How to find your people on the small web
The small web is full of people you would actually like. Here is how to find them without an algorithm doing it for you.
On the big platforms, finding "your people" is something the algorithm does for you, slowly, by watching what you click. On the small web, you have to do it yourself. The good news is it's not hard, and the result is a much better internet.
A few moves that work:
Find one person whose work you like. Read everything on their site. Then look at who they link to, a personal site's links page is the most underrated discovery tool on the internet. Click a few. Repeat.
Hang around in webrings or directories adjacent to your interests. Most of them have a "next" button that will keep you moving sideways through people in the same scene.
Subscribe to a few small newsletters. Pay for one or two if you can. The internet's economic shape is changing, and a tiny number of paying readers is what keeps the small web alive.
Email people. Yes, just email them. Tell them you liked their thing. Most of them will reply, because most of them are not used to it.
This sounds like a lot of effort compared to scrolling. It is. The payoff is that the people you find this way actually care about you, because you actually found them.