What was the first website/blog/... you had on the internet?

[dividedbyblue]

Three weeks for Dreamwidth: What was the first website/blog/... you had on the internet?

I think the first website (or page I had on a website) was on Elfwood, way back in the early 2000's. As far as I remember, you could post your fantasy art there (on the wiki it said it also featured scifi art but I don't remember that very clearly), fanart and also stories you've written. It had a page dedicated to tutorials, and it had a community part too, in the form of Elftown, where you could have a profile with your interests and send messages to other users. Strangely enough, while Elfwood ceased to exist years ago, Elftown still exists on the web. I have no idea if it still has active users however.

On Elfwood I had a page that was mostly filled with my early attempts at digital art in Photoshop and Corel Painter. I also had a few fanart drawings on it.

While I appreciate Elfwood for offering me a place for my fantasy art, I remember it was also notorious for it strict modding system. Every time you wanted to post an image, you had to send in a ticket with your drawing. Mods then decided if it was good enough to post (if it wasn't fantasy/scifi enough for their liking, for instance, you weren't allowed to post it). I remember that I had fanart rejected because I used a photo reference to draw it, and they saw that. The latter made me quit the site, as I found it an absurd reason to reject fan art.

Comments

[sisterdivinium]

That sounds like a pretty cool place to hang around online, the kind of thing we rarely see nowadays. A hub for art, fiction, tutorials, a forum... Of course you couldn't have a neat website without a forum! I didn't know Elfwood myself but reading your post gave me this nice sense of nostalgia for the web of that time. I do miss that.

The strict moderation isn't all that surprising, though. It makes me think of how fanzines were made and how editors had to carefully choose what would or wouldn't make it into a given volume. The site didn't need to think in terms of printing, of course, but image storing was always an (expensive) annoyance so I understand why they'd want to control what was posted or not, at least if we look at it through that angle... Cutting out art you made just because you had used a picture reference was certainly a strange decision, though. A little too restrictive!

[dividedbyblue]

It was definitely a fun place, and it felt like a real community of people with similar interests. The internet used to feel a bit magical back then, in the early days of it, before things became the way they are with social media. I’m also a bit nostalgic of that.

I hadn’t thought about the image storage costs, you’re probably right with it being a factor. I used to think they just wanted to keep the site ‘clean’ scifi/fantasy; which is good, because that’s what the site was for. But the fanart rejection felt really random. I knew of fan artists there who had work uploaded that was also clearly based on reference pictures, and they got it approved. This felt like the moderation system was very subjective and random, which really disappointed me.

[sisterdivinium]

And that feels so sorely lacking today, doesn't it? That feeling of community. I'm not sure the younger people who didn't quite get to experience that first-hand back then fully understand why it makes us nostalgic to think about and it's a pity. If more people missed it then maybe we'd have more people trying to rebuild something in that vein, too... (By the way, I hope I haven't been overwhelming you by commenting on your posts like this but you're bringing up such cool subjects for Three Weeks! It's hard to hold back, haha).

Oh, I didn't know others who had used references got the green light! In that case, yeah, it seems the criteria were a little too arbitrary... That's a shame.

[dividedbyblue]

By the way, I hope I haven't been overwhelming you by commenting on your posts like this but you're bringing up such cool subjects for Three Weeks! It's hard to hold back, haha

I enjoy your comments very much, thank you for taking the time to write them ^^ And thank you, it’s the first time I’m doing Three Weeks, I hope I don’t run out of questions lol

Indeed, the sense of community back then was totally different from what it is now. There are so many aspects of how social media is nowadays that make it unhealthy, and that also takes real conversation and connection away. Concerning fandom, I’m currently also on Twitter because the fandom of the Spanish telenovela I’m watching is there, but I often feel unsure of what I’m doing there. I usually just post my fan drawings, comment on other fan drawings that I see and like, and repost them. I’m often unsure about posting things like opinions on something because I feel like everything you post can be misinterpreted or taken out of context.

I'm not sure the younger people who didn't quite get to experience that first-hand back then fully understand why it makes us nostalgic to think about and it's a pity. If more people missed it then maybe we'd have more people trying to rebuild something in that vein, too...

