★ [Web] Surfing USA ★

Hello again Beach Bunnies! I was surfing the web for blog inspiration when I came across a few Neocities websites from contemporary enthusiasts trying to capture old web graphic websites that used to be common in the nineties and the earliest years of the new millennia. 

Neocities is a web hosting service that attempts to allow netizens to create websites similar to those of the now-defunct Geocities. 

Once upon a time, when the internet was new, social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, and Blogger hadn't been made yet. If you wanted to make yourself known on the internet you needed to create a website where you could express yourself and communicate your interests and hopefully, others who shared your ideas could contact you through it. 

What separated Geocities (now Neocities) from the rest of the blog hosting sites that came after it like Tumblr is how users had to create their blogs from the ground up through HTML coding. Because Geocities lacked a pre-made skeleton, it pushed users to dig into their creative side and curate unique spaces that give us insight into their personalities. Maybe it's because I don't fully understand the process but I think these netizens are incredibly passionate about preserving old internet traditions in their dedication to creating portfolios and online scrapbooks of their fascinations. Below are just a few that caught my attention, some so overwhelming that I don't even know where to start!

ita.toys belongs to Ferro and is geared towards their interest in fashion. The graphic design on this one is beyond, I wish I could talk to Ferro and discuss what inspired them to make this blog and how they could harness their creativity in this manner. The website reminds me of the menu layouts from the Lizzie McGuire CD-Roms that came in Happy Meals when I was a kid. What a throwback!

Cameron's World was my favorite website for years! Created by New Zealand artist Cameron Askin, his project is a sort of  "Frankenstein" made out of collections of Geocities sites he could access through an online archive he came across. If you're lucky, you can visit authentic blogs from the nineties that were preserved!

Cocopie is a passion project created by Grace aka Coco. I'm a regular visitor to her Tumblr page and only recently explored her different websites. The detail displayed on every page, including her Tumblr graphics archive, is immaculate.

That's it for this post lovelies! I might implement some features too like a more personalized "about me" page or "shrines" that act as an interactive online scrapbook of my favorite memories/hobbies/celebrities, etc. I'll keep you all updated! Sweet dreams!!💗