Personal websites as thinking tools

By @rsrc.php · Instagram

Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ddp2WqxOSLY/?stkn=MTJzZ3hhNGg0aGQ1

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Summary

The creator shares three resources shaping how they think about personal websites and online creation: Michael Nielsen's essay on using a personal site as a thinking tool, a collection of design manifestos, and Frank Chimero's 2013 talk "What Screens Want." All three push back on polished self-presentation and point toward the internet as something we actively build rather than something that happens to us.

Core ideas

One context card plus 7 ideas

Websites as thinking tools: Michael Aaron Nielsen argues personal sites usually exist to build connection or professional credibility, but they could instead serve as a space to think and create, almost by accident when they work that way.
Ditching the portfolio pressure: The creator rejects the idea that a personal site must be a polished, finished version of yourself. It can hold unfinished ideas and process, not just final products.
Design manifestos as a genre: designmanifestos.org collects manifestos for academic study, giving a window into how designers have articulated their values and philosophies over time.
The internet is ours to build: Frank Chimero's talk frames technology as something that reflects its creators. We made it, so it now shapes us back.
Rejecting doom narratives: Chimero pushes against the idea that the internet is spiraling out of control or solely in the hands of big companies, insisting people still have agency over what gets made and shared.
A talk ahead of its time: The 2013 talk predates the AI boom, yet its argument about human agency over technology still lands for the creator today.
A running archive: The creator keeps a personal list of 194 online resources they like, linked through their Substack.

Quotes

“They're not usually about helping one think or create except on accident.”
@rsrc.php

“Technology is shining back on us. We made it and now it's making us.”
@rsrc.php

“We make the stuff. We put the things online.”
@rsrc.php

Resources

Links to the tools, products, repos or reading this entry mentions. Found by a web search of what the entry names, so you can go and use them.

SearchSearch: Using a Personal Website as a Thinking Tool
google.com
A direct link could not be verified, so this opens a search for it. Michael Nielsen's essay argues that a personal website can help people think and create, beyond building connections or credibility.
SearchSearch: Design Manifestos
google.com
A direct link could not be verified, so this opens a search for it. A collection of design manifestos for study, showing how designers have expressed their values and philosophies.
SearchSearch: What Screens Want
google.com
A direct link could not be verified, so this opens a search for it. Frank Chimero's 2013 talk argues that people shape technology and still have agency over what gets made and shared.

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