My web design career started in 1996. It wasn’t something I planned or aspired to. In all honesty, I had no plan at all.
The journey started the previous fall when I began experimenting with HTML. Things just snowballed from there. I built a personal website (thanks, GeoCities!) that listed my favorite pop culture items of the day.
Meanwhile, my local newspaper had just launched a site of its own. I shared my site with them hoping for a link or a feature story. Well, they offered me a job instead. I started work right after graduating from high school.
I didn’t feel that college was a good fit for me. And I wanted to work with computers. This newfangled thing called the World Wide Web was exactly what I was looking for. So, I jumped at the chance to enter the workforce.
I had no idea what lay ahead, but I was excited. There was an opportunity to build a career. Not to mention the chance to be a pioneer in a new medium.
Nearly three decades later, I’m still working on the web. I lasted a year at the newspaper and worked in a few corporate environments before going solo in 1999. You won’t get me back into an office unless you drag me there.
I’ve seen the web from its mainstream infancy to its vital role in society. Humor me as I trace its hopeful beginnings to its current chaotic state.
What Will We Build?
The early days of the web were akin to the Wild West. It was new territory waiting to be tamed. People slapped together websites in hopes of reaching an audience.
I’ve come to think of it as a vast and empty plot of land. We didn’t know what we were going to do with it. But there was great potential to enhance society.
Just think of the great things you can do with land:
- Create a farm to feed yourself and your community;
- Plant a garden to spread joy and beauty;
- Build a community center where people can interact and exchange ideas;
In one way or another, all of these things felt possible. Interacting with new people was a thrill – especially those in far-flung locales. Suddenly, a kid from a small town could reach people in ways they never dreamed of.
I saw the web as an extension of hippie culture (which I was born too late to witness). Everything was free and built for the common good.
Indeed, the future was so bright, one had to wear shades.
The Arrival of Commercial Interests
You didn’t have to be a visionary to predict that businesses would soon flood the web. The trouble was that most didn’t know what to do with their websites.
Technology was limited in those days. We used a dial-up internet connection on desktop computers. Mobility wasn’t a thing yet. Neither were online transactions or fancy page layouts.
The websites I built tended to be informational – and even that was a stretch. There were no rules or best practices to follow. Thus, most sites were hard to read and offered a hodgepodge of content. Not all of them were useful. I’ll take my share of the blame for the ugly parts.
That shifted in the late 90s and early 2000s. Websites began to focus more on being informative and making conversions. They became easier to navigate and more reflective of branding.
Google also became a mainstream phenomenon during this period. Its no-frills home page and surprisingly accurate search results made it a favorite. Any hint of their future power and influence wasn’t on my radar.
The arrival of merchants meant our plot of land was rapidly developing into a full-blown civilization. Still, there was room for everyone. We all had a chance to carve out an online existence. And there was no reason to think that would change, right?
Walled Gardens and Bad Bargains
The mid-to-late 2000s saw the beginnings of walled gardens. These corporately owned online communities brought social media to the forefront. It turns out that they also owned any content users produced on those platforms. Perhaps we should have read the terms of service.
At the same time, providers like Google began offering “free” services to developers and the general public. Gmail, the Google Maps API, and hosted code repositories are prime examples.
People eagerly signed up, unaware or unconcerned about the provider’s endgame. As we’d later find out, the goal was collecting user data.
The basics like your location and which web browser you used were just the start. Companies also wanted to know what sites users visited, how they interacted with them, and what kept their attention.
One use of this data is to serve more relevant advertisements. These platforms could target users interested in cars, electronics, or fast food. It seemed like a reasonable exchange for an email account or a way to connect with distant friends and family.
This data also fed the now-ubiquitous algorithms that determine what we see online. Do you remember when platforms like Facebook showed a chronological list of posts in your feed? It was easy to follow and easy to reference later.
That would soon change to displaying posts likely to encourage engagement. The mundane stuff would become buried in the constant stream of provocative content. It’s the reason we doomscroll for hours at a time.
Annoying at first, the real dangers of this technology weren’t yet realized. But it would soon cast a dark gloom over our land.
A Divided and Misinformed Citizenry
The web has always had dark corners where illegal and morally questionable acts occur. However, the past decade has seen these communities flourish and their message amplified.
Finding disinformation or extremist content is easier than ever. Heck, it’s forced into our social feeds. It feels impossible to avoid.
The result is a lot of lies, anger, and insults. And who knows how much of it is generated by humans. Bots are becoming harder to identify and artificial intelligence (AI) will only up the ante.
The misuse of technology is only a symptom. The real threat comes from the powerful people who deploy them. Governments and oligarchs use these platforms to bend society toward their point of view. Too often, truth has no place in the formula.
I fear the web has taken an authoritarian turn that we may not recover from.
Looking To Decentralization and Open Source for Answers
I believe decentralization and open-source software are ways to combat these trends. That means creating platforms owned by no singular entity. It’s also about using software created by a collective, rather than a corporation.
Social media has the Fediverse, which relies on contributor-based hosting. Thus, Elon Musk couldn’t come along and purchase the entire network. Connecting with others on Mastodon or Bluesky instead of Facebook or X is a vote for the open web.
Open-source software also pays homage to the ideals of the early web. Apps like WordPress are free to use for any purpose. They can be modified and extended to suit your needs. You also own your content – a rare thing these days.
These options are not without risk, though. Project governance is crucial to keeping them healthy and vibrant. Any turn away from the spirit community could be harmful.
It’s still a risk worth taking, in my opinion. Choosing this path is one thing ordinary people CAN control.
Preserving What We Can
Like the Earth, the web has been razed, developed, and polluted. The latter has happened within three decades. Time moves faster here, for sure.
That’s why preserving the best parts of the early web is crucial. I think about future generations and their ability to access accurate information. About their ability to choose where they go and what they access. Their ability to publish their unfiltered thoughts and ideas.
As I wrote in a piece for Speckyboy Design Magazine:
The web didn’t become a whole new world. It instead became a reflection of the one we already had.
Aspects of the Early Web I’d Like to See Come Back – Speckyboy Design Magazine
The task of reclaiming the web is massive, but not impossible. Concerned people try to help Mother Earth, we can do the same for the web.