Post AcfOVHE6K4CUgHQeae by vrandecic@mas.to
(DIR) More posts by vrandecic@mas.to
(DIR) Post #AcfOVHE6K4CUgHQeae by vrandecic@mas.to
2023-12-09T16:35:37Z
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[long, incoherent rant]Today's reading: the Web is dead, or at least dying.This statement means different things to different people, and thus they blame very different people for it. But also, as with any nostalgia, most people yearn for a Web that never was.For me, the meme is now almost as old as the Web when it's death was declared: Wired wrote this story based on observations by Jonathan Zittrain and others: https://www.wired.com/2010/08/ff-webrip/1/8
(DIR) Post #AcfOVJS03MVTZxwmX2 by vrandecic@mas.to
2023-12-09T16:37:06Z
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Back then it was about apps creating walled gardens that remove more and more content from the Web where it could be found and read through the browser. Today, Blue Sky, Facebook, Discord, Telegram are all further pushing that trend. Less and less of text out there is becoming available.People are still trying to safe that Web, entirely missing that their solution is fighting yesterday's battles: https://berjon.com/fixing-search/2/8
(DIR) Post #AcfOVLNStC4FYTqBk0 by vrandecic@mas.to
2023-12-09T16:37:49Z
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For others, it is the demise of the social Web, and the feeds on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, which are changing in a way that makes it feel like ghost towns. See, for me these social Web sites are already part of the problem, as they are often intentionally undiscoverable, unindexable, not part of the open Web, but for others, this is their main experience they are losing: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/why-the-internet-isnt-fun-anymore?sponsored=0&position=3&category=what_else_were_reading&scheduled_corpus_item_id=4a9577fa-2f78-48b8-938f-873106966233&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fculture%2Finfinite-scroll%2Fwhy-the-internet-isnt-fun-anymore3/8
(DIR) Post #AcfOVNF1xWVdKtuTs8 by vrandecic@mas.to
2023-12-09T16:38:39Z
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Others know where to place the blame, but I fail to see how the solutions they favor would help, or how they address the core challenges the Web is facing today: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/10/14/google-internet-spiral-of-decline-deepmind-mustafa-suleyman/4/8
(DIR) Post #AcfOVPGWQwtHc6chTU by vrandecic@mas.to
2023-12-09T16:39:47Z
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Then there is @pluralistic Cory Doctorow who offered the theory of enshittification, which I think is a surprisingly valuable concept to think about these. https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow/5/8
(DIR) Post #AcfOVTEtevy1wDtSUq by vrandecic@mas.to
2023-12-09T16:40:09Z
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I don't see solutions today. I was just reading a bit on the different views on the problem. The Web that I knew is certainly dead. The Web many others knew is dying. The other way to see this is that the Web is constantly evolving. Some parts and aspects are getting better and interesting. Some parts we cherished and loved are fading and even disappearing, and that makes us sad and grumpy. Some parts are innovating and creative.6/8
(DIR) Post #AcfOVVDYIu524dHPg8 by vrandecic@mas.to
2023-12-09T16:40:46Z
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There are parts I wish that could be preserved, and short of ending capitalism I don't know how. I want it to be a space where everyone can publish. Where everyone can offer their voice. A true peer to peer information space. And it is very close to that.7/8
(DIR) Post #AcfOVX8JBN4e0wqFma by vrandecic@mas.to
2023-12-09T16:40:55Z
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But heck, even Facebook is very close to that, and yet it doesn't feel like the right solution. Wikipedia is very close to that, but it doesn't feel complete. The Web is very close to that, but it doesn't feel sufficient. I think my wish itself is underdeveloped, underspecified, and thus it is already impossible to know how to make substantial moves forward.8/8