I feel as though every Neocities webpage has a statement regarding old web vs. new, but sadgrl has a good statement and a list of statements on the matter
As this is my page, I will allow myself to join in the conversation
It's going to be easy to guess what a neocities user has to say about new web and social media, which is
I hate being tracked, I hate being overstimulated and bored by a constant feed of high intensity nothing information where there's a points system determining how likeable you are to strangers. I hate the empty wordless feedback of not only likes but memetic replies. repeat predictable and constant and unrelenting and the only thing you can do.
and Yet
It's a placid uniform way to navigate the world, its supposed to be accessable and inoffensive and can accumulate users who have no knowledge of html. an interconnected web of artists, fans, whoever, who now can talk to each other and share jokes, art, ideas. They don't even need a laptop or a computer, so the bar for entry is on the floor.
There's a large anti-social-media sentiment even on social media itself, where people will jokingly confess they feel like their phone is giving them brain poisoning. I don't think social media is inherently evil, but it's definitely fast-paced, and somehow impersonal. It cannot be someone's only outlet online, or it's going to fry their brain. Caring about follower count, engagement, influencer shit is detrimental and can negatively effect your self esteem and make you get FOMO for spending a day literally doing anything else.
Not everyone needs to make a neocities page, but people need to commit time to relearning what they enjoy about the internet, and slow down.
Meander through Wikipedia, and webpages related to your interests. Read short stories and write short stories. Leave nice comments on what you do like even if you're shy, and pick one or two things you thought were good and detail why.
Watch a video essay and then open notepad and write what you thought about it. post it or dont.
Open the Neocities Activity page, and look through new weird pages that are in progress
Join discord servers or forums related to your interests and then talk TO people, not at them. dont post memes but ask them about what theyre saying (Talking at everyone and no-one at once = voiding, a word we so desperately needed)
Even beyond the internet, find better ways to spend time on your computer/phone. decorate it like crazy with rainmeter, make an rpgmaker game with the default assets as fast as possible