They probably don’t understand it, because they’ve only known the social media landscape. I think they also sometimes expect everything to be ‘easy’ (algorithms deciding for you what content you see, instead of actively looking for things in other ways), even the relatively easy ‘complexity’ of AO3 these days is frowned upon sometimes in favor of something like Wattpad. Indeed, I agree that if more people missed it, they might try to rebuild older community-based things.

[sisterdivinium]

Ah, I'm glad to know it <3 As for 3W4D, I forgot all about it and didn't prepare anything in advance the way I wanted to after last year, so that's why I'm not really participating this time. Which isn't a problem seeing as I get to enjoy your posts as well as some cool things other people have been sharing in the tag as well :)

And yeah, that's true. It's almost ironic how we call it social media when so much of it and the way it's been built seems to lead to anti-social behaviour between its users... I don't fault you for feeling a bit lost on Twitter (or Xitter, as I like to call it). One of my major fandoms also hangs out there but I've deleted my years-old account after the whole "furnishing Musk with data to train his AI machine just by using the site" thing. Can't say I miss it but then my OTP is a rareship and I barely have anything in common with the other fans 90% of the time, haha. I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable sharing any opinions on a microblogging service and sometimes even posting something on Tumblr feels like walking on eggshells -- something that never really happens when posting over here on Dreamwidth. Sure, maybe nobody in my fandoms even knows I exist here but they also don't get to barge in and point fingers at me for saying something they think is "problematic" for no real reason!

Regarding how some actually want algorithms, yes, that's actually scary to think about. All those people complaining about how AO3 doesn't have an algorithm, how they're "forced" to perform a search like that's a bad thing... What sort of hellscape are we living in when people don't want to think for themselves??

[dividedbyblue]

I think I just came back to Dreamwidth at the right time. I read about 3w4d, just one day too late, but it seemed like a fun thing to do so I joined in :) I also enjoy the other posts people do for this event.

Yes, I think social media has done a lot of damage, also to our society. I believe the strong divisions that now exist in society are partly due to social media ‘radicalizing’ everything. You like something (even if it is hate that you ‘like’), the algorithms make you see more of it and before you know, you’re trapped in an unhealthy circle of things.

I’m happy to hear that I’m not the only one feeling uncomfortable sharing opinions on Twitter and other social media. There probably are more like us.I currently mostly stay on Twitter to read news about the series and to try to connect with other fan artists in the fandom. There are some amazing ones out there, and sometimes, I get to talk with them about art materials or the techniques they use. I always cherish it when that happens. I’m a bit lucky, however, that the ship I’m drawing for is popular in the fandom, so that will probably be an advantage.

What sort of hellscape are we living in when people don't want to think for themselves??

Yes, it seems like everything should be really easy. But too easy seems to make people lazy, unfortunately.

[sisterdivinium]

It was good timing indeed! January is another good month for anyone coming back or starting fresh, what with the snowflake_challenge going on. There’s a lot of traffic at that time as well and lots of people active.

And yes, I agree. Social media is engineered for “engagement”, after all, not enlightenment, and primal emotions are much more potent in keeping people glued to their screens than reasonable, thoughtful interaction. Hate is an easy feeling to rouse and use against people and the fact that the virtual world has become so enmeshed with the real one means all the crap people have been feeding on online has an influence in real life too. Yet it’s so easy to break the cycle if only one opens one’s eyes to it all…

We’re definitely not the only ones! This seems to be quite a common complaint all in all, not feeling at liberty to talk online. Some people find other venues (like here! :) ) though I suspect others might just give up and wrap themselves up in their silence. I’m happy to know Twitter has worked for you in that department at least! Although, yeah, it might be easier to get in touch with other fans when you like the same ship, haha. I don’t hate the big ship in my main fandom, I just don’t feel any particular attachment to it but it’s hard to talk about the show in general when everyone only has eyes for their ship despite the series being so much bigger than the pairing… Oh, well!

[dividedbyblue]

I’ve heard of the Snowflake Challenge but never participated. Sadly, I’m too late for it this year.

Social media is engineered for “engagement”, after all, not enlightenment,

How amazing it would be if it were for the latter … I would love to see a world/ internet like that.

it might be easier to get in touch with other fans when you like the same ship

Yes, that’s true. I’m lucky in that way. There are so many ships, maintext/subtext/… It doesn’t matter. It’s so wonderful to find something you connect with!