further reading | on the small web

stop talking to each other and start buying things: three decades of survival in the desert of social media (2022) - catherynne m. valente

note: this person gives elon musk way too much credit but the rest of the essay is good

don't make art for likes: pros and cons (no date attached) - christine nishiyama

note: honestly i'm pretty anti-social media in general and this essay still encourages people to use social media, so we're partially at odds here, but if you're gonna use social media, this is a good mindset to have.

"Rewilding an already built environment isn't just sitting back and seeing what tender, living thing can force its way through the concrete. It's razing to the ground the structures that block out light for everyone not rich enough to live on the top floor."
note: this essay is not critical enough of capitalism as i would like -- it advocates for the supposed need for "[capitalist] competition" at many points throughout and only briefly touches on how municipalizing or communalizing current monopolies, or otherwise de-privatizing them, would provide a sound foundation for rewilding the internet. BUT! still a good essay overall. good research done

note: this author's words about neocities and its culture at the end of the essay kind of sting a bit, but overall it brings up really good points about the difference between the "old web" as it gets talked about and supposedly recreated by people who don't understand it very well, and what it actually was like. i was too young to make websites during the time the author talks about, but i was online and i remember seeing the kinds of amazing websites from back then. it's what i aspire towards one day. who knows, maybe i'll outgrow neocities someday and migrate to my own domain. being good enough at webmastery to justify that still seems kind of out of reach for me though