State of the Web

Let me start off by saying this blog post is probably going to be the most opinionated thing I've publicly written, and it may come off as a bit wordy, maybe even a little preachy. I'm okay with that. If you don't want to hear me yap, this is just your warning.

I am gravely concerned with the state of web content and the general experience of using the web. It's completely littered with garbage and it's only getting worse. I never used to be a doomer about the web, infact I grew up on it pretty heavily. But it's simply just not the same.

If this makes you roll your eyes and think this is just another "the internet used to be better" rant, I'll be honest - it probably is. But I'm going to try to explain my concerns and provide at least some insight.

What the hell happened?

The internet, like all other things in a capitalist world, has been monetized to the extreme. The websites and services we all use on a daily basis are designed to be addictive, and we've reached a point where, for most, it feels impossible to browse the internet without an ad blocker. How did we get here?

First off, I am not anti-capitalist. I think that capitalism is a great system that has provided the world with more wealth, technology, and opportunity than any other societal structure in the history of the world. That being said, it is a system that can be inherently selfish and short-sighted. That is why government and regulations exist, but what do we do when those regulations are simply not working for the interest of the people?

These aren't new problems, you - the reader - have probably heard all this before. Maybe you're rolling your eyes and tired of hearing it. Maybe you agree. Either way, I think its apparent that the internet as we currently know it is not sustainable, and I think we are going to see the consequences of a capitalist-maxed internet in the coming years.

Just look at what's happening to the youth through short-form content on platforms like TikTok. The "iPad Kid" is always a meme, but it's also a sad reality. Kids today are growing up in a world where they are more distracted than ever, and it's only getting worse. We joke about doomscrolling, we meme about our attention spans dwindling, but it's not a laughing matter. It's just not, and I'm shocked that more people aren't concerned.

Earlier this year from January to July, I was living out of Orlando with a friend. It was a great spot, all the major vacation spots like Disney World, Universal Studios, etc, were about a 30 minute drive and super accessible. I would go often, but I couldn't help but notice just how depressing seeing so much digital degeneracy in a place where you should expect to see the human experience at its peak. Kids as young as 5 with iPads everywhere, parents seemingly oblivious to the fact that their kids are being exposed to a level of digital content that is simply not developmentally appropriate. It was sad - all at a place that most kids could only dream of visiting.

This falls on the parents, sure - I think it's important to put shame on them, but they are just as much a product of internet corporations as are the kids. The thing is - it's not just kids. We've normalized degeneracy and it's genuinely sickening. Just as much as their kids are addicted to the internet, so are they. Instead of leading better, we've normalized the shortcut.

When I was growing up, I was always taught to embrace the internet, and I did. But my parents were always very cautious about when in my life it was the appropriate time. Despite smart phones being in their early explosion era, my first phone was a flip phone. I didn't get a smart phone until I hit my teenage years. Do I think that everyone should be as cautious as my parents were? No, I don't think that's realistic. But I do think that we can be more cautious, especially with kids. It seems to have become a new norm to stop prioritizing authentic human experiences, which at a young age is so incredibly important. Instead, parents try to shortcut adolescent human experience through a digital medium.

This is obviously, a big problem, and I genuinely think this level of degeneracy poses a threat to the future of the human experience. We are going to see a decline in adult cognitive ability as time goes on and these kids grow up - I think we're already starting to see it.

There isn't a solution, but we can try.

I'm going to cut to the hard reality, most adults are sucked into this brainrot shit and widespread change is not going to happen anytime soon. But that doesn't mean we can't try to make things better.

I think the perfect web is one where we reclaim the internet as a space for individual expression and community-driven content - the way it used to be, the way this website hopes to spark. We need to shift back to a web that's an actual true digital forum of the people. We just don't have that anymore.

Most importantly, we need to start prioritizing real human interaction again, both online and offline. Everything on the internet has had a corporate capture, and it's exactly why everything is so terrible. Money has become the central focus of the internet, and so all expression and creativity is filtered through that lens. It didn't use to be this way, and I don't think we should just continue to be complicit.

Regulation is going to be key. I'm not just talking about the government, I'm talking about me, you, and everyone else. We need to contribute to the web we want and demand better. It's really that simple. We need to encourage people to value individual expression on the internet over garbage passive consumption, and we should do everything possible to make that happen. Of course, government regulation is also important, but I think that's a much harder and slower process. We need to start making moves now to shift the internet back towards a more human experience, and we need to do it collectively.

And most importantly, we need to care about a better web - I hope this blog post sparks something in you.