but the lack of constraints
and hilarity ensued...MySpace is/was/never has been less templated than Wordpress. Just not as well templated as Wordpress or as peopled by good developers who add more choice via plug-ins and the WP API. But make no mistake: plug-ins are templates.
A hand-built site is much less templated, as one is free to fully create their digital self in any way possible.
This is partly true, but....every space is a templated space. Coding creates the space. Text boxes and the metaphor of page and post are templated. Just minimally so. Templates are not the boogey man. A haiku is a template, a sonnet is a template, but is anyone reasonably arguing that Basho and Shakespeare would have been better off not using them. We use templates to create buildings. We call them "forms" and use rebar and concrete to send them to the sky.