I’m always in awe when I find someone who’s had a personal website for longer than I do. In 1996 I was still engulfed with a work in the print industry (which, in hindsight, I enjoyed very much), and a year away from learning how to make websites. About the queasiness you mentioned: I tried to install my old Adium chat client of yore: it still works albeit almost all its supported protocols don’t exist anymore – except for IRC, which I indeed used in 1996. So, I’d say: e-mail, personal websites are the only ones here to stay.