https://www.citationneeded.news/fighting-for-our-web/
'For a lot of people, the web feels worse than it used to. Much of our time is
spent on a handful of giant social networks that do everything they can to keep
people in their apps for as long as possible, even if it has detrimental
effects on the people who are using them, or on the social networks themselves.
Engagement farming and rage-baiting are rewarded, misinformation and
disinformation proliferate, and the temperature often feels like it’s been
turned way up in any interaction where people are just waiting to interpret the
things that you say as uncharitably as possible.
Platforms we used to love have turned into shambling zombies as those who run
them make clear that the wants of their users are little more than irritating
requests to be ignored in search of ever more revenue. Websites outside of
these handful of social networks are harder and harder to even find, and
partially because of that, they have a harder and harder time sustaining
themselves. What is out there is buried among ever-growing piles of useless
content farm material or, increasingly, AI-generated garbage. And the scrapers
run by the companies that help generate the AI garbage are pushing more and
more high-quality work out of reach, with people either placing it behind
paywalls or other such barriers, or choosing not to publish it at all because
it means their hard work might be used to train these models without their
consent.
We’re often being yanked around by tech companies that foist upon us what they
think is going to be the next big thing. The blockchain. The auto-playing
videos that are created by journalists whose bosses insist that "video is the
future of news." To metaverse tools that promise to make our Zoom calls into
low-poly, nausea-inducing experiences with our coworkers. To generative AI
assistants that we have to babysit as they bungle whatever it was that we were
trying to do, as they ship our private data off to probably low-security
servers somewhere.
A lot of excitement around the early idealism of the web has broadly dwindled.
There was naivety in that idealism, to be sure—that the web would solely be a
force for good, something that would break down barriers, bring people
together, and allow information to be free. But especially lately, it seems
like the web has just become another tool of unfettered capitalism, as massive
companies build ever higher walls around their internet empires, treating the
people who use their software as resources from which to extract money and
personal data.
What is left for those of us who saw the web as an infinite canvas, a tool to
reach those who we never could have dreamed of reaching before, a medium that
could stretch the limits of what was even possible in an analog world? Judging
by mainstream talking points about big tech and the coinage of terms like "the
techlash" to describe the much harsher opinion of tech companies compared to
their earlier days, I think this is a fairly widespread feeling.
So, having said all this, would it surprise you to hear that now more than
ever, I feel that same burning feeling of excitement around what’s possible?'
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
