dreaming of a better internet

The battle is between two wolves.

One is permanently angry, resentful, loud and aggressive. It’s always howling for our attention with sensational headlines, provocative images, and manipulative tactics.

It wants us to stay on the surface, encouraging us to react rather than reflect.

It feeds on outrage, doomscrolling, negativity, fear, and... See more

I am so, deeply, truly uninterested in reaction (which is why I don’t read the comments on my public Instagram account). But I am so curious about response: the mysterious sacred moments when we are compelled into action (often unwitnessed by others) or invited into new ways of thinking.

It’s the difference between seeing a painting through a... See more

The trouble with the internet, Mr. Williams says, is that it rewards extremes. Say you’re driving down the road and see a car crash. Of course you look. Everyone looks. The internet interprets behavior like this to mean everyone is asking for car crashes, so it tries to supply them.