questions
Last updated 1 month ago
been thinking a lot about slash pages (i want to make a search engine-y thing for them), and one of the ones on the list is /questions, and by coincidental magic the next letter of alphabet superset is q! what a turn of events. i don't know if this should technically be a page and not a post on my blog provider, but at the end of the day i can do what i want!
the questions
in no particular order:
- how do we create technology that allows life to thrive and people to be empowered to live better lives (with or without directly having to use said technology), when most of the people with money are not at all interested in this?
- how can people earn money through the web without relying on fickle payment providers and even more fickle giant social media companies? this is especially focused for people who create primarily in video, as it's so expensive to host.
- has anything that could "come after" or supplant the internet and web been invented? i have read (okay, skimmed with deep interest, with closer attention on imaginary networks) lori emerson's other networks book, and wonder if there's anything game changing already out there.
- is the use of technology a thing like "learning to read", where if it's possible you should always have the ability to use it? i'm sure that's where the "teach every child to code!" benevolent impulse comes from... loads of them just want money for their programs/hardware/software/pockets sure, but a lot also think that the future will be technical, and we should put people in the best stead for that. writing out the question, i think i don't believe it's like reading, but i would love to hear other takes.
- are some technologies just always harmful?
- other than unions, strikes, petitions, sabotage (up the luddites! up the workers!) and boycotts, are there ways that groups of users, or groups of creators of technology can change its path? i think i'm particularly interested in users, as often i have fewer answers for what to do if not using a thing isn't an option.
- what are ways we can collect blogs and other personal and poetic sites together? i don't personally use rss - feel free to try and convince me to - mostly because i miss the social aspect of social media link sharing, and without the commentary i'd rather just go the websites themselves. is the answer "mastodon/bluesky/similar" or could something else exist here?
- recently discovered octothorpes and have started experimenting with them!
- to return to money, could internet infrastructure like subsea cables ever end up even partially in collective, non-corporate or government hands?
- can i think of a way to talk about subsea cables for 45 mins pon this blog without boring the life out of whoever is reading?
- why do i find the idea of small social media, and valley rather than flat plane social media, so boring and cramped? is it a perspective thing?
- can big social media ever be good? would a W3C for social media be a good thing?
- how do people get better at writing? how do you do close reading? is it possible to get much better without an editor or feedback?
- can the indie/small/smol/tiny/etc web actually capture hearts and minds? does it just need to be way easier and cheaper, or is it fundamentally not as fun to tweak interfaces for some people? the latter question makes me think of myspace; it never felt like "everyone" was on it to me even at the time. not cos of the learning curve, just felt niche!
this piece is part of my attempt at alphabet superset, a “6-month” creative challenge (i passed a year in september 2024 — with a long break! — and the creator of the challenge finished on 11th August 2025). other posts so far: abolition, bump, boost, culture, discussion, english, formulaic, gone, home, immortality, jargon, knowledge, leaving, monotony, no and permanent.
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