I feel old, ancient, I hear myself saying “when I was younger this and that was better, blah blah blah”. Just like old people do. However, I'm certain the web was better.
The web was a place of collaboration, intrigue, personal power, and the ability to build your own thing, all while visiting others bit of cyberspace too.
Then, the Corpweb snuck in.
Corporations sucked all the fun out of the net without me really noticing. I vaguely remember posts on Digg, then old Reddit warning the web would be taken over, filled with banner ads, controlled by massive corporations. Then it happened, we are living it. It slipped by us in the night, slowly morphing into the monster our friends and family use every day, sucking away at their life.
Now I've found you guys, the Indy web, and I'm happy again. A world of possibilities has opened up, the web as it should be, and I'm so excited!
Big tech be damned, I'll take this corner of the web any day over that nonsense.
So, hello, I'm Skedaddle, it's nice to find you, and make your acquaintance.
Sup. Fellow newcomer here.
I barely remember the old internet. I was a sheltered child, and the corpweb takeover was already well underway by the time I "joined the internet" so to speak. It can be a hell of an adjustment going from corpweb to slower, more personal corners of the web like this. I feel like I'm rewiring my brain away from instant gratification and analytics and back towards a healthier model of interacting with other people, you know? It's nice. Difficult, but nice.
Sup, Strandedchangeling,
You have escaped! And that is what matters, regardless of being able to remember the “old internet”.
I like the idea of “rewiring my brain”, it feels that is precisely what is happening. It feels like I'm getting better. This is the last step in my path of my digital detox, and it feels great.
Haha I remember making a post similar to this when I first stumbled upon the Pub. This place really is like an oasis in the middle of all the craziness of the modern web. Happy to have you here at the Midnight Pub!
Hi Skedaddle,
I’m Albus, or port53. But I get it, we live in this world that is obsessed with monetization, and it’s tiring. However, I think lately I’ve also moved away from the big players. More towards the “well build it yourself” crowd. It just makes me smile more, and that’s something I can get behind.
I’m new here too. But it’s lovely to see you.
Tootles
~Albus
Hello Albus,
I feel we are on the same level, “well build it yourself” certainly makes me smile too.
People can't understand why I don't use Facebook, Instagram, or any of the other nonsense any more, they feel that is the internet, how can't I be on it?!
This site shows there is a whole world out there beyond the Corpweb™, and I love it.
Tatar for now,
Skedaddle
Welcome!
I feel like there was a period of time in the late 2000s and early 2010s where it felt like FOSS was gonna take over? Everyone was using Android (pre-Google!), Firefox, Kodi/XBMC, Adium/Pidgin...
Then the CorporateWeb™ swooped in and took over. What a shame.
I highly agree, things seemed good back then, there was the air of something bad happening, but I thought it would never come into fruition.
FOSS, thankfully, does still exist, there are loads are really exiting projects out there, including Kodi to install and play with. I have very fond memories of Pidgin!
I feel that even though the CorporateWeb™ seems to have taken over, it hasn't, yet… We are still free to do our thing and ignore it.
Pidgin is actually still very functional if you don't mind tinkering with it!
Unfortunately we do have to use the corporate web more and more for things like paying rent etc.....
I'll be checking that out then, when I have some free time. It's good to know Pidgin not dead.