Why private micro-networks could be the future of how we connect

What lies before us maybe isn’t one main mass migration but a dispersal, a disruption of the hegemony as everyone throws up their hands, shouts “OY!” and heads off to a variety of smaller, more bespoke environments: influencer Discords, celebrity or fandom communities, invite-only groupchats, boutique apps like Cohost and Somewhere Good. Of course,... See more

These days many of the best online social experiences happen in very small-scale environments. A few friends, a loose microcommunity, a cozy corner with the right vibes.

It's in the air, thick with it, even, in certain places — the cozyweb, the indieweb, the slow web; tiny internets and run your own social; independent creative communities, local le... See more

A dazzle of Slack bases, Discords, Telegrams, and Circles later, and it feels like we’ve arrived somewhere. Maybe it’s the post-social media era, where people move off the open platforms and into a curated mosaic of niche, private, and cooperative spaces. Or, maybe it’s just that the web we needed was here when we needed it.

But it’s still possible that future apps like Bedford become the way we segment our relationships in the future. Facebook might morph into a general catch-all for people we know or follow, but our most meaningful interactions might occur in a virtual space where the audience knows us outside the screen, says Bayer.

As far as how humans connect to one another, what’s next appears to be group chats and private messaging and forums, returning back to a time when we mostly just talked to the people we know. Maybe that’s a better, less problematic way to live life. Maybe feed and algorithms and the “global town square” were a bad idea. But I find myself desperatel... See more

The Covid situation is actually fostering the rise of online micro-communities where a small group of users share the same values and interest and, as a result, are super engaged

The Internet’s Lonely Urban Design

The Information Superhighway paved over Virtual Villages; can we bring them back?

Keaton Brandt

·

Follow

12 min read

·

Jan 28, 2024

1.94K

49

In the beginning, the internet resembled a quaint village where everybody knew your name. It was largely self-governing and self-policing, with its own norms and customs. Like many i... See more