*warning: I went off on a rant.* I was reminiscing the other day with a friend about a long-forgotten period of time — the days when the internet was fun. Tightknit forums with positive vibes, the early viral videos on YouTube (looking at you, Star Wars Kid), MSN Messenger, the band pages on MySpace, using Limewire to download music (at a glacial speed), searching for information and
A lot of this resonates, Stephen. In some ways I feel like Substack may be one of the last few places on the internet that’s not yet enshittified.
A little disappointed at the implied ageism in this statement, though: “Social sites are polluted with A.I.-generated images that the untrained eyes (read: social users aged 40 and above) cannot tell are fake, generating ungodly volumes of clicks.” I’m way over 40 and I can tell; I’m sure others can too :)
"In some ways I feel like Substack may be one of the last few places on the internet that’s not yet enshittified."
This is exactly why I came here, Karen. I just wanted somewhere peaceful to write. Unfortunately, my second post on Substack is about the disappointment I feel that Substack is already (video creation updates) moving away from that. Following the noise, the clutter, the need to please every bleedin' scroller on the planet.
Sadly true. My solution to this problem so far is to avoid everything that is closely related to tech giants, or at least what I consider better alternatives:
- I use Firefox
- I use Perplexity and DuckDuckGo for search
- AdBlock and uBlock are both installed, as well a uBlacklist
- And I switched all my email and calendar away from Google
- I never had a FB account, and deleted Twitter 2 days ago
- I pay for Youtube Premium, it's a life saver.
Honestly, I rarely see an ads. The only ads are the "sponsors". I also have many other things to do in my life than consulting the media, or news. One has to be careful what they put in their mind and have the will to break free from the addiction.
For some of these, I literally see zero reason not to switch. Like using Firefox isn't going to change anything in someone's life, and DuckDuckGo actually still provide relevant responses, and no ads.
I’ll have to look into ublacklist. But i have everything else you listed but refuse to pay for youtube premium. They annoyed me with ads so I would pay to be rid of them. I’m too stubborn to give in.
I also use a VPN and tutanota email.
But is the internet fun if you have to armor yourself to use it?
Plus my bank blocked me out of my account for using a VPN.
So I’m armoured to the gills and the internet still sucks.
I recommend Proton VPN (paid). Connect to the same server every time you need to log into your bank account. I've never had any problems with VPNs, but remember, I'm in Sweden. Since you're in Western Canada, which is similarly free and "liberal", your bank should accommodate you if you provide a consistent IP. Proton VPN includes Netshield, which fights tracking, malware, and ads. Their email service is also excellent. For me, a reliable paid VPN is essential because I am aware of potential internal threats from malicious or negligent developers - or even security or product teams. Such people often downplay the importance of privacy, but in reality, if you've ever criticized powerful entities, privacy becomes crucial. The Internet is much more enjoyable when you're well protected; it mitigates most of the creepiness. Any weirdness that happens whether I'm logged into my personal accounts or not is never a reflection of who I am; it's just an attempt at manipulation by those who want to harvest my data and my mind.
You’re doing the good work, it is defo down to us as users to do what we can to make it a better experience.
I’m guilty of still using Google, gmail, Safari etc out of laziness of not looking for alternatives. But, do use Adblocks, don’t really use social, try to find and then repeat use trusted sources. But it’s hard to ignore the sludge.
Hey and ProtonMail are good alternatives for e-mail, they offer importation tools so it's more or less seamless. ProtonMail also has a calendar feature. It's inferior to Google Calendar but useable.
I really think the metric and UX of public like and share counts is to blame. It’s almost fine if companies want to continue to use advertisers to generate income and metrics to secure advertisers. But to subject customers and users to judging content by it’s like and share count i think devalues the experience in a really detrimental way. Our barometer of determining with what and how we engage with content from other people should be determined by that content alone - not it’s affect on an algorithm, how much profit said content can make a company or advertisers, not the count of how engagement-bait-ey it is. If that ever happens, we might see some of the fun internet return
It's worth noting that platforms have tried to deemphasise these metrics, at least of the surface, by removing them from display etc. But that backend still operates the same way, promoting what gets the most engagement. It's very unhealthy, unhelpful, and quite harmful to social discourse.
One solution to this would be to respond to user surveys and just generally share feedback.
