Nothing about the web has changed that prevents us from going back. If anything, it’s become a lot easier. We can return. Better, yet: we can restore the things we loved about the old web while incorporating the wonderful things that have emerged since, developing even better things as we go forward, and leaving behind some things from the early web days we all too often forget when we put on our rose-colored glasses.
And, later:
Some of us might opt to leave those walls permanently, while others might choose to split our time between our beautiful, messy, free world outside to maintain smaller, meticulously-groomed simulacrums within the enclosures that hint — without angering our landlords — at the creations beyond. We can periodically smuggle seeds and plant cuttings beyond the walls, ensuring that if the proprietors decide to evict us, our gardens will live on.
Like most articles that remember the old days of the web, Molly recounts some of the history and how we got to today. She remains optimistic that the internet has no borders and we can all build whatever and however we’d like outside of the predominant platforms.
She makes this point but I want to double down on it; the open, connected, and niche part of the web never went anywhere. Perhaps it has ebbed and flowed, but for those of us paying attention and seeking it out, it never went away. And it certainly seems to be flowing yet again.
