[asoneth]

No site is an island. Even if I keep my own website's implementation minimal I still end up interacting with the rest of the internet via web pages with less minimal markup.

However, if you also had a like-minded community of similarly minimal websites, a mechanism to minify websites, search engines that prioritized minimal (or minifiable) websites, and a social convention of avoiding linking to any website unless it was minimal (or minifiable) then you'd end up with something like the Gemini community.

In fact, I suspect something like that will supplant Gemini in practice. Browsers already have reader modes and some search engines allow you to block certain domains. I could easily imagine search engines or browsers providing greater end-user control over this sort of thing in the future.

[lolinder]

> search engines that prioritized minimal (or minifiable) websites

https://search.marginalia.nu tries to be this, and is now being worked on full time by its creator.

[seanw444]

Also https://wiby.me

[eterps]

> search engines that prioritized minimal (or minifiable) websites

I actually like that idea.

[krapp]

A few have popped up on HN. The problem is, the quality of search results is often terrible, because the assumption that complexity of layout and density of information, much less relevance, are mutual opposites isn't valid.

[asoneth]

> the quality of search results is often terrible

Having used a few, I agree there's room for improvement.

> the assumption that complexity of layout and density of information, much less relevance, are mutual opposites isn't valid

I agree, but has anyone claimed that there is a correlation between a page's complexity and the quality of its information?

My experience has been that the folks who willingly disable javascript, use niche minimalist search engines and browsers, or otherwise prioritize a minimal ("smol") web experience are acutely aware that they are making a tradeoff. They sacrifice access to a significant fraction of the overall web including many high quality pages in exchange for a user experience they prefer.

Like many who have tried it, I found the experience too limiting, but I appreciate what they're doing. If nothing else, their efforts are making the web better for people who rely on accessibility technology and are forced to make such tradeoffs.