I work for a cybersec app, we're bulding a tool that tells you how you're seen on LinkedIn.
The founders are big privacy advocates that would ideally love not to have to track anything. If we don't track, then we don't know what works, if we don't know what works, then we risk building the wrong thing. You can't read the label from inside the bottle.
We've tried mitigating the need for tracking by sending surveys, or in-app ratings, as if to say "Help me, help you. I'm trying to respect your privacy and not track you, please tell me what features you're using, so I know what I'm doing here."
Unfortunately, people rarely answer these feedback prompts.
I just finished reading Digital Liturgies by Samuel D. James. An incredible analysis of the impact of digital technology, and an offering of the response a Christian (like myself) should take to the 'Liturgies' of isolation, consumption, outrage, meaninglessnes etc. that our digital technology is driving us towards. I highly recommend it - regardless of faith in Jesus or not.
I'd like to suggest one positive action: look for the quiet.
It's a cornerstone of my site, Ponderous & Friends. I created it to share good stuff from good people that cuts through the every day "dogshit" you describe.
"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth. This is relevant, insofar as it summarises the Christian response that's driving my own work. And, that it offers an alternative. Not to wage war, but to wage peace, silence, quiet and repentance - a loaded word which actually just means "turning in the other direction".
I like Substack because I've been able to link up with a handful of writers I like. I don't like it because it still has a scrolling mechanism. Notes will end up like a pile of poop. I've no doubt. I already struggle with the incessant quote images, and LinkedIn-esque "HOW I BECAME SO SUCCESSFUL" notes. But, like you say, I'm only complicit if I go there myself. I'll stick to the quiet corners. The ones I've chosen to be in.
And, with Ponderous & Friends, create another one. As my post today announces, that's where I'll spend my time. On the actual website, where I have 20 odd posts. My substack has 2. Because even the process of sharing on Substack feels heavy, tainted by algorithms and engagement, the need for clicks and the outrage of an unknown user.
So, I encourage anyone else to find the quiet. Or, even better, to create it.
Not waging war trying to be heard in the overwhelming sludge. But, chipping away in the quiet. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a few others. Who knows. But it tastes to me like a bit of home. A bit of quiet. A bit of the early internet. Of blogs and friendships across blogs. Blogs hyping up blogs. Celebrating work and wonder. But now we've all been dragged here, kicking and screaming, because that's what the algorithms told us to do.
Much of the dysfunction would be tamed if every site had sensible filters (the more powerful the better). That wide-eyed influencer spouting nonsense through their title and thumbnail? Gone. Ragebait general news? Gone. Everything mentioning Elon Musk? You get it. I filter HN now and it is much better.
When the common space gets too polluted, users must be empowered to moderate it for their own use. People are the best curators. And there's potential value in this curation for discovery too.
Then there's the issue of durability. The only safe place is your local storage. We need a standard to make web sites and content into proper self-contained objects. Content-addressed, versioned, resharable. No more brokenness like on archive.org (I adore it btw), just one click to get you an article or an entire interactive blog or wiki that you can archive and redistribute through a(n overlay) network of your choice. Many of the necessary components exist and there's no technical reasons for this not to work.
Maybe you could also host distributed forums or services this way. This together with the ability to self-moderate might help us back on track.
There's a lot more to envision about this new web (or internet in general), but I'll leave it at that. It's gonna be a basket of measures. As long as we nerds still have it in us we can rebuild from the ashes. Take a deep breath; I think things can become like they were, if we make it through this valley.
There's a psychological aspect to this as well. Are we still the same that we used to be? Can we become them again and do we want to? That, everyone will have to answer for themselves.
Some great thoughts in this. Agree that user control, or users taking the time to exercise what control they have, is the only way we really have left to make our internet experience more enjoyable. I have taken a shine to the mute/block buttons on the few platforms I use, and have even found myself using it nice and early on Substack's Notes, trying to mold that to my liking before the algorithm takes its grip.
that reddit quote describes the internet so perfectly! i miss being excited to log on!!! i think the internet has gone from being something we to have a break from life and explore, now we use real life as a break from the internet lol
Also resonate with this. In fact, I think I’m starting to have a paradigm shift. I’m starting to think of what my life would look like without it. I mourn the loss, but it’s clear to me we aren’t going to win it back. I’m starting to engage in art, activities, outside of the internet - save a few sites and services, like this one. (Gosh do I miss blogs and forums!)
