moving to the small web
I finally decided to make my own personal website. As a semi-zoomer born into the world of new-gen social media I have never felt able to really have a virtual place of my own. This is my first step in trying to create that. This idea is related to the following points.
You don't have control
First of all, you don't really have any control anymore in the big web. Take Xitter for example: All you get is a shitty profile with a profile picture, a banner and one pinned post. This is bad enough even without getting into that one guy's politics and his ulterior motives with the platform. The same lack of creativity applies to most other online services: Steam, Instagram, you name it.
Technology is supposed to be inspiring, but it really isn't anymore. You are actively being deprived of your creativity. It's cookie-cutter, commercial, faceless, tasteless, lukewarm. Your creativity is limited to character limits, file types, the same format everywhere, rules of only getting to put text where text belongs and images where images belong. These rules are not to be broken.
This lack of control is not unique to websites. This is the basic DNA of all mainstream technological systems. For example with Windows you are buying into an operating system that doesn't trust or respect you. I believe this shapes fundamentally how you interface with technology: It is given to you as a locked platform, where you do exactly what the owner of that product wants you to do. I had long realized this and I had played around with Linux distros for many years, but last year I finally decided to completely switch to Linux. While I'm not a ricer and I just use Debian with Gnome, I got a taste of freedom, of getting to actually decide what my computer does.
Stop consuming, start creating
The internet is full of stuff that is really attractive and interesting. It is very easy and appealing to just endlessly consume what others create. You really need to actively strive to create something yourself in order to develop your own ideas and ways of thinking.
This idea was originally implanted into my mind by an online cyber security lecture, where one point was to move on from consuming to producing your own stuff once you have gained the required experience to do so. For example, I keep discovering new cyber peeps who have created full on interactive products just by having an idea and using AI to fulfill it. I know, AI is slop and I hate reading anything written by it, but I do believe there are some sensible applications of it. I see it as a positive influence if it helps someone start creating new genuine stuff that interests them.
What next?
I'm going to start and try applying the principle of creating stuff myself into all of my interests. At the same time I will be trying to move most of my online life into the small web and other alternatives of mainstream online platforms. I have no idea what it's going to look like in the end and whether I will be able to stick with it, but the new year is at least a good excuse to try.
Thank you for reading. I hope you have a blessed year.