Kids will not believe me when I say this, but people didn’t always absorb their “content” by way of mysterious algorithmic black magic on endlessly-scrolling crack feeds. We used to type web addresses into our browsers, and actually visit our favorite sites. This, going to “www dot college shitpost dot com” or whatever, was itself considered a
... See moreUnlike the main public internet, which runs on the (human) protocol of “users” clicking on links on public pages/apps maintained by “publishers”, the cozyweb works on the (human) protocol of everybody cutting-and-pasting bits of text, images, URLs, and screenshots across live streams. Much of this content is poorly addressable, poorly searchable,... See more
Venkatesh Rao • The Extended Internet Universe
objects tied to purpose - a kitchen for cooking, a bathroom for washing, a living room for reading & socialising - but the internet isn’t an object tied to a purpose; it’s everywhere, and you can’t really turn it off and walk away from it, which is why it’s so hard to disconnect. When the internet was limited to the family computer and you had to
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