If anything the internet is no longer the information super highway. It is now the services highway. That’s what they wanted it to become, I guess, and that’s what it is. Life is going to change now and I guess we just have to adjust and live our lives outside of how it used to be.
Services highway. Damn. That’s a good way to look at it.
Your first paragraph speaks to me — I play sports, play instruments, make furniture, and you know, try to touch the grass now and then, and it’s great. Disconnecting from the internet is the only power you have to stop it taking over you.
Use Proton VPN with NetShield on (paid). Use Firefox (free). Use uBlock Origin (free). Use Decentraleyes (free). Use CanvasBlocker (free). Use Ubuntu (free). Good-bye ads and tracking (at least, some tracking).
Well said mate! Resonates a lot with many of my last reflexions... I still believe that consumers have the power to change things (maybe we aren't that deeply f*cked up right now to feel the need to stop it). And also, new companies will provide better experiences that those before (Arc vs. Google Chrome for example) so they will get the users :) - it's a cycle, it's normal.
"Algorithms have been so well designed and executed (think TikTok) that they’ve removed the need to explore. They’ve taken away the desire to widen horizons. That’s where the curiosity drained away."
Dang - I've gone on many a rant about why I hate TikTok and short form content in general, but I'd never considered this. Well said!
Yikes this was scary good articulation of what’s been happening. The phrase ‘attention farming’ really got me. Also that McDonalds analogy was too real😳 I got off fb & IG last year and stuck to reading emails and substack for now.
A lot of this resonates, Stephen. In some ways I feel like Substack may be one of the last few places on the internet that’s not yet enshittified.
A little disappointed at the implied ageism in this statement, though: “Social sites are polluted with A.I.-generated images that the untrained eyes (read: social users aged 40 and above) cannot tell are fake, generating ungodly volumes of clicks.” I’m way over 40 and I can tell; I’m sure others can too :)
I promise, it was only poking fun.
Substack feels that way, but I’d guess it’s only a matter of time before it falls the same way.
"In some ways I feel like Substack may be one of the last few places on the internet that’s not yet enshittified."
This is exactly why I came here, Karen. I just wanted somewhere peaceful to write. Unfortunately, my second post on Substack is about the disappointment I feel that Substack is already (video creation updates) moving away from that. Following the noise, the clutter, the need to please every bleedin' scroller on the planet.
Here's the post: https://ponderousfriends.substack.com/p/substack-so-far
I feel a sense of irony that I've shoving more URLs in your face, but it's more to share my response to Substack being a safe haven!
Sadly true. My solution to this problem so far is to avoid everything that is closely related to tech giants, or at least what I consider better alternatives:
- I use Firefox
- I use Perplexity and DuckDuckGo for search
- AdBlock and uBlock are both installed, as well a uBlacklist
- And I switched all my email and calendar away from Google
- I never had a FB account, and deleted Twitter 2 days ago
- I pay for Youtube Premium, it's a life saver.
Honestly, I rarely see an ads. The only ads are the "sponsors". I also have many other things to do in my life than consulting the media, or news. One has to be careful what they put in their mind and have the will to break free from the addiction.
For some of these, I literally see zero reason not to switch. Like using Firefox isn't going to change anything in someone's life, and DuckDuckGo actually still provide relevant responses, and no ads.
I’ll have to look into ublacklist. But i have everything else you listed but refuse to pay for youtube premium. They annoyed me with ads so I would pay to be rid of them. I’m too stubborn to give in.
I also use a VPN and tutanota email.
But is the internet fun if you have to armor yourself to use it?
Plus my bank blocked me out of my account for using a VPN.
So I’m armoured to the gills and the internet still sucks.
"But is the internet fun if you have to armor yourself to use it?"
Exactly. I'd argue no - these are steps taken to make it bearable at best.
I recommend Proton VPN (paid). Connect to the same server every time you need to log into your bank account. I've never had any problems with VPNs, but remember, I'm in Sweden. Since you're in Western Canada, which is similarly free and "liberal", your bank should accommodate you if you provide a consistent IP. Proton VPN includes Netshield, which fights tracking, malware, and ads. Their email service is also excellent. For me, a reliable paid VPN is essential because I am aware of potential internal threats from malicious or negligent developers - or even security or product teams. Such people often downplay the importance of privacy, but in reality, if you've ever criticized powerful entities, privacy becomes crucial. The Internet is much more enjoyable when you're well protected; it mitigates most of the creepiness. Any weirdness that happens whether I'm logged into my personal accounts or not is never a reflection of who I am; it's just an attempt at manipulation by those who want to harvest my data and my mind.
