The question has been posed to the tech community "What's broken about the internet?" The general response is that the internet, web and tech is broken in fundamentally significant ways. (Ads, search, social media, email, browsing, content, monopoly, privacy, laws, centralization, trolls/spam/phishing, distraction.) This leads to a natural question. What can be done to fix the problem? What organizations, projects, technologies, ideas or applications do you see that would make an internet that is something we all love, feel safe using and is productive? What can we do to fix the internet?
Areas to address
- ads/business models
- browsing
- centralization
- content
- dark patterns
- distraction/interruption
- laws
- misinformation
- monopoly
- most people don't see the internet as 'broken' (this is a big one)
- number of services (lack of standards)
- people like to use the internet in ways that are unhealthy
- privacy
- search
- social media
- surveillance capitalism
- trolls/spam/phishing
- trust
- usefulness
Ideas to fix the problems
- a not for profit web
- split browsers between static content and applications
Things the current internet provides...
- choice
- convenience
- entertainment
- socializing
Issues with current design...
- contention/strife
- depression
- lack of focus/concentration/attention span
- loneliness
- loss of privacy
- manipulation
- shallow thinking
Major solution categories
- decentralization
- identification
- information integrity
- local-first / sync
- micro payments
- monetization
- self hosting
- https://calmtech.com/papers.html
- https://knightcolumbia.org/content/protocols-not-platforms-a-technological-approach-to-free-speech
- https://martin.kleppmann.com/papers/local-first.pdf
- http://archagon.net/blog/2018/03/24/data-laced-with-history/
- https://medium.com/@SSI_Ambassador/an-introduction-to-self-sovereign-identity-ssi-916eb42f0490
- https://theconversation.com/web-3-0-the-decentralised-web-promises-to-make-the-internet-free-again-113139
- https://www.shogan.co.uk/life/how-i-deleted-my-facebook-whatsapp-and-instagram-accounts-and-felt-great-since/
Projects working toward solutions.
- https://inrupt.com/
- https://ipfs.io/
- https://mozilla-builders-symposium.pory.app/
- https://blockstack.org/
- dnssec
- ip6
- Join a team
- Build healthy tech habits
- Help bring awareness to the issues and solutions
- Become a sponsor
Problem: People like to use social media in ways that are unhealthy. Without a fundamental shift government intervention or other mitigation may do little toward the negative impact modern social media is having on society.
Solutions: Let us provide social tools that promote healthy use and germinate the idea that there is a problem with the way we're using tech and encourage the public to work toward healthier technological choices.
Problem: There is an extreme lack of privacy in nearly every corner. If you employ privacy tools the experience is greatly degraded with robot checks, broken websites, and downright refusal to continue.
Solutions: Assume people do not want to be tracked unless they specifically ask to be so. Change business models. Make a not for profit web option. Make sure laws address the problem without degrading the experience with little actual solution. Create new abstract data systems that do not include layout.
Problem: Much of modern tech seems to be "Candy-bar Technology" .. we like it, but at best it doesn't really do much to help in life, and at worst it might actually be bad for us.
Solutions: Let us focus on building highly efficient tech: tech that has a low cognitive/maintenance cost with high life improvement value.