Happy "The Web You Want" Day!
It's four years since Brent Simmon's post 'You Choose' in which he advocated that we must decide the type of web we want to inhabit.
The post was written against a backdrop of carrion calls that blogging was dead and the joy had been sucked out of the internet. But people still blog, there are good things to read and people are still "writing joyfully and creatively for the web!"
This is always important but possibly more so at present than in recent years. The landscape is shifting, it feels like 2023 has seen a seed change:
... it feels like there has been a rapid acceleration this year alone, as though those roots have well and truly taken and things are growing apace. More people are finding each other through blogging than have done in a long time.
The curiosity and pull to find others seems stronger than it has been in years.
Social media is not the great panacea, that's been evident for years, yet people want to rebuild a broken system – everything wants to be the new Twitter. It's not a technology problem but a human one. Global scale networks will always suffer the same problems especially if you are trying to replicate those failed.
Building the web we want doesn't just mean getting elbow deep in code and making new tools. It also means choosing the tools you use wisely, building your (small n) networks in meaningful, sustainable ways. It means thinking for yourself and not being yet another angry voice shouting into the void. It means starting small, being patient and understanding, open to new and different ideas.
'The web you want' is different for different people but there is infinite virtual real estate for that to become a reality, we just have to decide it's worth it and put in the work.
You choose!
