On a New, Open Web
The Internet as we know it today evolved from a system initially born as a government funded infrastructure, and designed around principles of decentralisation. Wait, what? Yes, you read that right: it is (and has always been) decentralised at heart.
Internet is a network of interconnected networks of computers. Ok so how comes that today we are so dependent on a few big tech corporations' services? What about all the other networks? Are we really obliged to adapt ourselves to the platforms' rules (and algorithms), or can we step back? At what cost?
In this essay, I aim at retracing the key milestones of the Internet development–in relation to the topic I'm addressing–and show how it has changed. But most importantly, how we can take back control of it and rebuild our dear, safe, free open web. And how the economy will then be forced to follow.
2004: When UGC Was Born
I am part of that last generation born when the Internet wasn't mainstreamed yet. I must admit it has always fascinated me, to the point I'd choose a technical high-school to better understand electronic circuits and telecommunications. I even wrote a hand-coded essay on this topic back then, in 2004. I eventually I figured out I draw better than I built circuits, so here I am.
It seems that 2004 was the year when the Web (which is not The Internet, but rather a service operating on The Internet) switched from 1.0 to 2.0. We went from web pages as structured HTML documents to new approaches for sharing and exchanging content: from blogs and RSS to the video-sharing platform YouTube (founded in 2005), which introduced the concept of user-generated content. The Web started to be interactive, getting more and more popular. The social dimension of it quickly came to the surface, with the rise of Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and later Instagram, which gained users rapidly and became a central part of youth culture.
The Web 2.0 boom drew investment from companies worldwide and saw many new service-oriented startups catering to a newly "democratized" Web. [Source]
"The Internet is one of humanity's most important creations." Source: Opte.org
Evolution was quick and unstoppable, as the Internet became a social system and transformed the way people interact with each other. As soon as the panoply of available services started to be narrowed down to a bunch of players, digital humanity–let me phrase it this way–found itself relying almost exclusively on centralised data storage and management. Maybe I was busy doing something else, I hadn't payed attention, or I simply haven't seen this coming–but trust me if I tell you I couldn't see the risks I see today, back then.
Risks of a hub-and-spoke Internet
What does a centralised data storage and management actually imply? I mean, who cares if I use Google for my email (and calendar, contacts, GPS, business reviews, work documents) and Meta/X for all my social media and communication needs (wether I want to say something or be informed on something, beside keeping in touch with friends and family)? And if I need–or better carve for–anything, I can get it delivered at my doorstep in 24h with Amazon?
In this scenario, which was my reality until last year:
- If any of the services mentioned above shuts down, modifies its terms, changes the algorithm, or who knows what else they can wake up and decide to do, I have no other choice but passively accept whatever comes my way.
- Relying for 95% of my Internet life on a bunch of big tech companies was twice as dumb. Why? Because those big tech companies are not run by random gentlemen: their owners are the richest people on Earth. And it's not me saying that, it's Forbes.
When governed by a few big for-profit corporations, the underlying infrastructure of the Internet becomes more subject to potential oligarchy, control over data, and–sigh–censorship.
It's not even a choice of wether to play the game (aka use their services) or not. It goes farther, because "When Democracy Runs on Code, Autocrats Don't Need Armies":
We live in an age where the most vital arteries of power flow through data centers and network switches. Who needs to occupy a building when you can revoke everyone's security credentials?
Acting consciously is not an option in today's world, in Web 3.0 and in the Internet of Things (IoT) era. The Internet is now so ubiquitous in our lives that we MUST be conscious in how we use it and what we giveaway in exchange.
Back to an Open, Decentralised Web
The Internet is still that wonderful, decentralised infrastructure it once was. It's still built on HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and other decentralised protocols. It's time to bring back social media to their true nature, and start using them again for connecting and communicating freely (free from algorithm, free from ads)–not selling. I long wondered myself how to handle the loss of professional opportunities it would represent to quit the Social Meta (which I am doing and documenting, with the aim to share the process in another post). But then I look a bit further in the future, and I see things are changing. The economy itself is changing: we will soon need to less advertise goods simply because we will buy less, recycle more, reuse even more.
I recently discussed with a friend, Virginie, head of Communication and CSR at a big public transportation authority, about the amount of garments we have produced in the world as of today. Well, it seems that if we'd stop producing new clothes NOW, we would still have enough for 6 generations to come (around 200 years, till 2225).
Conclusions
The World is changing. Perhaps it's time for our mindset to shift too. I firmly believe that the best (and only, if you ask me) way to empower ourselves, build our own opinion, and take conscious responsibility of our own actions is the one and only: knowledge.
And the best part of knowledge is that once you have it, you can't ignore it.
Hello, I'm Simona, and this is my happy place on the web (more on that here). I am an Italian designer and illustrator based in France, my happy place on Earth.
Illugination is where I gather my thoughts on topics ranging from education and philosophy to animation, sustainability, and sometimes even physics. It's also my creative studio: here you may find case studies for projects I've worked on and creations I’ve brought to life in the last 10 years or so.
Thanks for being around,
Simona
I'm not alone, and you are not either
More people are talking about the need for a open, respectful Web:
Maria Farrell
Others are addressing the risks of giving your content to big corporations (spoiler alert: when they shut the service down, it hurts):
Anuj Ahooja
