The People Who Make the Internet Feel Like Home

I've always been a bit of an outsider. Most of the time, by choice. I like to watch people, see what they're making, read what they have to say. Joining in has never come quite as naturally to me. But every now and then, I come across someone I can't help admiring. This is about a few of those people.

I should say up front that these are just my impressions, formed from what I've seen and from the conversations I've been lucky enough to have. When I call someone remarkable, I don't mean famous or successful. I mean someone who makes the world a little better, who brings people together, or who creates something generous and interesting simply because they care.

I'd had an account on omg.lol for a while, maybe seven or eight months, without really talking to anyone. I was happy enough lurking. Then, at some point, I decided to say hello. Looking back, I'm very glad I did.

One of the first people I got to know was Adam Newbold, the person behind omg.lol. He had built something I hadn't realized I was missing: a place on the internet where people actually seemed pleased to see each other. The tools are delightful, of course, but what impressed me most was the care behind them. Adam pays attention to the people using what he's built, and I've seen that concern extend beyond the website itself to the wider community. A service can have all the clever features in the world and still feel empty. This one doesn't.

And it wasn't just Adam. The people I met there seemed to share that instinct to help, to make things, to encourage one another. Some became friends. For perhaps the first time in a long while, I found an online place where I genuinely wanted to be. Mostly listening and learning, naturally, but occasionally contributing something of my own.

There were also some wonderful coincidences. Earlier that year, I'd stumbled across MacManX, the website of James Huff. I'd spent a good while looking through his photographs, reading his posts, and admiring how much of his personality came through in the site. There's a particular pleasure in finding a personal website that feels like someone's actual home on the web, rather than another carefully polished storefront. Then I found James on omg.lol. I was genuinely excited. It felt a little like bumping into a writer whose work you've been reading quietly for months.

Something similar happened with Robb Knight. I'd already been following his work and enjoying the ideas and little experiments he put out into the world. Robb has that wonderful habit of making things that remind you why the small web is worth exploring: playful projects, thoughtful details, and the sense that curiosity itself is a perfectly good reason to build something. And where did I finally run into him? On omg.lol, of course. I didn't waste much time telling him how long I'd been following his creations. My years of quiet observation were suddenly becoming rather less quiet.

Then there's Brennan. What a generous spirit. I've come to admire the way he puts time and energy into creating spaces, sharing resources, and making it easier for other people to have a place of their own online. His writing and the many projects he takes on show a real affection for a more welcoming, independent web. It's one thing to talk about community. It's another to keep building things for it. Brennan does the latter, and I'm grateful I got to know him there.

I could fill pages with names. There are many more people at omg.lol who have been kind to me, inspired me, or simply made my days online better. Perhaps I'll write about them another time. For now, I've chosen a handful of people I've spent more time talking to, at least during those brief windows when my antisocial side allowed it.

I also want to make a special mention of Blake Watson. I knew his work before I knew him, so finding him in the same community was another lovely surprise. Blake created HTML for People, a free online book that takes something many people find intimidating and makes it feel possible, even enjoyable. It's written for people who have never built a website before. I love the spirit of that project: the web shouldn't belong only to experts, and learning to make a little corner of it your own ought to be within anyone's reach. Making knowledge that approachable is a generous thing to do.

Maybe that's what connects all these people for me. They remind me of an internet built around people rather than platforms, around curiosity rather than metrics. They make things, share what they know, and leave the door open for someone else to come in. I went there expecting another website to browse. Instead, I found people I was happy to stop observing from a distance and actually talk to.

So, to Adam, James, Robb, Brennan, Blake, and everyone else I haven't managed to mention: thank you. For your work, for your kindness, and for making the internet feel a little more like somewhere I belong.