Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

bikobatanari.art

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 61 posts

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#21

Post by zlg_codes »

Tiberium wrote: post #17
zlg_codes wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you think doujins are?

They are just self-published works, nothing more. Yes, some are NSFW, but is it different to self-published stories elsewhere? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doujinshi

The ask was for examples to niche content.

The world of doujinshis is a subculture, and therefore a niche. No value judgment made, but it's kinda similar to asking for a niche art style and getting upset when someone says "pixel art" in a world of live action and photorealistic CGI.

I'm just like, "do you want niche, or taboo? It's already niche."

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#22

Post by 082349872349872 »

movedx wrote: post #7

I wonder if there's a desire for a western equivalent with the same rules?

Just realised I know of two possible western equivalents:

1/ private mailing lists — not subscriber newsletters with breathless copywriting, but the now-seemingly-jurassic technology of "group chat" conducted via SMTP. (they're actually better than group chat IMO, as it's usually possible to receive a daily digest instead of individual messages, and no one minds if one revisits a thread from three weeks or three years ago. [three decades would technically be possible, but I have yet to see it happen myself])

2/ I know of several individuals who keep separate public and "private" (albeit security via obscurity) web presences: the former for ideas they feel are well enough formed for the general public, and the latter for spitballing, shitposting, rag chewing, etc. with implicit convention that by browsing the private site you are at least acknowledging that none of it is "ready for prime time" or "A-side" material, and possibly acknowledging that the writing is meant to be high, rather than low, context.

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#23

Post by marginalia_nu »

082349872349872 wrote: post #13
thequadehunter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I sorta doubt it. Anybody who speaks Japanese knows it's really hard to get reliable information on topics searching the Japanese web. You find all these Matome and personal sites that are loose with their sources or unclear with their phrasing. It's interesting because you do actual web "surfing" and learn a lot more interesting things along the way, but it's not good for centralized knowledge or social interaction.…

For some values of "nobody"; this westerner enjoys https://search.marginalia.nu (in addition to more common engines) and has high hopes for the new site browser: https://search.marginalia.nu/site/bikobatanari.art?view=info

Neocities is also kinda stoking this particular flame. It's niche, but also undeniably both big and diverse.

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#24

Post by gwern »

CobaltFire wrote: post #2

My wife runs a website like this on one of the Japanese somewhat social media sites. I say somewhat because it doesn't look much like what we think of as social media. It's fascinating because she can see who drops by to read her stuff, and she has a significant number of followers, but it's very passive. No comments, no likes, no interaction at all. The only way people can show their support is by subscribing, and e…

That is also discussed at greater length in OP towards the end.

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#25

Post by devsda »

082349872349872 wrote: post #11
zlg_codes wrote: post #9

This was an interesting read. I accidentally do something similar by explicitly denying all automated access via robots.txt. Just like the script, it's not a 100% effective way to keep unwanted attention out, but it's enough to avoid a first-pass attempt. Midway through the conversation, I thought about what reverse uBlock would look like. Would this look like a firewall, or some other dedicated piece of software? I…

Do common browsers still send Referer headers?

I believe Firefox does but it includes only the domain name and omits the path.

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#26

Post by [deleted] »

CobaltFire wrote: post #2

My wife runs a website like this on one of the Japanese somewhat social media sites. I say somewhat because it doesn't look much like what we think of as social media. It's fascinating because she can see who drops by to read her stuff, and she has a significant number of followers, but it's very passive. No comments, no likes, no interaction at all. The only way people can show their support is by subscribing, and e…

[deleted]

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#27

Post by kmeisthax »

082349872349872 wrote: post #14
CobaltFire wrote: post #2

My wife runs a website like this on one of the Japanese somewhat social media sites. I say somewhat because it doesn't look much like what we think of as social media. It's fascinating because she can see who drops by to read her stuff, and she has a significant number of followers, but it's very passive. No comments, no likes, no interaction at all. The only way people can show their support is by subscribing, and e…

> ...it's very passive. No comments, no likes... We get a fair number of tourists from a famous western country who gush about how this is wonderful and that is amazing and have you even seen the thing over there? One doesn't need to ask where they're from; one hears them coming from 50m off. I wonder if they view their fellow tourists from more reserved cultures as being more passive?

