My quest to escape the modern internet
Over the past few years I've become increasingly frustrated with the way tides are shifting on the internet. Maybe it's nostalgia for the wild west of blogs and forums in the 2000s - 2010s, or maybe there's a genuine threat to the online social space as we know it. I believe the reality is a combination of both. I am indeed nostalgic for an older version of the web, one absent of endless algorithmic feeds and walled gardens designed to trap and contain users. But those are also all reasons I think the internet as we know it is dying. Much of the blame is certainly on big companies hijacking and monetizing our attention, but I think a lot of the internet's problems are our own fault too.
We've become addicted to instant gratification. No one wants to browse a forum thread for twenty minutes in search of one specific answer when we could have an AI agent do it for us in seconds. We've collectively given up on appreciating art and quality entertainment because sometimes those things require an investment of our time. We can get a much better ROI for our time by browsing algorithmically generated feeds specifically curated to our interests than taking the time to watch an old movie we may or may not like, or to take the time to learn about an artist or the intricacies of their creative process. No one wants to take the time to author a blog knowing it is unlikely to be read by anyone when we could post a meme or hot take that is far more likely to get views and Likes.
So that's what I'm doing here. I want to slow down and take my time to process and share ideas, even if those ideas are significantly less likely to be seen or appreciated by anyone. Along the way, I hope to learn more about the foundations of the internet and how to operate a website without relying upon social media which don't have my (or your) best interests in mind. I think it's also important to learn how to share and communicate ideas beyond the scope of a short video or character-limited post. I don't claim to be a writer, but I'll never get better at writing by using Twitter, that's for sure.
Just getting the website you're looking at right now has been quite a journey, and I still have so much more to learn. I've dabbled in many hobbies over the years, but even the ones which didn't "stick" still taught me so much about how the world works and gave me immense appreciation for people in those areas who actually know what they're doing. I probably won't become a programmer or web designer any time soon, but learning how to SSH into a VPS to configure nginx and install Joomla and Peertube on the same system has opened my eyes to just how complicated and beautiful the internet is from merely a technical level; not even including the creative level which rests on top of all that.
Take back control
Streamlined, all-in-one solutions certainly exist. You don't need technical knowledge to use one of the many website building services out there. But to me, those just feel like an extension of the walled gardens on social media I wish to escape from. As of this writing, my primary website is using Google Sites. I love how easy it is to quickly update text and share basic information... but that's about it. Google Sites doesn't let you embed much (if any) custom code, customization is limited to basic colors and fonts, and there's no dynamic or advanced features such as blogging. I can only do whatever is approved by Google and if Google doesn't like my website or my account for any reason, I could disappear suddenly without a trace. The internet has become an extension of our very identities and lives, yet so often these big companies treat us as disposable commodities with no right to privacy or expression. I used to be a heavy Google user with all of my most important files and services run by them. But then I came across a few horror stories: people who were banned for unfair or unknown reasons and lost access to everything. These were years ago so I don't have any specific cases to share, but imagine storing files on Google Drive, using Google Fi for your phone provider, Google Sites for your web presence, Gmail for your email, etc. All of these services tied to one account which is ultimately beyond your control. Lose that account for any reason, and your digital presence is effectively murdered. This is true for all of these big service providers. A silly misunderstanding could result in your smarthome locking you out of its systems. Any internet-connected device, even appliances, could randomly decide to stop working. Getting back to Google specifically, the Google Graveyard is a sobering example of the many services people once relied upon which no longer exist. The only way we can avoid these catastrophic problems from harming us is to rely less upon these companies and take back control. All we have to do is trade just a little bit of time and convenience. I'm getting beyond the scope of web hosting with all of this, but these realizations have led me to discover platforms as services such as Home Assistant, Proton, countless open-source projects, and the Fediverse.
Maybe I'll do more with this website, maybe I won't. At least I tried, and learned a lot as a result of that.
