This is the archived text of my Fediverse post on unix.dog where I first tried to explain why I love the buried web:
"I love exploring the buried web. The web that has always been there, but for one reason or another isn’t accessible on mainstream search engines anymore. The web that you can only find yourself in when you’re at the bottom of a rabbit hole, one that’s at least five links deep."
"I love when I start by looking up some old and obscure thing like Plan9 or MUCKs and go from fairly standard Wikipedia pages and tutorials to sites and blogs that are written in plain-style HTML and are sixteen years old but still have recent activity, or even just the original eponymous Wiki."
"It’s easy to be pessimistic about the future of the web and the Internet. It’s easy to feel like the good old days are gone. But really, for me at least, when I set out with joy and excitement I can always find something reminiscent of the “old” web that is still going good and strong. The good web never died, it just got buried."