This particular page design can be read as an intentional response to Web2.0, something the authors of this article considered to be part of a broader campaign to remove "amateur" production from the web. They published a book, Digital Folklore, expanding on this idea a few years later: https://digitalfolklore.org/

Design is both a linear progression and an infinitely looping circle/pendulum. Things were really free and organic at first. People got frustrated with this, and rising tech companies gave them "clean, modern" design instead. It was embraced because it was easier on the eyes, and faster to use in general. But now I think there's a growing resentment toward the "clean, modern" look, because it's simplified every drop of soul and humanity out of digital interfaces and expression. The pendulum will probably start to swing in the other direction soon.

It's a shame Twitter Bootstrap wasn't around in 2007.