You’re doing the good work, it is defo down to us as users to do what we can to make it a better experience.
I’m guilty of still using Google, gmail, Safari etc out of laziness of not looking for alternatives. But, do use Adblocks, don’t really use social, try to find and then repeat use trusted sources. But it’s hard to ignore the sludge.
Hey and ProtonMail are good alternatives for e-mail, they offer importation tools so it's more or less seamless. ProtonMail also has a calendar feature. It's inferior to Google Calendar but useable.
DuckDuckGo also has an email privacy feature that is free
I really think the metric and UX of public like and share counts is to blame. It’s almost fine if companies want to continue to use advertisers to generate income and metrics to secure advertisers. But to subject customers and users to judging content by it’s like and share count i think devalues the experience in a really detrimental way. Our barometer of determining with what and how we engage with content from other people should be determined by that content alone - not it’s affect on an algorithm, how much profit said content can make a company or advertisers, not the count of how engagement-bait-ey it is. If that ever happens, we might see some of the fun internet return
Yup that's a huge factor. Everything is about views and clicks — the attention economy mind rot.
It's worth noting that platforms have tried to deemphasise these metrics, at least of the surface, by removing them from display etc. But that backend still operates the same way, promoting what gets the most engagement. It's very unhealthy, unhelpful, and quite harmful to social discourse.
One solution to this would be to respond to user surveys and just generally share feedback.
I work for a cybersec app, we're bulding a tool that tells you how you're seen on LinkedIn.
The founders are big privacy advocates that would ideally love not to have to track anything. If we don't track, then we don't know what works, if we don't know what works, then we risk building the wrong thing. You can't read the label from inside the bottle.
We've tried mitigating the need for tracking by sending surveys, or in-app ratings, as if to say "Help me, help you. I'm trying to respect your privacy and not track you, please tell me what features you're using, so I know what I'm doing here."
Unfortunately, people rarely answer these feedback prompts.
This hits for six, Stephen.
I just finished reading Digital Liturgies by Samuel D. James. An incredible analysis of the impact of digital technology, and an offering of the response a Christian (like myself) should take to the 'Liturgies' of isolation, consumption, outrage, meaninglessnes etc. that our digital technology is driving us towards. I highly recommend it - regardless of faith in Jesus or not.
I'd like to suggest one positive action: look for the quiet.
It's a cornerstone of my site, Ponderous & Friends. I created it to share good stuff from good people that cuts through the every day "dogshit" you describe.
"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth. This is relevant, insofar as it summarises the Christian response that's driving my own work. And, that it offers an alternative. Not to wage war, but to wage peace, silence, quiet and repentance - a loaded word which actually just means "turning in the other direction".
I like Substack because I've been able to link up with a handful of writers I like. I don't like it because it still has a scrolling mechanism. Notes will end up like a pile of poop. I've no doubt. I already struggle with the incessant quote images, and LinkedIn-esque "HOW I BECAME SO SUCCESSFUL" notes. But, like you say, I'm only complicit if I go there myself. I'll stick to the quiet corners. The ones I've chosen to be in.
And, with Ponderous & Friends, create another one. As my post today announces, that's where I'll spend my time. On the actual website, where I have 20 odd posts. My substack has 2. Because even the process of sharing on Substack feels heavy, tainted by algorithms and engagement, the need for clicks and the outrage of an unknown user.
So, I encourage anyone else to find the quiet. Or, even better, to create it.
Not waging war trying to be heard in the overwhelming sludge. But, chipping away in the quiet. Sometimes alone, sometimes with a few others. Who knows. But it tastes to me like a bit of home. A bit of quiet. A bit of the early internet. Of blogs and friendships across blogs. Blogs hyping up blogs. Celebrating work and wonder. But now we've all been dragged here, kicking and screaming, because that's what the algorithms told us to do.
Here’s to chirping away in the quiet. Sounds blissful.
I wrote chipping, but I definitely prefer chirping.
Haha. I’ll take either!
