Certificate of Release
Not valid until stamped.
This certifies that
a free person
was released from
social media
as of
Signed, the Management
You got out.
Mark the day you left social media, print a certificate that says so, and then go see what the rest of the internet has been up to.
Your date is saved in this browser only. The calendar file has reminders for day 7, 30, 100, 365 and 1,000. Nothing is sent anywhere.
No feed. No likes. No followers. No login. No cookies. Nobody is even looking.
This page doesn't track you, and your quit date never leaves your browser. Want proof? View the source. It's one file.
Internet 101
Before feeds, you went to the things you liked. You still can. Here's what to use for the jobs social media was doing for you.
- Keeping up with people and publications
- Follow blogs and news sites with RSS. Add a site to a reader app such as NetNewsWire, Feedly, or Inoreader, and new posts show up in order, with nothing deciding what you see.
- Staying in touch with friends and family
- Message them directly. A group chat, an email, a phone call, or a shared photo album does the job. Send photos by link instead of posting them to everyone.
- Remembering the good stuff you find
- Bookmark it. Your browser's bookmarks sync across devices, and a folder is easier to search than a scroll through your saved posts.
- Finding news and ideas
- Pick a few sites you trust and visit them on purpose. Subscribe to a newsletter or two and let the good ones come to your inbox.
- Finding your people
- Look for a forum or mailing list for your hobby. Search the hobby plus "forum." Small communities tend to be slower and kinder.
- Discovering things you didn't know existed
- Try a search engine built for the small web, like Marginalia or Wiby, and follow the links pages leave for each other. Link pages and webrings are how people used to browse.
- Saying something yourself
- Start a page of your own. Free hosts like Neocities make it easy to put up a simple site, and nobody has to follow it.
Wander
A starter list of good places to go. Press the button and we'll pick one.
The whole starter list
- WibyA search engine for the old-fashioned web, with a surprise-me button.
- Marginalia SearchA search engine that favors small, independent, text-heavy sites.
- NeocitiesFree personal websites, plus a browse page full of them.
- neal.funOdd and delightful interactive toys by Neal Agarwal.
- Astronomy Picture of the DayNASA's daily space picture, with a short explanation of what you're looking at.
- Kottke.orgOne of the longest-running blogs on the web: art, science, and curiosities.
- The Public Domain ReviewStrange and beautiful things from the public domain.
- Internet ArchiveFree books, music, video, and old copies of the web.
- Project GutenbergTens of thousands of free ebooks.
- IndieWebA community for people who want to own their corner of the web.
- Space Jam (1996)The original movie website, still online and nearly untouched.
- xkcdA long-running webcomic about science, math, and life.
Vibe coded by hand :-), from a single file. No trackers, no cookies, no scripts from anywhere else. There is no Management.