How Will We Connect in 2036?
Lately I’ve been thinking about the future of the internet, socials and community.
Over the years, we’ve seen internet culture both accelerate into manosphere, slop and bots on the one hand, and reactively take the off-ramp into cozy internet spaces on the other. All while the loneliness epidemic hums in the background.
How will we connect in ten years time? Instead of the usual more, more more trajectory, a thought experiment I keep turning over is imagining the internet as we know it getting shut off. How would we connect, find work, bank? Not in a doomer panic mode way of thinking, but out of curiosity - humans are eternally inventive after all - and work, uh finds a way? Six years ago, we were a week into full-time remote work, social distancing and grocery disinfecting. We adapt.
The loss of something we’re so dependent on might feel like a crisis, but held lightly can feel creative instead. Think of all the new and old ways of connnecting with people right on our doorsteps. Think of pirate radio, libraries and internet cafes!
Popular posts state that we are never going offline but I think - I think - it might be more nuanced than that.
How do you think we’ll connect in 2036?
Until Next Time…
Surfacing hopeful recs, links and loose threads from beyond the algo…
Non-english music that will get stuck in your head (you have been warned)
This is a good intro to Pirate Radio for anyone who didn’t get to experience the joy of scanning late at night.
A very good corner of the internet is Perfectly Imperfect esp. A Taste of Taste
Finished reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey (highly recommend) and can’t stop thinking about these paragraphs on how politics has shaped the world. So here’s this for anyone saying they’re not really political:
The future isn't inevitable, it’s intentional. Designed by the people willing to ask the uncomfortable questions early enough to do something about them.
What will you do?
If you want to think through what's changing in your world — and what to proactively change — let's talk.