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A website to destroy all websites

henry.codes

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Re: A website to destroy all websites

#291

Post by scotty79 »

If only we could separate out social network from content.

I think chat apps are a good place to start. It's a place where contents of your friends list matters. Where the only way to have something recommended to you is asking someone for it or someone close to you coming to the conclusion that you, personally might enjoy it.

What's left to figure out is how to connect these systems that have strong identity and viciously curated friends lists to recommendation engines and content mills in a way that's opt-in. That lets users control the content that lands in their lap. That let's them decide where they land between "I'm gonna ask a friend about what's cool" and "just plug me to firehose" spectrum.

The connection should let users make available many freshly generated pseudonymous identities so that content mills can only create ephemeral profiles of you.

I imagine chat systems should let you tag your contacts and expose only a part of your social network when you ask content mill for recommend content.

There's so much more to discover beyond the modern status quo where we basically surrendered everything.

Re: A website to destroy all websites

#294

Post by davkan »

zassy wrote: post #272
rustystump wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, this is too dismissive. There was a large shift in the culture of people over the last decade or so as the bay area money printers started printing faster than finance firms were printing. Eg tech money attracted a culture of people wed normally label “finance bros”. Patrick Bateman types but without the explicit murder. Status, money, often born outstandingly privileged. This is the tech bro people speak of. It…

That’s how you use the term because you don’t like those people. I’ve heard people use the term to disparage Linus Torvalds and even Aaron Swartz because they didn’t like them.

Using tech bro on Torvalds is well outside the pattern of usage I’ve seen, which trends more towards GP’s definition, at least in the past 5 years.

Re: A website to destroy all websites

#295

Post by Kovah »

CGamesPlay wrote: post #182
garganzol wrote: post #179

To give it a different light: by using an indie web approach (i.e. self host), there is an intrinsic guarantee that a publisher has put at least some effort and resources to make their materials public. This ensures that the published materials have certain authenticity and inherent amount of quality. Publishing them "the indie way" functions as a kind of proof of work: not a guarantee of excellence, but evidence tha…

> To sum it up: this is not so much a problem of the internet as a lack of discernment among its users. This is very true. I've found that there's more good content than there ever was before, but that there's also much more bad content, too, so the good is harder to find. RSS helps me, curated newsletters help me. What else helps build this discernment?

Sorry for the shameless plug, but I built [Cloudhiker](https://cloudhiker.net) exactly for this: exploring great websites.

Re: A website to destroy all websites

#296

Post by elestor »

pavlus wrote: post #148
Aurornis wrote: post #25

I think the comments here are a great example of why this idea always sounds better in nostalgic reminiscence than in practice: As I write this, nearly half of the comments here are complaining about this website. There are complaints about requiring JavaScript, the font size, the design, the color choices, the animations. Complaints about everything the designer did to make this site unique and personal, which was t…

I've read your comment before visiting the site, and it got me wondering -- how bad can it be? Can it be worse than those acid green on red sites of the 90s-00s? Imagine my surprise, when I opened the site and it looked and felt just like a museum or art exhibit. This was the literal feeling I had -- being at an art gallery, but online. I guess, these comments tell more about the commenters, than TFA. We should remin…

I did the opposite, I opened the website before looking at the comments and thought it was like a beautiful art gallery too. Then I read the top comment, and thought 'What are they talking about??'. Had a complete opposite feeling.

Re: A website to destroy all websites

#298

Post by hirako2000 »

bartread wrote: post #275
pavlus wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've read your comment before visiting the site, and it got me wondering -- how bad can it be? Can it be worse than those acid green on red sites of the 90s-00s? Imagine my surprise, when I opened the site and it looked and felt just like a museum or art exhibit. This was the literal feeling I had -- being at an art gallery, but online. I guess, these comments tell more about the commenters, than TFA. We should remin…

There's an assumption, that people sometimes state explicitly, on HN that the discussion is more interesting or valuable than whatever's on the end of the posted link. Sometimes that's true - often even - but sometimes it's not. That's not necessarily a value judgement on the discussion though. From me, at any rate, it's more often a personal perspective: sometimes I'm just more interested in or charmed by the thing,…

To some it felt like nothing as they couldn't render the content.

The challenge when tackling difficult problems is to bring in solutions to those problems.

Subway offered an alternative to junk food. By offering custom flavors of choice, giving consumers more control over what they eat. I don't see any fresh food at subway. Does it mean what they did is futile? No. Can't we point out this is another type of junk ? We better do.

The site is wonderful when rendered with JavaScript. A web to aspire to is one where the system font is set by default, at least could be chosen.

All valid concerns looking at an endeavor discussing a better web. The author may even take note and iterate, there was no claim it was definitive work.

Re: A website to destroy all websites

#300

Post by debesyla »

rchaud wrote: post #193
apublicfrog wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People who were not technical then and are not now made it work with Myspace, Neopets and Geocities. There are a number of free microhosts out there. And the big social media sites also allow you to post a lot more crap. I think bringing back websites like hawkee etc and providing an easy way to host is the right way forward, but it needs a catalyst (like most things) to become a trend.

There's a line from a 2009 episode of The Office that sums it up: Jim: "Pam texted back saying we could give them all iPods". Phyllis: Oh, if they don't have an iPod by now they really don't want one." Website creation has reached its equilibrium rate of growth. Those who want a website will make one, and the rest won't. Personal websites are one of many media for public self-expression today; in 2004, the options we…

I see it similar to writing books. Everyone can write it (dictating to someone else is also writing), it can be good for person (putting ideas in understandable way, sharing inner ideas). Buuuut not everyone wants to do it.

I guess fetishising books and personal blogs has a limit.

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