“What is one thing you learned about building websites this year?”
The question comes from the end-of-year thought series on CSS Tricks, and I think it's brilliant. It yielded some enlightening responses from people working on or with the web and inspired me to write my reflection.
Knowing how to build websites translates to freedom
In 2020 I learned that knowing how to build websites boils down to freedom. If you do, you're well on your way to building anything else you can think of for yourself and others as an independent, free thinker and self-learner. If you don't, you're at the mercy of platforms with terms of service you may not always understand or necessarily want, but don't feel like you have much choice over. For example, you may discover that your content doesn't belong to you or that your data gets collected and used in objectionable ways. And if the terms of service ever change, such as over ownership of data and imagery, you may find yourself captive.
Over a decade ago, we used to think that building your own home on the internet was a cool, pioneering act of self-discovery. We didn't know what we were doing, and hardly anyone made beautiful, sophisticated sites. The best websites were rough around the edges but created from the heart and a place of authenticity. But we saw the beauty in opportunity.
We later replaced that with most people creating social media accounts to establish a presence online. On the one hand, this had a positive side: many of us can take pictures, write, sing, and tell stories and share them worldwide in ways we were never able to before. We take these things for granted, but historically, few people could leave much of a written legacy behind. On the other hand, what started as fun is now a disservice to our society, freedom, privacy, and mental health. In some cases, it leads to behaviors that escalate until countries decide to “turn off the internet” or isolate themselves and moderate it with a very heavy hand.
What you really learn when you know how to code a website
There's more to websites than 'just' HTML & CSS, but there's also no shame in stopping just there if your goals and passions don't call for it.
1. Knowing how to code your site means having the freedom to write, host, and own your content
When you make a website, not only can you reflect your interests and personality, you also learn about the power and responsibility of ideas and ownership.
When you wonder why your site is so slow, you learn something about physics and how information travels worldwide through electricity, cables, servers, and who owns them. When you want to add a picture or video to your site, you learn something about storing information and the societal cost of this infrastructure. You might be surprised by what you find. And when you decide to write a few thoughts of your own, you get clarity on your beliefs and possibly feedback from others as well.
When you need to renew hosting, you learn about the effort required to preserve websites like other history pieces. You might realize that building websites goes hand in hand with losing websites and digital decay. Progress and content permanence isn't a given. We can and already lost websites and technologies, just like we lost the Library of Alexandria or entire cultures. You might discover that there are efforts of activists and digital archivists to preserve them. Still, you might be surprised to learn how many are volunteers.
2. Building your website like this also means freedom from teachers and a fixed mindset
You can teach yourself everything you need to know from the internet.
When you teach yourself things at your own pace, you learn about yourself and free yourself from beliefs and people keeping you back, like the notion that you're "too old to learn." You also understand that teachers are everywhere, not just in institutions with famous names. It takes effort from many unsung people to ensure that information is free and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.
When you take a moment to feel grateful that this information is out there on the internet, you learn about the internet's history and its creator's values. You'll understand what led to it being freely available instead of belonging to some corporation. You might end up with a more informed opinion about where the internet is heading, which directly contradicts this beautiful, original idea that we take for granted when we're just consumers.
3. Knowing to code your website will teach you something about art, history, and self-expression
When you wonder how to design your website and what various fonts and colors might convey to others, you dip into art and design history. You might start to see websites as one step in a long tradition, like the Lascaux paintings of our age: a way to say, "I was here." This exercise might inspire you to create art with code for a living rather than for traditional companies.
Imagine that you labor over something for months, then someone comes and steals it without batting an eyelid. Or maybe you want to use someone else's great image in your header. Either way, you learn something about copyright, attribution, and licensing. Reading about how to use or license creative assets will help you decide how and whether the law should protect your and other people's work. It might also lead you to wonder if other people should be able to take what you've created for free and whether that should change when it's a billion-dollar company vs. just another individual.
Freedom to choose your path
Doing all these things for a simple website may seem like hard work, especially if you just wanted to get a few recipes out there or your portfolio site, and no one ever taught you how to do them. But experiencing each need or frustration gives you direct knowledge that no one can take away from you. You won't get that from anyone or anywhere else. And nor should you. In a world drowning in (mis)information, it's almost an obligation to believe only the things we can diligently investigate.
That's why building a website nowadays is about freedom. It brings you the freedom that comes with thinking for yourself, making your mind up about the world, and acts as a necessary act of rebellion and self-reliance that will serve you well in the future. So learn how to code a website today, and change the world tomorrow.