The Beautiful Web

Published on Feb 11, 2026, filed under development, design. (Share this post, e.g. on Mastodon or on Bluesky.)

You know the Web. You know the Dark Web. You know other forms of the Web—the Open Web and the Semantic Web; Web 2.0, Web 3.0, Web3.

There’s another Web.

The Web of homemade websites.

It’s not the Web of perfect websites.

But it’s—the Beautiful Web.

It’s the beautiful Web because it’s driven by passion.

The passion to build your own website, to maintain your website, to take responsibility for your website.

The Web of showing and revealing and fulfilling yourself.

The Web of honest mistakes and unashamed authenticity.

The Web of raw—beauty.

When you see a homemade site, remember:

You’re surfing the Beautiful Web.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m a senior engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you use every day and companies you’ve never heard of, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and perspectives. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)