Alternative ways to "follow" neocities sites

Due to some recent events and many people expressing disdain with the way neocities publicly displays followers I wanted to discuss some alternative ways to "follow" neocities sites.

It partly makes sense for neocities to have a follow function so you can catch up on new changes to websites you discover and enjoy, but I truly wish it was like tumblr in the way that how many followers you have and who you follow is private unless you decide to show them. Many people come to the indie web and small net to escape the competitive feeling of social media, but the way followers are displayed and sites are ranked on neocities make it still feel inescapable.

After some recent....interesting interactions I have been considering disabling my neocities profile to avoid the social media-esque follower interactions and discourse. The thought of it made me feel bummed out at first because I was like "Wait how am I suppose to catch up on the sites that I really like? When they update their shrines, add new resources, or put up a new blog post??" I started to look around and actually found some suitable solutions on the 32 bit cafe forum. I'm anti gatekeeping so I wanted to share what I found with yall in case anyone else has been feeling the same way lately.

₊˚♡ USE A BOOKMARK MANAGER ‎♡‧₊˚

Pocket app, Raindrop, Goodlinks, Pinboard, Abyss.... Theres a variety of different options to choose one! I suggest reading different reddit threads about them to find the best one for you. I think these are a great option because some provide options for reminders/notifications, tags, distraction free reading, adding highlights, and more.

Have you tried a bookmark manager for neocities? Let us know how you like it and which one you prefer to use!!!

Do you have any suggestions for tools, strategies, and workflows for enjoying and maintaining personal websites? Definitely drop a comment below as well.