In the early days of the Internet, we thought it would bring enlightenment via free knowledge, instead we have hate, division, toxicity.
Notes:
- In the early days of the Internet, we thought it would bring enlightenment via free knowledge, "the greatest library ever known".
- Instead we have hate, division, toxicity...where did it all go wrong?
- The optimists need to regroup.
- I still remember the first time I dialed onto the Internet, using an old PC with a modem in a public library.
- It was so exciting, I had all of that information at my finger tips!
- In the early days in the 1990s, we we genuinely excited about the "information superhighway", but now we have the "disinformation swamp".
- There used to be a technical barrier to entry to publish something online: you needed to be able to write some basic HTML code, and upload it to a server somewhere.
- Now, with the advent of user-generated platforms like X, Facebook, and TikTok, ANYONE can publish content online from their smartphones with no effort required.
- As a result, we are swamped in poor-quality content.
- Imagine a library where each book is the random stream of consciousness of anonymous Internet users, shouting abuse at each other. That is the library we have built, and it's terrible.
- I no longer believe it is a net good.
- The most perverse trend of all is the growth of technology skepticism online, with neo-Luddites using technology to spread their dislike of technology, without any sense of hypocrisy.
- We are a few news cycles away from angry righteous mobs attacking data centers, encouraged to do so via their smartphones.
- What I am working on this week:
- Behind on dev projects this week.
- Media I am enjoying this week:
Notes and subscription links are here: https://techleader.pro/a/645-The-Internet-has-failed-(TLP-2024w21)
