I share the same sentiment, which is why I created this website: https://www.sublink.app
It's not about promoting anything, but rather, I genuinely wish for a platform where everyone can curate their favorite websites and articles, you can read my article here: https://mazzzystar.github.io/2023/12/07/sublink/
Where Have All the Websites Gone?
81–90 of 407 posts
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is a consequence of elite takeover of the internet. The culture you describe still exists, but it's largely found in places considered unsavory and uncouth by mainstream organizations.
I‘ve always considered it to be exactly the other way round: in the old days of yore, the Internet was dominated by a certain kind of elite, and then the Endless September happened and commercialization followed.
It was dominated by an academic and intellectual elite somewhat detached from real world politics and economics, and was replaced by that political and economic elite.
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#83Isn't this how we classify web "generation"? * Web 1.0: independent websites, self-maintained, hard * Web 2.0: hosted platforms like blogs and social networks, easy, but rely on providers * Web 3.0: promise to free users from the platform providers but are mostly crypto scam currently.
Web 3 as you described it never existed. I think Web 3 is more the TikTok and other mass content tools. Still dependent on their parties, but it's shifted to more access to rich content and more access, rather than the curated pinhole view of "posts", especially when it comes to live feeds.
Yes, but I'd describe it more like Web 2.5 is basically the gross-weaponization of gossip as a glorified get-rich-quick pyramid scheme. There is little-to-no reason for this mode of thinking in 2024 and beyond, if we are to realize anything resembling actual human potential.
Until a more equitable society exists, we will likely not see a legitimate Web 3.0+, in my estimation.
Full disclosure: I'm a cusper Xillenial who thinks Elon Musk is an idiot and hopes he can find some actual value somewhere hidden in the depths of his colossal failures, plural.
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#84unrelated to the post but this website is dope <3
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would it not matter? You think just because a mass group prefers one thing, it will have good outcomes? Will/are your kids glued to screens 24/7 because others prefer it? Seems like you may be a lost cause already. And maybe mass literacy hasn't been around for millenia, but written form of communication and story telling certainly has.
It wouldn't matter because society is already orienting itself towards a screen-first world. Parents that force their kids to read books and not use screens are almost certainly a minority. Seems like you may be a lost cause already. Not sure what this is supposed to mean. I'm describing what I perceive to be a societal shift, not my personal thoughts on whether I think it's good or bad.
It literally matters that people fight that urge. It almost never takes a majority to turn the tide of a movement(and I am not advocating for any extremes). There needs to be some kind of balance. If a parent is "forcing" their child to read books or to be curious about the world, something has gone awry earlier on. I know plenty of parent who limit screen time, let their kids play outside, and do so themselves, but that is all anecdotal and does not represent the average experience.
I guess it "wouldn't matter" if in 50 years everyone is just a mush brain on their couch scrolling TikTok getting fed through a brain tube. Yeah...hard to see how it "wouldn't matter".
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#86I believe that there are still a lot of interesting, non-commercial websites out there. I just can‘t find them anymore. SEO dominates literally every search I try. I also tried Bing, DuckDuckGo, you.com and many more - same result. I think a search engine that excludes every website with google analytics, ad networks and amazon affiliate links would be great. Anyone know of such a thing?
You may want https://search.marginalia.nu/ It gets mentioned here on HN quite a lot.
Really missing a way to sort by recency, that would make it far more useful for me.
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What's missing is the culture of "anonymity" where everyone was pretty much just a screen name It seems that the society at large wants this. 4chan has a horrible reputation in the outside world. Reddit's reputation is improving hand in hand with the tightening of their content policies.
> 4chan has a horrible reputation in the outside world. That's because without any particular individuals to point the finger to, they just blame the monolith of "anonymous individuals". People have always feared the unknown, and the obvious coping mechanism is to aggregate it into some tangible form, whether it's the Boogeyman, Baba Yaga, the Devil, Anonymous, or any other villain, to be used as a scapegoat.
Nah. 4chan's reputation is entirely deserved.
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would really like web3 to go back to distributed networks. Fediverse and all that. I guess cryptocurrencies fit in there too; I guess web3 would have its light and dark side. But decentralisation would be a nice theme. TikTok isn't really fundamentally different from the stuff we consider web2, is it? (I actually think imposing these artificial "generations" on web evolution is silly, but if we're going to do it, I…
I think Web N isn't about the actual tech being used, it's about the way the tech is being used and how it interacts with the real world and our society. Web 1 was HTML informational web sites, maybe some chat rooms and games here and there but not much affect on the real world. Web 2 was/is the "web app" where you can transact various business online, and group into communities and stuff and which is well integrated…
It's interesting because, at the time of Web 2, it was not only the "social media" proposition the only one, but also AJAX as well as more Javascript-driven websites (with more interaction potential). It was also the time of widgets and iframes, where all kinds of interesting 3rd party integrations appeared, like the bookmarklets (remember Yahoo Pipes, netvibes, RSS?). Unfortunately, the seed of advertising pretty much killed the rest over time.
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#89I don't see the TikTokization of the world as necessarily bad - it creates a world of fast publishing with first-class tools, no nerd gatekeeping required.
The problem with having a platform like that is the obvious incentive for rent-seeking.
In the short term user interests align with platform interests because this creates a rapidly growing user base, but in the long term it's contrary to the platform's best interest to act in the users' best interest, as a large number of users alone does not translate to profit, so what happens is what's happened to Facebook, Reddit, Twitter; basically any mature social media platform still around. They turn themselves to poison.
Re: Where Have All the Websites Gone?
#90I used to love a site called 'Stumble Upon' that would take you to random interesting websites. Those were the days.