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This page exists only if someone is looking at it

ephemeralp2p.durazo.us

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Re: This page exists only if someone is looking at it

#11

Post by netcraft »

caseyavila wrote: post #8

This so cool and weird, almost like I'm in a room with other people.

Yes exactly. I've had this page up in a browser for many years, most of the time with only two other people. I have no idea who they are, no way to communicate with them, but feel very connected in a strange way.

Re: This page exists only if someone is looking at it

#13

Post by nickdothutton »

ShakataGaNai wrote: post #4

Fascinating experiment in ephemerality. If a page is popular, more people will see/share it amongst themselves... but as soon as it loses interest... the content is gone. Also a high potential for content to be gone before it can be indexed.

A few years ago I wrote a little about how we might harness something like this to preserve user generated content when the platform collapses.

https://blog.eutopian.io/beating-the-samson-option/

Re: This page exists only if someone is looking at it

#14

Post by 101008 »

I understand the idea behind this page (and I really liked it), but the title made me think of more a "philosophical" question... do any webpage exists if nobody visits it?

If the page is a static HTML you could say that yes, it exists in the webserver as a file. But what about dynamic webpages.

The frontpage of New York Times (I guess it is generated dynamically from a database)... does it exists if no one access NYT? Do any dynamic webpage exists if no one requests it? Being available and ready to be requested doesn't mean the webpage exists... does it?

Re: This page exists only if someone is looking at it

#16

Post by stronglikedan »

101008 wrote: post #14

I understand the idea behind this page (and I really liked it), but the title made me think of more a "philosophical" question... do any webpage exists if nobody visits it? If the page is a static HTML you could say that yes, it exists in the webserver as a file. But what about dynamic webpages. The frontpage of New York Times (I guess it is generated dynamically from a database)... does it exists if no one access NY…

Only the route exists until visited. Only then does the page exist.

Re: This page exists only if someone is looking at it

#19

Post by MR4D »

101008 wrote: post #14

I understand the idea behind this page (and I really liked it), but the title made me think of more a "philosophical" question... do any webpage exists if nobody visits it? If the page is a static HTML you could say that yes, it exists in the webserver as a file. But what about dynamic webpages. The frontpage of New York Times (I guess it is generated dynamically from a database)... does it exists if no one access NY…

FTA -

Your browser retrieved it from the browser of someone currently viewing this page. You're now a part of the network and someone who loads this page in the future may get it from you!

Re: This page exists only if someone is looking at it

#20

Post by comprev »

101008 wrote: post #14

I understand the idea behind this page (and I really liked it), but the title made me think of more a "philosophical" question... do any webpage exists if nobody visits it? If the page is a static HTML you could say that yes, it exists in the webserver as a file. But what about dynamic webpages. The frontpage of New York Times (I guess it is generated dynamically from a database)... does it exists if no one access NY…

A building does not exist until the materials sitting at the site are assembled.

Same principle applies to dynamic webpages.

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