The difference between "smolweb" and "small web"

2025-08-12 07:45

People often use these two terms interchangeably, but they actually point to different things. Both are reactions to the modern web's complexity and the dominance of big platforms, but they come at it from different angles.

The "small web" is the broader movement. It's about getting back to a more human-scale internet. Think personal websites, independent blogs, smaller communities. The idea is to step away from the algorithmic feeds and corporate platforms that dominate today's web. It's not necessarily about the technical side, but more about the philosophy - making the web feel personal again, like it did in the early days when people built websites because they had something to say, not because they wanted to optimize for engagement.

The "smolweb" is more specific. That deliberate "smol" spelling gives it away - it's about being intentionally tiny. This is where the technical minimalism really shows up. Smolweb sites are usually built with basic HTML and CSS, they load fast, they're simple to navigate. The aesthetic matters here. It's cute, it's small, it's purposefully limited. Think websites that could load