Laurel Schwulst, Ursula K. Le Guin
In Laurel Schwulst's text, she reflects on the digital world and references it in a way that gives it physicality and a worldly-esc structure. I’ve always “visualized” a website as some sort of house, apartment unit, or mailbox of the internet but never really realized it that way. Laurel Schwulst sees websites as both an object and the subject, with its creator being both the writer and the builder and says the work put into it often reflects the intention behind it.
This made me think about how I have never really been intrigued by sites like these and similar ones like Amazon or youtube, because they lack personality and uniqueness because they are just there for the content. When I visit the site of an individual creator or small business, you can tell it was built with more intention visually (in most cases) and I find myself more intrigued because it often includes more personal elements.
I really enjoyed the ways Laurel spoke about a website being other things, like a shelf, puddle, plant, and garden. I had never put web building into this perspective and she recognizes the uniqueness and intentionality that can go behind a number of sites. Also she points out that no website is complete, which is a comfort to think about as a perfectionist who is constantly wanting to make changes to my work.
Ursula K. Le Guins said the neat thing about technologies is that we can all learn to do it. I think it’s easy to forget that "technology" can be defined by so many things, and things that seem simple like starting a fire or crafting a pair of shoes is just as technological as engineering or coding a website. Le Guin talks about how technology reflects how humans interact with the physical world, this includes how people “get and keep and cook food, how they clothe themselves” etc. This goes to show just how physical technology can be and that it is not an abstract thing that is always out of our control but it is sometimes purely about survival.
J.R. Carpenter, A Handmade Web
I like the idea that creating something like a website “handmade” takes away any kind of expectations we or others might place on us. It is inspiring to hear about the first site that JR created and his take on creating a site correlating to his book that allows it to remain in a continuous cycle by linking it from its end to beginning. It seems kinda simple after the fact but I think it can be helpful for drawing inspiration for what kind of sites to create because it is easy to get stuck on visualizing only technology-based ideas when there are so many possibilities to combine and attach physical work or stories to it no matter how insignificant they are.
I agree with Kyle Chayka who said mainstream social media today is overfilled with noise and drama that there is a crave to return to the simple times of the internet where websites were safer, more intimate, and also less competitive. It reminds me of an instagram trend from years ago that was #makeinstagramcasualagain and people started posting more raw unediting photos to their feed. I participated too. I think bringing back this unpolished and real content back to the internet is a way to bring back individuality for the users. tiktok is a platform that has a lot of creators who show their lives "unedited" and some that are clearly for content so I think our generations have split feelings on this maybe based on that they gain from it.
Parimal Satyal, Against an Increasingly User-Hostile Web
Satyal talk about the need to push back on the shift towards control of technology users and engage in a web that supports privacy and freedom on the internet without fears. I feel like most sites I visit immediatly pop up with a prompt like enter my email, put in my phone number, get a discount code, or allow location tracking. Many sites push you do download their apps, apps push to allow notifications and location, and push to allow access to our photo albums?? So many things that seemingly go unnoticed but are silently corrupting our devices for a look inside all of our lives. There is a shift in the web now that how it was for me growing up, I would say my parents were pretty smart for not allowing us kids to have cellular devices or much access to computers umtil just before highschool. Sometimes I wish I could have experienced myspace. Good on them for keeping us away from any dangers on the internet but it seems the tables have turned and we're helping them with most technological support lol. Now when I visit bigger websites, I find that I easily get bored OR overstimulalted. There is a detectable structure to these cookie cutter platforms that when I am visiting a site made by hand I am immediatly drawn in and feel like I can better connect with the content and information because it feels more personalized.
Callum Copley, A Friend is Writing
The website we looked at was immediatly overstimulating and confusing to me. It functioned in a way that made it hard to focus on one area of the screen and you feel like you don't know what youre looking for. It reminded me of those sketchy 123movie type sites that lead to a pop up on every click till it doesn't, like you really never know what to expect on there. Then this made me think of how every single app you download asks you to push notifications, i'm not sure why I need alerts for a 20% sephora discount i'm never going to use. I'm trying to get better about disabeling notifications for certain apps that serve no importance because my mind tends to feel cluttered and similarly overstimulated when my digital spaces are also feeling filled with junky notifs.
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