The internet feels different than it used to. Sure, it was like the wild west, but it felt more real. Not everything felt like it had an influencer trying to get you to buy something, or someone trying to force their extreme opinion on you.

Getting attention at all costs became the game and hot takes the blunt force weapon to do it.

Both articles this week are thematically linked to the podcast I shared last week. The first looks at the shift from a shared experience via broadcast media to personalized feeds which has changed our perception of reality:

Babelification is the process by which, after splintering, insular digital groups develop unique languages which makes reintegration in shared digital spaces difficult, if not impossible. When someone believes their insular language in online echo chambers is commonplace reality, clashes ensue when that same individual is placed in a context where other people aren’t privy to their language because they are fundamentally misunderstanding one another. Often, there is little by way of shared values, goals, and culture to glue these communities together. Therefore, the only glue is how tapped in someone is to the discussion. The basis of new algorithmic languages is the discourse, the hot takes, the thinkpieces, and the cancellations. As our screen times rise and online is the way of contacting people, our online language becomes our reality.

The Balkanization & Babelification of the Internet (Folklore / Rue Yi & Ruby Justice Thelot)

The second article looks squarely at SEO. It firstly is a wonderfully fun read about the weird micro-culture around people who work in SEO, but it also puts a magnifying glass on the disconnect between what Google say is against their guidelines and the reality where garbage-filled websites jump up the rankings of our search results.

Whether for honest or nefarious reasons, the dominance of search means if you’re not ranked, you’re nothing.

I began to worry all the people who were mad about search results were upset about something that had nothing to do with metrics and everything to do with feelings and ~vibes~ and a universal, non-Google-specific resentment and rage about how the internet has made our lives so much worse in so many ways, dividing us and deceiving us and provoking us and making us sadder and lonelier. Decades of American optimism about the wonderful potential of technology, from the Moon landing to personal computers to the iPhone, had finally, in the last few years, broken down into comprehensive chagrin at the petty, pathetic, and violent world enabled by our devices. Was all that really Google’s fault? Or the SEOs? Or was this about something deeper and more human: the will to exploit something so much we destroy it. To muddy it up, as Babin had put it, but while it worked, to make as much fucking money as possible.

The people who ruined the internet (The Verge / Amanda Chicago Lewis)

All this feels like a zero sum game. More noise and a shittier experience we all get using the internet.

💩 Cool shit

Trust & Safety Tycoon - Run a trust & safety team at a social media company. It’s a fun and smart look at the tradeoffs companies make.

Texts from my ex - Use GPT to analyze your text conversations. This is just plain creepy.

Working Class History - A really cool map collecting stories from everyday people.

Can you break the algorithm? - It starts slow, but it’s a fascinating crossover of journalism and critical analysis of AI algorithms.

Pathfinding visualizer - Pick two points and see way-finding options between the two.

German Doner Kebab - It’s a website for a kebab shop. But the website is absurdly futuristic for just a kebab shop. I have no idea why but it’s wild.

Carbon Dating the Web - While slow, this is a cool idea. See how old different websites are.

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