My time as an IT teacher has given me a sobering look into the role current technology is having in the development of today's youth. As a kid I remember technology being a black box, always offering a new opportunity to learn something new. It was an open challenge, waiting to be unlocked. It simply doesn't feel that way anymore, at least in the broad sense. It just seems like a window to advertising, dopamine, and skewed standards of self and others. I just worry what a world looks like to a person after a mind has grown up surrounded on all sides by these predatory technologies designed not to inspire but to instill dependency. I wish there was a way to reset things a bit, but I'm not sure we aren't past the point of no return.
I think it boils down to intention vs distraction. The latter is unfortunately the status quo. 'Smol Web' was never status quo. We were a bunch of geeks who enjoyed coding our pure html web pages by hand. Creativity is still there, hidden behind the noise, awaiting to be noticed.
Carefully curated bookmarks. A small amount, but beautiful.
hello, i grew up around the time of transition between what we'd refer to as the 'old web' and the current state of the net to-day. i remember very clearly how it used to be, much less corporate, a lot more free and experimental, as people were trying to get to grips with the technology. and witnessing the internet shift, and morph into something more solid and yet soul-less, it was interesting, to say the least. not all soul has been lost from the internet, there are still spaces where people are expressive and creative and straight up enjoying their time on their computers. im kind of rambling right now so idk if this makes much sense. but i wish more people would explore the further corners of the web, and not settle for that which is spoonfed to them by the big companies. i hope that some sort of web-revolution comes soon, though it is rather unlikely to happen anytime soon.
i remember using social media a lot as a teenager, when it wasn't as poisonous as it is now. there was still cyberbullying, and weird standards to 'meet', but it wasn't as all-consuming as it is now. things like tiktok have seriously rotted people's brains, i think, and im very very glad to have grown up in a period before this deep obsession. im not sure what else to say, my head is blank. hehehe