<![CDATA[I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board.]]>I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. Hard.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/a056765d-d552-4e5c-b8de-cd8fa0877f06/i-have-been-thinking-a-lot-about-the-term-free-and-open-web-lately-and-i-think-that-if-we-want-to-build-an-internet-that-can-live-up-to-some-promise-beyond-i-can-order-garbage-delivered-to-my-house-quickly-we-need-to-go-back-to-the-drawing-board.RSS for NodeFri, 01 May 2026 06:51:46 GMTWed, 01 Apr 2026 15:18:52 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:01:13 GMT]]>@josh We know each other well enough that I'm sure you know that I know what my thought experiment precludes! šŸ˜‚

I didn't say low-friction was "the problem", I said I wondered what social impacts it has. Of course you're right that optimizing for engagement leads to serious social problems; and I'll add that store-and-forward messaging doesn't stop advertising or the motivation for engagement optimization, as demonstrated by newspapers for over a century.

But in order to address @tante's point, I think it's necessary to evaluate all of our assumptions about what's important in the architecture of the internet as it exists today. Low-latency packet routing is one core assumption, and we should consider exactly what it's buying us as well as what it's costing us.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/jamey/statuses/116330520476172132https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/jamey/statuses/116330520476172132Wed, 01 Apr 2026 17:01:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:29:39 GMT]]>
I don't personally think the problem is "low-friction communications". I think *part* of the problem is "engagement optimization": "let me show you the content that will make you respond", which often optimizes for anger. That's not *all* of the problem, and there are other things that need improving, but it seems like a major contributing factor.]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.joshtriplett.org/objects/059f1222-af3a-42db-a04f-44269559d3a7https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.joshtriplett.org/objects/059f1222-af3a-42db-a04f-44269559d3a7Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:29:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:16:19 GMT]]>@derderwish @tante fascism is end-stage capitalism, so getting rid of the latter solves the former...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/LupinoArts/statuses/116330343929479776https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/LupinoArts/statuses/116330343929479776Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:16:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:14:51 GMT]]>@LupinoArts @tante
Depends on the structure that follows.

If fascism follows, we're going to look back to this time of freedomā€¦

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.chaotikum.org/users/derderwish/statuses/116330338145702588https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://social.chaotikum.org/users/derderwish/statuses/116330338145702588Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:14:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:08:33 GMT]]>@tante Part of tackling this is somehow communicating that not everyone has to do everything.

If enough people pitch in, the internet is going to change.

Some way to break that large unimaginable goal with commons aspects into more concrete domains that people can get involved in and attached to.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sigmoid.social/users/spdrnl/statuses/116330313382179235https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://sigmoid.social/users/spdrnl/statuses/116330313382179235Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:08:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:06:08 GMT]]>@tante maybe some federated way of content sharing is worth of thinking. Take the domains out of equation, anyway it is ripping the money from us and taking control from us. And have it based on IPv6 and own distributed dns like system on top. We should have full control. Also lets scrap whole the complexity of modern web engines, letā€™s go back to roots, letā€™s have something like markdown based enriched with forms, very simple styling and very simple scripting and minimal ā€œDOMā€. We should be able to write new browser without all that complexity we have now.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://f.cz/ap/users/115531591970190639/statuses/116330303893007220https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://f.cz/ap/users/115531591970190639/statuses/116330303893007220Wed, 01 Apr 2026 16:06:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:59:14 GMT]]>@tante I was just wondering yesterday if adding friction back to communications would improve anything. For example, what would the social implications be of an internet that only supported delayed store-and-forward messaging, rather than low-latency packet routing? Something like the UUCP/FidoNet era, or in some ways, telegraph networks. I feel like it's socially important for everyone to be able to communicate with people around the globe, and even to be able to share high-bandwidth information like video, butā€¦ maybe not so important to be able to do so quickly? And without a requirement for low latency, mass communications can be supported with so much less complexity and capital. I dunno, I think it's an interesting thought experiment, at least.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/jamey/statuses/116330276759391493https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/jamey/statuses/116330276759391493Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:59:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:48:51 GMT]]>@tante Agreed. I keep thinking community gardens as a metaphor for this... something that is less libertarian in focus, and empathetic.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/nielsa/statuses/116330235890556993https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/nielsa/statuses/116330235890556993Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:48:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:36:34 GMT]]>@LupinoArts @tante

I blame eternal September

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/darwinwoodka/statuses/116330187591050503https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/darwinwoodka/statuses/116330187591050503Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:36:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:36:33 GMT]]>@LupinoArts that is an interesting and complex question.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tldr.nettime.org/users/tante/statuses/116330187587385455https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tldr.nettime.org/users/tante/statuses/116330187587385455Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:36:33 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:30:06 GMT]]>@tante follow-up question: what would we need to change about the internet if capitalism was abolished?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/LupinoArts/statuses/116330162182302186https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/LupinoArts/statuses/116330162182302186Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:30:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:28:39 GMT]]>@LupinoArts both

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tldr.nettime.org/users/tante/statuses/116330156504261842https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tldr.nettime.org/users/tante/statuses/116330156504261842Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:28:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:27:25 GMT]]>@tante hm is the internet structurally the problem, or the fact that capitalism exists in it?

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/LupinoArts/statuses/116330151637908969https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mstdn.social/users/LupinoArts/statuses/116330151637908969Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:27:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:26:26 GMT]]>@tante

100% agreed. The Internet i started with was a game changing thing! Since Tage early 2000's this changed extremely Info Garage. Since the 2020's this changed into a Horror Story of Liars and right wing idiots!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/arrasz/statuses/116330147747815133https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/arrasz/statuses/116330147747815133Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:26:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to I have been thinking a lot about the term "free and open web" lately and I think that if we want to build an Internet that can live up to some promise beyond "I can order garbage delivered to my house quickly" we need to go back to the drawing board. on Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:22:25 GMT]]>@tante Sandboxed, linked uxn ROMs.

I'm only half kidding.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tiny.tilde.website/users/lykso/statuses/116330131973047939https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tiny.tilde.website/users/lykso/statuses/116330131973047939Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:22:25 GMT