No. Trust me, I hear PLENTY of complaints in America about tourists from East Asia. Every country has roudy tourists regardless of how stereotypically passive their culture is. This is because they all tend to congregate in the same destinations, and foreign languages sound louder because you can't understand them. Overtourism is absolutely a thing, mainly because tourists get sold the same set of destinations (e.g. if you're looking for natural landmarks in America, you'll wind up in Yosemite or Moab).

(If it's any consolation, I can say that half the shit American tourists like about Japan are just "things America used to have but got rid of", like walkable cities and public transit. The other half are things not economically sustainable without them - e.g. arcades and malls that don't suck.)

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#28

Post by GeneralMaximus »

thequadehunter wrote: post #8
movedx wrote: post #7

I wonder if there's a desire for a western equivalent with the same rules?

I sorta doubt it. Anybody who speaks Japanese knows it's really hard to get reliable information on topics searching the Japanese web. You find all these Matome and personal sites that are loose with their sources or unclear with their phrasing. It's interesting because you do actual web "surfing" and learn a lot more interesting things along the way, but it's not good for centralized knowledge or social interaction.…

> Personal sites still exist in the west, but nobody really seeks them out.

The IndieWeb movement, standards like WebMention, services like Neocities, and a growing Fediverse have made it so that there is at least some interest in personal websites in the Anglosphere again. I follow a lot of people in my RSS reader, and there’s a growing community of people regularly writing blog posts, having conversations via their blogs, maintaining digital gardens, and generally building small, niche, non-commercial websites for fun. Not to mention people writing email newsletters.

It only appears as if the web today is dominated by corporate interests. It’s true that most people stay within those walled gardens, but there are many people still building things outside of them. A more human web still exists, but you need to specifically go looking for it.

I recommend starting with https://ooh.directory. If your city has an IndieWebCamp or Homebrew Website Club, you might have good luck there.

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#29

Post by [deleted] »

CobaltFire wrote: post #18
jagged-chisel wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> … she can see who drops by to read her stuff. What kinds of information does she get? Does “subscribing” mean users create an account and therefore the visitors are always tracked? I’m definitely interested in technical details.

It's on a site that's a social media site in that everyone there has an account, but it's more like a blog site. Those are the people she sees specifically, though it lets her know if non-logged in visitors visit as well. As far as subscribing, it's like following, or an RSS feed. They just get notified when she posts. It doesn't show up on their homepage or anything, just gives them a notification that she wrote a n…

[deleted]

Re: Browsing the Eastern Side of the Personal Web

#30

Post by runlaszlorun »

kmeisthax wrote: post #27
082349872349872 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...it's very passive. No comments, no likes... We get a fair number of tourists from a famous western country who gush about how this is wonderful and that is amazing and have you even seen the thing over there? One doesn't need to ask where they're from; one hears them coming from 50m off. I wonder if they view their fellow tourists from more reserved cultures as being more passive?

No. Trust me, I hear PLENTY of complaints in America about tourists from East Asia. Every country has roudy tourists regardless of how stereotypically passive their culture is. This is because they all tend to congregate in the same destinations, and foreign languages sound louder because you can't understand them. Overtourism is absolutely a thing, mainly because tourists get sold the same set of destinations (e.g.…

Yep, pretty much this. I think tourists from many nations - and usually for varying reasons - sure don’t seem to lend to international understanding and goodwill.

When I lived in Europe, I had a Swiss girlfriend complement me that I ‘dont dress like all the other Americans’. I got caught up in being flattered but then thought to ask exactly what she meant. ‘You know… they wear the khaki pleated shorts… sandals with socks… a fanny pack and visor…’ Given that she hadn’t been to US, it didn’t take long to realize who these fashion ambassadors just might be…

Post reply on HN