Maria Farrell and Robin Berjon use the word Waldsterben, meaning “forest death,” to describe the state of the internet today.
Just like a forest that has been clear-cut and replanted with a single species, the internet is quickly depleting itself of life and vitality. The walled gardens of Facebook, Twitter, and Google each act to isolate users, starving them of interaction across the global network.
What’s the solution? Farrell and Berjon look toward antitrust laws to break up these big, exclusive platforms. Cory Doctorow sees the answer in interoperability – let Facebook users share posts with Twitter, Mastodon, and Bluesky.
I’m not holding my breath for either of these solutions coming to pass any time soon. But we need to do something to build good, living, spaces online.
For my part, I’m just going to take one tiny step of getting this blog up and running again.
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For a really good study on how diverse ecosystems promote life and growth, read Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard.
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