Vasilis’ nerd blog presents
Last Friday we organised the first The Web You Want event, a series of events where we look at the current state of the web and wonder out loud what we should do with it. We had five speakers who presented the web that they want, and I liked their visions very much. It makes me hopeful.
Many speakers pointed out that large parts of the web are not so nice anymore. Hidde de Vries asked if he could use the C-word, because the root of the problem is, of course, Capitalism. A handful of evil corporations, who all sacked their ethical teams recently (if they ever had one), control most of the things that people do on the web. And giving so much power to such a small group of crazy billionaires, with such a distorted world view, is a big problem.
Many speakers also pointed at good places to start when looking for a better web. Tips were given about how to make the web a better place, by working on things like accessibility, and on things like sustainability, and how to make sure that ethics are never set aside. And of course alternatives to large so called social media were promoted: Marleen Stikker pointed at all the different more or less federated alternatives to social media, like the Fediverse and the Atmosphere. Sanne Peters pointed out that you don’t actually need the web all the time. Making bonzai, reading books by authors who have a different background, watching movies from countries you don’t know anything about, and talking to your neighbours were some of the gentle alternatives to the web she promoted.
Most speakers showed that the web is a fun place. Marleen showed us that the cool parties are on the Fediverse and on Atmosphere, you are missing the good stuff if you’re not there. Most other speakers talked about the option for hosting your own, independent website. Like this one. We showed some of the incredible things that our students have been making during our web design and developments courses, rubics cubes that have a secret transformer mode, an interactive octopus that gets very nervous when the water level gets too low, and some black holes that suck up all the stuff on your website. And of course Niels Leenheer gave a fantastic talk where he showed us the unbeleivable stuff he does with web technology, like making clocks, not just in the browser, but also on old osciloscopes and even with real lasers. Absolutely brilliant.
So the web, it turns out, is much more than what silicon valley wants it to be. It is still a place where people meet other people, where likeminded groups find each other, where the world connects, and where people can do their own stuff, independently. And these independent, federated spaces thrive, and they grow. The web is also a very important medium. The fact that it is for everyone by design really means that it is for everyone. Do so responsibly, like Hidde mentioned. And try to get a deep, deep understanding of what the web that you want would be, like Justus Sturkenboom explained in his brilliant, brilliant talk about the philosophical meaning of the words the, web, you, and want. He almost found the deeper, hidden agenda that I had with this conference, I think. I will link to his talk when he publishes it, it is absolutely fantastic.
The first event was well attended. I think there were a bit over 100 people. Many current students, quite some former students, and quite a few people from all kinds of places. One of the bigger compliments we received was from someone I didn’t know who found it refreshing that nobody really talked about “AI” during the event.
The next event is on the 10th of June and I really hope to see all of you there. Tickets are free, just let us know you will attend so we can make sure we have enough seats.