Let me ask you something. Are you new to the indie web? Are you new to exploring the true internet? An internet that isn't run by mega corperations and money hungry fiends. Well if you are (or arent) then I want to ask you, how do you see the internet? Like, how does the internet look to you? Is it a bustling neighborhood with tons of sites? Is it an ocean full of things to explore?

The way I see the internet is oddly specific. I see the internet as space. A vast and open space with one main solar system. The sun? Chrome. And the planets? All the main social media and websites people use and cycle through every minute.

How do you get between these planets? An infinite train of course! The train is basically whatever search engine you use! (Get it.. Engine.. Trains? Hah.. Hahahah...) The train passes through all the sites, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Tiktok. And most of the time you get off at these main planets whenever the train stops at them.

More "obscure" sites/planets start showing up the longer you stay on the train. I'd concider Ao3, Bluesky, and even TUMBLR those more "obscure" sites. They're only in quotes because even though not many people know of them, there's still a good chance you could find someone in your school or at work who knows of both of these.

And after a while of staying on this train, after many obscure searches. You pass through all the scam and bot sites and eventually reach a site you've never seen before! It looks unlike anything you've ever seen! Sparkly gifs, weird and wacky layouts, blinkies, and so much more!

The train make a hault after you get off and eventually turns right back around and speeds off towards the main solar system. But don't fear, the planet you're on has it's own system of travel! Little cars that dart across roads that connect to other cool sites!

Instead of one linear path, you can choose your own path! You can choose what planets to stop at and what planets to ignore!

You're exploring through sites, actually getting caught in some sort of... web... (Get it? Web..? The world wide web..? Please laugh) You start to leave that initial solar system