Metaphors on the Web

In the Before Times, websites often adopted a metaphor that both charmed visitors and helped them navigate, at least in theory. I don’t know how or why this became a “thing,” so to speak, but it likely developed due to the sheer newness of the internet. A lot of us plain didn’t know what to do with our sites, so using metaphor to express ourselves online helped immensely.

These metaphors took two major forms, and a site might use one method, or a mixture of both. I call these:

Design metaphors. Some sites might present themselves as not a site. They might adopt the guise of notebook paper, a scrapbook, or even a small living room with clickable furniture. Books in general were (and probably still are) perhaps the most popular metaphors for web design, but I’ve seen some beautiful sites that adopted a computer’s operating system as a metaphor, or jewelry, or wood engravings. America’s Decline, a cool neocities site, uses the metaphor of America Online’s old user interface as a metaphor to showcase all kinds of interesting retro and related content.
Content context metaphors. These are easy to imagine, but difficult to do well. They might involve narrating the site as if the visitor had just entered your house’s living room, your office, or were visiting a library, museum, etc. It might involve content emulating that which might be found in such a place. In the past, this was often paired with a design metaphor, and we see plenty of that nowadays, too. A good example of a current site that employs a lot of context metaphor would be something like The Quantum Pope (uh, maybe? possibly?) or the Monastery of St. Blamensir (the latter also using a design metaphor).

You do not see either of these much in today’s streamlined world of social media, Wordpress installations, and influencer websites begging you to subscribe to their newsletters. Their past popularity makes them a feature of sites on the small web (eg, neocities and other static hosts) at times, particularly those that want to emulate older designs. I don’t see it a lot elsewhere, though.

My own site employs few metaphors. Perhaps only the ringing phone trinket in my sidebar qualifies, but that might change. I certainly have plenty of ideas for them.

I think metaphors, as either site designs or content context, should be used with care, especially on text-heavy sites. If your site doesn’t look much like a website, nor read like one, it might be a bit hard for visitors nowadays to navigate or understand. Still, I miss the use of metaphors, and they’re ripe for a revival. If you’re mindful of indexing, responsiveness, and other factors, a sprinkling of metaphor can be fun.

Some (wild) ideas for design metaphors?

A computer interface. New? Old? Apple? Windows? So many options.
A phone or iPod screen, depending on how vintage you want to go.
Something that looks a bit like a vending machine, as an introduction to a page or splash screen/hub.
An eldritch, yellowed, creepy tome in spidery handwriting or medieval fonts, with line art as illustrations.
A hot pink fandom diary inspired by the 1990s or late 1980s, complete with lipstick stains over photos of your favorite characters.
A blog or journal with papery-pale backgrounds and photos “taped” in alongside flower PNGs and other ephemera, giving a midcentury look.

Some (weird) ideas for content context metaphors?

Start a website for a secret society. Explain that you’re the only person allowed to join, though. Explain your “rituals” (hobbies) and beliefs.
Your blog, rather than being in first person, could be in second person. Address it to an historical figure, famous author, or a fictional character.
You could also write your blog in third person, from the perspective of a (non-omniscient, of course) narrator, as if it were a novel of sorts.
The visitors to your site are visiting a restaurant that you yourself run, and all of your pages and content form the menu items to be served.
Your website features material written as a utopian sci-fi future’s retrospective on the 2020s, yet accurately reflecting your present interests.
Present your site as a joking series of reviews of things, days in your life, etc. Don’t get down on things, or yourself, but write little reviews.