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What I want from the internet

chrbutler.com

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Re: What I want from the internet

#31

Post by gonzo41 »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #3

> And the internet used to be more work to experience. Today, it’s more work to avoid. Since the author likes analogies, I'll add mine: the internet now has become roads, bridges, towns. The internet used to be forests, rivers to ford, camps. There used to be an exploration-aspect to the internet, not sure what you would find if you took this trail or that one. Now we all seem to travel the few, well-worn roads to th…

I describe it as, the internet of books and text became the internet of videos and music. Not better or worse just different.

Re: What I want from the internet

#32

Post by DoreenMichele »

DamnInteresting wrote: post #30
DoreenMichele wrote: post #7

I'm pretty darn sure I'm not the only independent content creator being largely ignored, attacked for "self promotion" if they post their own work while no one else ever posts it etc and then listening to people whine about the internet and how they wish this, that or the other while you roll your eyes and think to yourself again "This is the internet you helped create. If you don't like it, make other choices."

The problem isn't self-promotion per se, the problem is the sheer amount of self-promotion that occurs when it is allowed. If any is permitted, then often all is permitted, and a forum becomes inundated with people vying for attention. Classic tragedy of the commons.

You are missing the point. Entirely.

If you know of an independent creator and they do something you like, share it.

Re: What I want from the internet

#33

Post by JohnFen »

camgunz wrote: post #29

I mostly buy Eternal September, or as rephrased by David Foster Wallace: "[The internet] is the way it is simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their vulgar and prurient and dumb interests and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic and noble interests." Like, the internet is banal because we're (the rich world) all on it. It's not a weird little niche anymore. So it's now subject to all the (…

> You just gotta get out of the browser.

I agree with this. The internet is a great tool. The web is extremely problematic and growing less useful over time.

Too many people think that the internet and the web are the same thing.

Re: What I want from the internet

#34

Post by chrbutler »

JohnFen wrote: post #33
camgunz wrote: post #29

I mostly buy Eternal September, or as rephrased by David Foster Wallace: "[The internet] is the way it is simply because people tend to be extremely similar in their vulgar and prurient and dumb interests and wildly different in their refined and aesthetic and noble interests." Like, the internet is banal because we're (the rich world) all on it. It's not a weird little niche anymore. So it's now subject to all the (…

> You just gotta get out of the browser. I agree with this. The internet is a great tool. The web is extremely problematic and growing less useful over time. Too many people think that the internet and the web are the same thing.

Yes, I struggle with that all the time - and not getting bogged down into yet another explainer that they are not the same thing!

Re: What I want from the internet

#36

Post by reaperducer »

gonzo41 wrote: post #31
JKCalhoun wrote: post #3

> And the internet used to be more work to experience. Today, it’s more work to avoid. Since the author likes analogies, I'll add mine: the internet now has become roads, bridges, towns. The internet used to be forests, rivers to ford, camps. There used to be an exploration-aspect to the internet, not sure what you would find if you took this trail or that one. Now we all seem to travel the few, well-worn roads to th…

I describe it as, the internet of books and text became the internet of videos and music. Not better or worse just different.

I describe it as, the internet of books and text became the internet of videos and music.

Except that the internet never was books, and was only text due to technological limitations.

When we started networking all the computers together, we (myself included) had this vision of an information utopia where everyone would be able to access all of the information previously locked up in books, magazines, and newspapers.

But that never really happened. Instead, people started making new content — the faster, cheaper, and lower quality, the better.

The old content remained locked up in libraries. Some of it managed to move behind paywalls, but the vast majority of the information — and lessons — learned in the last 500 years has been forgotten because it's not free and easy to access.

We had this naïve vision that with everyone online, people would rally around the best of what humanity had to offer, and we'd all be exposed to the planet's best art, literature, music, and knowledge. Instead, we got mostly the exact opposite of what we set out to build.

Re: What I want from the internet

#37

Post by ghaff »

jasode wrote: post #16

>It is hard, though, to build and maintain the structures of the old, “smaller” internet. You can, today, still go back to the can-to-can structure that a personal website, an RSS feed, and a browser provide. I think the author ignores another reason that people (especially us techies) don't like to admit: The majority of people don't care about following a list of personal websites. Instead, websurfers just get what…

I've certainly gone through phases of posting content of various types on various sites over time. I'll probably get back to posting on my own sites a bit more as one of my main channels went away. But it is easy to let dropping some comments on social media take the place of writing even a short blog post--and that's even assuming you have a blog all set up and everything.

>But he does stay active on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cshirky

Sort of. He hasn't posted anything since last year. [ADDED: I'm wrong. Pinned tweet threw me off.]

Re: What I want from the internet

#39

Post by jasode »

ghaff wrote: post #37
jasode wrote: post #16

>It is hard, though, to build and maintain the structures of the old, “smaller” internet. You can, today, still go back to the can-to-can structure that a personal website, an RSS feed, and a browser provide. I think the author ignores another reason that people (especially us techies) don't like to admit: The majority of people don't care about following a list of personal websites. Instead, websurfers just get what…

I've certainly gone through phases of posting content of various types on various sites over time. I'll probably get back to posting on my own sites a bit more as one of my main channels went away. But it is easy to let dropping some comments on social media take the place of writing even a short blog post--and that's even assuming you have a blog all set up and everything. >But he does stay active on Twitter: https:…

>Sort of. He hasn't posted anything since last year.

He posted this one April 23 (about 15 days ago): https://twitter.com/cshirky/status/1650298747237064704

I think the default Twitter webpage view is confusing because the pinned older tweets (Dec 31 2022) are shown before the most recent tweets.

Re: What I want from the internet

#40

Post by moffkalast »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #3

> And the internet used to be more work to experience. Today, it’s more work to avoid. Since the author likes analogies, I'll add mine: the internet now has become roads, bridges, towns. The internet used to be forests, rivers to ford, camps. There used to be an exploration-aspect to the internet, not sure what you would find if you took this trail or that one. Now we all seem to travel the few, well-worn roads to th…

In that sense, HN at least feels like a village up in the mountains. With lots of trails leading into less travelled forests around it...
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