My first Geocities page got roasted for using that 'under construction' gif

Back in '97, I was so proud of my Star Trek fan page. I had that little animated construction worker guy right at the top. Posted the link on a Trek BBS and someone replied, 'The web is always under construction. That gif is the mark of an amateur.' Felt like a punch in the gut, but they were right. I took it down that day and just launched the page, even if parts were empty. It forced me to think of a site as something live, not a project forever being built. Did anyone else have a piece of 'netiquette' criticism that actually stuck with you from those days?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily5112d ago

Glad you mentioned that @jones.grace because the "mark of an amateur" thing stuck with me too. It's the same pattern you see everywhere now, like people who fill their resumes with buzzwords or use comic sans in work emails. We all do that thing where we try too hard to look like we know what we're doing and end up screaming amateur. That gif was my version of wearing a fake designer shirt to a party. The real trick is just being okay with showing up unfinished.

jones.grace2mo ago

Yeah, that "mark of an amateur" line hits hard. For me it was using blink tags. Some guy in a chat room told me it was like screaming for attention and made people leave. He was so right, it was just visual noise. I took them out and my guestbook sign ups actually went up.

paul3302mo ago

My buddy got torn apart for a midi autoplay track on his anime site, same vibe as what jones.grace said about blink tags. That feedback stung but honestly saved his ears.