the worker put aside his early doubts after the video call because other people in attendance had looked and sounded just like colleagues he recognized

Neocities users tend to link to only Neocities users and no one else. Despite many of its users being against walled gardens, it ironically became one itself.

Japanese Personal Web, or as they call it: creative/doujin sites.

I still find it interesting that there are still that many people overseas updating their sites for years despite social media existing

Something that I've noticed in general is that the personal sites over there tend to be very creations/product focused. That is, their sole purpose is to show off things that they've made, rather than embody some sort of persona.

Webrings or cliques over here usually have an admission system: you apply to be part of the ring, and if your site satisfies all of the requirements, then you're allowed in. You add the widget to your site, and the site of the webring/directory will link to all sites that are a part of it.

Since their culture handles criticism and feedback differently compared to those from the West, it's not surprising then that they're finding it hard to adapt to the Cancel Culture that is (unfortunately) heavily normalized over here. This is likely why many of these people, even in such a secluded place as a personal website, take extra precautions to make sure that they don't get negative attention, despite the fact that their sites are already hard enough to find as it is.