Much of the dysfunction would be tamed if every site had sensible filters (the more powerful the better). That wide-eyed influencer spouting nonsense through their title and thumbnail? Gone. Ragebait general news? Gone. Everything mentioning Elon Musk? You get it. I filter HN now and it is much better.
When the common space gets too polluted, users must be empowered to moderate it for their own use. People are the best curators. And there's potential value in this curation for discovery too.
Then there's the issue of durability. The only safe place is your local storage. We need a standard to make web sites and content into proper self-contained objects. Content-addressed, versioned, resharable. No more brokenness like on archive.org (I adore it btw), just one click to get you an article or an entire interactive blog or wiki that you can archive and redistribute through a(n overlay) network of your choice. Many of the necessary components exist and there's no technical reasons for this not to work.
Maybe you could also host distributed forums or services this way. This together with the ability to self-moderate might help us back on track.
There's a lot more to envision about this new web (or internet in general), but I'll leave it at that. It's gonna be a basket of measures. As long as we nerds still have it in us we can rebuild from the ashes. Take a deep breath; I think things can become like they were, if we make it through this valley.
There's a psychological aspect to this as well. Are we still the same that we used to be? Can we become them again and do we want to? That, everyone will have to answer for themselves.
Some great thoughts in this. Agree that user control, or users taking the time to exercise what control they have, is the only way we really have left to make our internet experience more enjoyable. I have taken a shine to the mute/block buttons on the few platforms I use, and have even found myself using it nice and early on Substack's Notes, trying to mold that to my liking before the algorithm takes its grip.
Yeah, this about sums it up! It always makes me think of the "Dead Internet Theory" with the rise of bots and AI...
And we're only at the beginning of this wave of A.I.
Love/hate relationship with the internet. It is a dopamine machine
So true. At best it's pure labor to be on the internet. At worst - which, with one or two exceptions like Substack, it usually is- it's hell.
that reddit quote describes the internet so perfectly! i miss being excited to log on!!! i think the internet has gone from being something we to have a break from life and explore, now we use real life as a break from the internet lol
Right?
I loved it. Though it also made me kinda sad.
Great way to put it
Also resonate with this. In fact, I think I’m starting to have a paradigm shift. I’m starting to think of what my life would look like without it. I mourn the loss, but it’s clear to me we aren’t going to win it back. I’m starting to engage in art, activities, outside of the internet - save a few sites and services, like this one. (Gosh do I miss blogs and forums!)
If anything the internet is no longer the information super highway. It is now the services highway. That’s what they wanted it to become, I guess, and that’s what it is. Life is going to change now and I guess we just have to adjust and live our lives outside of how it used to be.
Services highway. Damn. That’s a good way to look at it.
Your first paragraph speaks to me — I play sports, play instruments, make furniture, and you know, try to touch the grass now and then, and it’s great. Disconnecting from the internet is the only power you have to stop it taking over you.
Use Proton VPN with NetShield on (paid). Use Firefox (free). Use uBlock Origin (free). Use Decentraleyes (free). Use CanvasBlocker (free). Use Ubuntu (free). Good-bye ads and tracking (at least, some tracking).
Well said mate! Resonates a lot with many of my last reflexions... I still believe that consumers have the power to change things (maybe we aren't that deeply f*cked up right now to feel the need to stop it). And also, new companies will provide better experiences that those before (Arc vs. Google Chrome for example) so they will get the users :) - it's a cycle, it's normal.
Yeah, everything in tech is thankfully cyclical, this one is perhaps on its way to finishing that circle…
"Algorithms have been so well designed and executed (think TikTok) that they’ve removed the need to explore. They’ve taken away the desire to widen horizons. That’s where the curiosity drained away."
Dang - I've gone on many a rant about why I hate TikTok and short form content in general, but I'd never considered this. Well said!
THE RECIPE PAGES. THE LITERAL WORST.
I actually think this is a good thing.
It’s kind of destroying itself this addiction machine we’ve created in the last 40 years.
If you want to learn, read, if you want to laugh, see a live play, if you want to listen to music, pick up an instrument.
Never mind the other digital distractions.
It might be the best outcome at this point.
Yikes this was scary good articulation of what’s been happening. The phrase ‘attention farming’ really got me. Also that McDonalds analogy was too real😳 I got off fb & IG last year and stuck to reading emails and substack for now.