dreaming of a better internet
sari and
dreaming of a better internet
Above all, people need agency. They need to feel in control. Sometimes, that means designing for subversive behavior. I mean, isn't the most fun often had when you're breaking rules? But this is enormously difficult in software, where you must design almost everythingfrom scratch. Unlike life, you don't get a common repertoire of actions for free –... See more
XH • Internet Playgrounds
Somewhere Good
somewheregood.com
"We choose to build a second brain because it lets us garden our thinking over days, months, and years. Where social media is compulsive, tools for thought are reflective. Where social media is here and now, tools for thought dwell in the long now. Tools for thought slowly build compounding momentum through low, slow feedback loops that point us in
... See moreDiagram Website
diagram.website
Anyway, I don’t want to seem like I’m arguing that the internet of 2023 is “fine” or “healthy”--it’s obviously not. Rather, I’d like to make the case that the internet of 2010 (or wherever you would place the peak of “fun” internet) wasn’t particularly healthy or fine, either, and it’s easy to mistake a sense of ease and comfort under bad... See more
Max Read • Why the internet isn't fun anymore + A.I. and magic
this is something interesting…
But the bigger loss of human agency comes from the billions of people that use these apps. These deep learning AIs are designed to maximize the time we all spend on these apps. While you are reading this memo, you are probably jonesing to switch over to Instagram or TikTok. It turns out when an app company doesn't care about content and asks an AI... See more
Jonah Peretti • The Anti-SNARF Manifesto
The news stories and journalism that break through aren’t the most important stories, but rather the stories that can be shaped into SNARF.
Large parasocial platforms transformed the internet into a hostile and impersonal place. They feed our FOMO to keep us clicking. They exaggerate our differences for "engagement". They create engines for stardom to keep us creeping. They bait us into nutritionless and sensationalist content. Humanity cannot subsist on hype alone.
Small and sincere... See more
Small and sincere... See more
Om Malik: Bumper Sticker Gurus
open.spotify.comDiscussing the long arc of tech; and why optimism.
- being connected to information; then being connected to people; then machines start to own the spaces
- social media is judging all the time
- we now gravitate toward technologies which are more isiolationist