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so here's a blog talking about how reverting back to the web1 or early web2 is itself a protest against capitalism. and why everyone should do that more.
first, a fact: we need the internet. at this point in time, we cannot live without it, it's like an extra organ in our body. so... we should heal the internet, because it is part of ourselves and we should take care of ourselves. heal the web.
the web was created as a simple mechanism to keep in contact with those you love. take msn / aim / aol for example. it was to the point with some extra fun features: here, talk to anyone you wish to, have a fun profile picture, send them nudges and winks. share what you think or what you're listening to.
now we made that simple mechanism into a cosmic horror, like bo burnham sings in "welcome to the internet" or lemon demon in "one weird tip" there's no time to rest in the modern internet! absolute sensorial nightmare with nowhere to breathe! here, a video about the funeral of a child who died on a school shooting. and up next, a meme about a dancing cat. also, 4 of your friends are messaging you at the same time and you should really, really, check out this ad for coca-cola we've shown you a hundred times.
human minds weren't made to support all of that, especially in my case, autistic ones. so hence the web1 / early web2 as a solution.
the web1/early2 gives you room to breathe. there aren't ads or there aren't that many, or maybe they just aren't as invasive as today. it's just the right amount of advertisement. that very simple feature makes a huge difference, showcasing the first thing wrong with web3: the commercialism of anything. I think in the web3 / present web2 we aren't humans anymore, we are a product to be sold, a client to sell to and the seller— all at the same time. not being any of these for once feels refreshing, it feels relaxing to not need approval of anything or anyone, to just post without thinking about what people will think, posting for Yourself and only you.
the second problem is the lack of personality. human beings we've just gone minimalistic on everything, and I mean why? aren't things supposed to be eyecatching to keep you interested? also, why limit yourself to a header, a profile picture and a bio when you could do so, so much more? bring back pictures of your cats with their names written in neon green. death to the limitation of creativity! death to minimalism! (unless, of course, you chose that minimalism for Yourself because you enjoy it and it wasn't forced upon yourself.)
in a resume: the solution to things is to make advertisement less invasive and prominent, things more customizable and everything a bit slower.
anyway, that was the rant. you can read more about it here: https://yesterweb.org/#manifesto
and how can you be part of this movement? tell your friends to create a neocities or/and spacehey, also maybe get escargot (MSN revival) and get funky and creative. actively critique social media and spread the message, write your own internet manifesto, share it with everyone.
and besides all that, we also have to be realistic: we will never be free until someone finally burns the insta/twt/facebook/amazon servers evacuating all the workers and only leaving their CEOs and higher ups in the building.
but atleast we can actively pretend the world is not ending.
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ニーチェはクソだ
Ah damn that was an incredible reading, it's been a long time since I saw something like this. I love reading manifestos, and this one is no exception, you rarely find one that details things in such a way talking about these topics. I agree on most points, these are things I've been saying for years.
Unfortunately I don't think it can be reversed neither "healed" at this point, web3 is here to stay and even if you encourage things like the use of alternatives (spacehey, escargot, neocities) it will always remain a more "underground" option so to speak. People prefer mainstream apps and websites well knowing all the bullshit involved in using them.
that's the super sad truth, which is why I said at the end that we won't rest until the ceos of those social media sites and higher ups burn. but its good atleast that theres a group of people aware of the damage web3 does, even if it's small and super indie. theres always a light to look to in the dark and thats great.
by axl; ; Report
Casey
I just feel mainly that the web was supposed to be for people to express themselves and be different, but now they want everyone to be the same and feed them garbage for their own advantage to make money
Ellie Bees
love reading people's web manifestos
this was a great one !!
Angela
I've een writting something about this exact subject for the last few days.
The question that keeps coming u for me is how do we get people who have gotten used to the "we need an app for everything" mentality that modern web users have gotten used to. The majority of these popular services require you to use a mobile ap designed for your hone to have the best experience possible. Even if it's still bad it's better than the website. How do we explain to people that downloading an app isn't necessary to have a good social experience on the web? How do we explain that something so open as a website where you can look at their source code directly from a web browser, is some how as secure as a dedicated app?
I love web1/2 but so many of the users of these bigger social media sites don't even use their web browser.
How do we explain that web pages need to continue to exist for a better internet future? These older style websites aren't just prefferable they are necessary for keeping the web as we know it alive
Meta and Elon could turn off their websites and go full app only and we can't stop them from doing it
tbh, it's not that hard. it's about showing people what you can do with all of this limitless creativity in your hands and to show how apps arent always neccesary. alas; the need for apps comes from the need of portability. people want to be able to share things on social media anywhere they go and that's just the reality. some neocities or spacehey profiles aren't adapted to mobile screens and they might never be because this revival of web1/2 relies heavily on the use of computers, because back then, cellphones weren't what they are now.
I think the solution might be to adapt to this need of portability and apps so the ''easier web'' can be spread wider. just the idea of making a site like spacehey into a proper app and being able to show people the slow, patient, and not mind-breaking web, an easy introduction.
webpages are definitely important and they should never die, and they most likely will not as long as computers are alive thankfully.
by axl; ; Report
I would love to keep the look of the old web but make it easy to look at on mobile devices. I recently got a bluetooth keyboard for my phone and I might be able to make this a reality. I can actually reliably edit code on my phone or my tablet (my phone is more powerful even if the screen on the tablet is more comfortable and PC like) So I might actually be able to make my profile nice to look at on mobile. It's not horrible right now but I could do more. I'm still debating on whether I want to go minimalist or maximalist. I think if I add more stuff it would appear more interesting. PC will have a cute cursor though :3 I need to add one for my page
In general I think the classic web should be preserved even if the devices we view them with evolve. I just wish I could still get on spacehey without https, that kills compatibility for older devices
by Angela; ; Report