I think the solution is to be the change you want to see.
Lately a few friends and I have been switching back to basics of the olden days and enjoying it a lot. Our websites are hosted from home servers again (although my personal site is still on digital ocean… I’ll get to it), we don’t have analytics or ads in our apps anymore (not that anyone cares, I’ve got like 50 users across two apps), and we’ve stopped using social media. We’ve got a simple forum we share that’s hosted on my friend’s server. We’re actively trying to cultivate the internet experience we miss. Does it make a difference in the scheme of things? Not really. We could almost replace our forum with WhatsApp or Discord. But in our participation in the internet, it feels pretty good compared to say 5 years ago.
The pandemic really spurred out unhappiness with the way things have become. It’s still a choice to use the internet like we used to, for the most part. It’s affordable to build and host sites with no ads. You can still have an IRC or bulletin board-like experience. It’s all there still, but you have to choose to use it.
The experimentation part is all about doing things instead of thinking about things, and seeking out people doing the same. Experimentation is an outcome of action. Ideas come first of course, but you need to build and try things out and see what needs to come next. A lot of my friends get stuck in thinking mode (and I do too), but the solution is invariably to just DO something and follow through. Don’t worry if what you’re doing is high value or necessary or whatever. You’ll spend less time doing it and finding out than you would otherwise worrying about possibilities and not doing anything.
It's hard with so many distractions and with so many ideas already being executed on by massive companies with deep, deep pockets. The trick is to not care. Who cares. I don’t care. Explore what interests you. Cultivate curiosity and wonder and use it as intrinsic motivation. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing or has already done. Find other people like this, and I think that element of experimentation will return to your life. It certainly has in mine. It’s not quite the same as 20 years ago, but it’s there.
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I think the solution is to be the change you want to see.
Lately a few friends and I have been switching back to basics of the olden days and enjoying it a lot. Our websites are hosted from home servers again (although my personal site is still on digital ocean… I’ll get to it), we don’t have analytics or ads in our apps anymore (not that anyone cares, I’ve got like 50 users across two apps), and we’ve stopped using social media. We’ve got a simple forum we share that’s hosted on my friend’s server. We’re actively trying to cultivate the internet experience we miss. Does it make a difference in the scheme of things? Not really. We could almost replace our forum with WhatsApp or Discord. But in our participation in the internet, it feels pretty good compared to say 5 years ago.
The pandemic really spurred out unhappiness with the way things have become. It’s still a choice to use the internet like we used to, for the most part. It’s affordable to build and host sites with no ads. You can still have an IRC or bulletin board-like experience. It’s all there still, but you have to choose to use it.
The experimentation part is all about doing things instead of thinking about things, and seeking out people doing the same. Experimentation is an outcome of action. Ideas come first of course, but you need to build and try things out and see what needs to come next. A lot of my friends get stuck in thinking mode (and I do too), but the solution is invariably to just DO something and follow through. Don’t worry if what you’re doing is high value or necessary or whatever. You’ll spend less time doing it and finding out than you would otherwise worrying about possibilities and not doing anything.
It's hard with so many distractions and with so many ideas already being executed on by massive companies with deep, deep pockets. The trick is to not care. Who cares. I don’t care. Explore what interests you. Cultivate curiosity and wonder and use it as intrinsic motivation. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing or has already done. Find other people like this, and I think that element of experimentation will return to your life. It certainly has in mine. It’s not quite the same as 20 years ago, but it’s there.