Reclaiming The Internet
Breaking free from social media to create something of your own.
Where We Are Now
As I’ve written about in the past, social media has fundamentally changed the way people use the Internet. Millions of people aren’t even aware they’re on the it when using Facebook, which is just one of many disappointing but unsurprising statistics.
Gone are the days of independent blogs. The days of AngelFire, GeoCities, even the mere customization options of MySpace or LiveJournal have been effectively done away with for the uniform, sanitized design of the small handful of places people still visit.
Having such few places to visit is streamlined and convenient, sure. But these are no longer just platforms, they’re publications. Meaning they have control over what you see and when you see it, fundamentally altering our perception of information, opinion, and art.
And sure, you have options for independent websites that are still advertised to the consumer — Wix, Squarespace, but these are costly and ultimately still owned by someone else.
This is, of course, is where I’d like to introduce a supposed saving grace for the internet — technology like the JAMSstack and Gatsby. With websites like Netilfy and GitHub allowing people to freely host…
