It feels good to have my own corner on the Internet where I can share my content exactly the way I want. It allows me to be in full control of the user experience. No cookie banner, no subscribe pop-up, I choose the background color, the font, the placement of the buttons, the navigation setup of the website. I'm the one coding and designing.

While I see social media as a factory, where products are consumed as they are produced and fed to the users, I see this website as my living room. Its doors are always opened for anyone that wants to come and take a visit. All the mobilia was placed in a way that allows the visitor to understand what are my biggest projects while having the possibility to explore smaller ones. They're not necessarily sorted by date of creation and their placement can change over time as the living room grows. I control the range of experiences but the visitor chooses his own one.

It allows me to do things like my 404 error page, my privacy notice page, my dynamic profile "picture" on the home page and the description below.

As to the other reason, Jaron Lanier has said very elegantly on this Ted Talk:

We cannot have a society in which, if two people wish to communicate, the only way that can happen is if it’s financed by a third person who wishes to manipulate them.

And this is one less interaction on the behaviour modification empire. It brings peace of mind.

Not to say this website hasn't its drawbacks. More time customizing the living room means less time working on the mobilia, even though I love customizing the living room. Additionally, how can we create a discussion? This is only a one-way communication. We would need to use another platform which is attainable (check my contact page for that).

Also, will my work be able to reach the right people? I have no idea but for now this is going to be the home of my work for the next years, hopefully not another phase as it was when everyone seemed to have a blog in the early 2010s, made three posts and then forget it and moved on to social media.