The experience of browsing online websites is not always smooth.

There was a time when you were surfing the web, you might hear music you didn't want to hear, and browse through web pages with strange color schemes and text written in dull fonts (usually Times New Roman).

Before the emergence of Squarespace and social media in the 2000s, websites were a manifestation of personality, completely built from scratch by users who had some understanding of code and were eager to go online using HTML.

Now, the community of programmers scattered across the web is working hard to restore this seemingly outdated thing. This movement comes from the concept of "HTML Energy" created by artists Laurel Schwulst and Elliott Cost, which is by no means a superficial tribute to retro aesthetics.

It focuses on the "tactile" process of HTML coding, exploring how the language can achieve self-expression and enable individuals to occupy a place on the Internet.The HTML Energy Movement takes shape in spaces like small Discord channels and digital magazines, aiming to celebrate the "human touch" in digital experiences.

Today, most of the internet is optimized for social interaction, e-commerce, and streaming. The majority of internet traffic is concentrated on a few websites, which in turn are owned by a handful of companies. From lengthy advertisements to aggressive cookie settings, a variety of minor obstacles and annoyances are constantly emerging.

Advertisement

Users are constantly reminded that their access to the internet is predicated on the profit of a few. The situation with X (formerly Twitter) perfectly encapsulates this state of internet ownership, where a single executive can trigger a mass exodus of users from the platform and sever its long-standing communities.

However, despite the monopoly of large tech companies in the market, a fundamental reality still proves the democracy of the internet: anyone can publish a website for free with HTML.

Technically, the internet provides space for everyone, so there is no issue of having nowhere to go. The real issue is traffic.When I converse with different members of the HTML Energy Community, everyone consistently conveys a fundamental message: everything on the web ultimately boils down to HTML. HTML is the backbone of any website.

This is the only thing required for a website to function. Although today's popular web development languages use abridged commands that hide technical complexities through so-called data abstraction, HTML is granular, and programming experience is not a prerequisite.

As Kost explained, it is the inclusiveness of HTML that gives opportunities to those who are eager to express themselves on the web. With HTML, even if a line of code is missing, the website will still load. The HTML Energy Movement encompasses these possibilities: it welcomes learning through trial and error and encourages creative experimentation.

As mainstream digital experiences tend towards a homogeneous visual language, the human touch is lost among many layers of abstraction. Website creators are becoming increasingly distant from their websites, and the web is becoming more transactional.

However, the HTML Energy Movement calls for a re-examination of our relationship with technology. Using HTML to create websites allows programmers to explore the essence of the web.Unlike companies, individuals who create websites for themselves are not accountable to shareholders. They do not face the pressure to create profitable experiences, so their creations can take a variety of forms.

Common types of HTML energy websites include digital gardens, where elements change with the seasons; interactive poetry generators, where user input creates new meanings; and personal websites that share details of the creator's life.

In an internet dominated by consumerism, websites with HTML energy gently remind people that websites can provide a meditative experience.

The HTML energy community advocates understanding the literal meaning of HTML, which is a language. It celebrates the basic characteristics of this language that demand user intent.

As a fusion of tiny and complex creative decisions, websites built solely with HTML are a form of self-expression.Viewing the source code of a website is just as important as browsing the interface. The code often conceals Easter eggs, such as messages or references from other HTML websites.

In many ways, an HTML website "records" the identity of its creator: what did this person choose to build, and how did they build it?

This fascination with different applications of HTML also appears in physical community gatherings known as "freewrites," where community members often come together to write code.

Sunday Sites and Fruitful School are among the websites that organize these gatherings, often integrating educational elements into their events to enhance the ability of more people to join the community.

At the same time, websites like HTML Comments showcase some of their products in the form of a literary magazine.Project 1: Multi-Scene Theater

Ji Kim's "Multi-Scene Theater" collages multiple fragments from an old iPhone. As visitors browse the website, the images overlap and play embedded audio clips.

When a user clicks on any image, a small description about the time and place of shooting appears, along with additional media content.

Kim's website aims to mimic the fragmentary and layered nature of memory. It is an intentionally scattered digital experience, much like trying to recall a family trip from a few years ago.Project 2: The Room with Windows

Shelby Wilson's "The Room with Windows" is a website that only allows for a single interaction: opening and closing a set of blinds.

The website intentionally blends physical and digital spaces. Wilson views the browser as a portal to a place with physical boundaries and edges, but also retains surreal elements (the room does not darken when the blinds are closed) and random elements (the color of the room changes with each visit) to highlight the digital form.

Project 3: The HTML Garden

Spencer Chang's website envisions what a garden might look like on the internet.Some "plants" composed of native HTML elements are growing, and with each visit, you will notice the passage of time: the changing of seasons, the sprouting and blooming of plants. There are no explicit actions; all you need to do is observe.

Project 4: Prose Drama

Katherine Yang's prose game is an interactive poem that encourages users to input different words within preset sentence structures.

The website uses words as variables to explore the interactivity of the internet. It places the literary theory of "the death of the author," which states that "the meaning of a text is not determined by the author's intention, but by the reader's interpretation," in the context of code.Project 5: Erich Friedman

Erich Friedman's website serves as a personal encyclopedia of his life, featuring an array of archives ranging from movie ratings to mini golf course reviews in Central Florida. The site is divided into sections for mathematics, puzzles, personal interests, and professional categories, with a rather simple structure.

It utilizes basic HTML to showcase Friedman's eclectic interests over the past decade, including a list of interesting facts about every number from 0 to 9999, as well as a collection of mathematical and trivia questions.

The website does not require any specific operation. It merely serves as an exhaustive and candid depiction of Erich Friedman, occupying a small but significant niche in the vast expanse of the internet.Project 6: Screen Museum

The Screen Museum of Toulou TouMou is a website that houses browser games created by gaming enthusiasts. To interact with the displayed games, users must navigate through the digital space as if it were a physical museum visualized with ASCII graphics.

This website has actual visiting hours and will randomly select a "rest day."

The museum of Toumou was created to give amateur developers their due recognition in the era of Flash games, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging authorship and the rich history of independent games.

The website of HTML energy has no centralized source; stumbling upon them makes them feel special, just like discovering a piece of street art in a parking lot. They are not designed to be found or optimized for any specific operation.They simply interact with visitors according to the conditions of the visitors, depicting the style of the creator. If websites like Google or Facebook are the supermarkets and shopping centers where you buy necessities, then the HTML Energy website is like a hidden garden you stumble upon, which cannot be found on any map.