A Smaller Internet Can Still Be an Open One

I read Ben Thompson’s “The End of the Internet”, and I agree with his preference for smaller communities. Where he loses me is the suggestion that the public internet is finished and our future lies in smaller, private spaces. :chatgpt-content-reference{index="0"} Don't get me wrong, I understand the appeal. A conversation with a handful of people can be more rewarding than arguing with 500 strangers, half of whom apparently woke up looking for a fight. I don't need a massive audience to enjoy writing, and I don't need everything I publish to become a business. But a small audience and a closed audience are two different things. I want someone I've never met to stumble across my blog, read something that interests them, and perhaps respond. I want to follow a link on somebody else's blog and find a writer I didn't know existed. A private group is useful once you've found your people. It doesn't do much to help you find them in the first place. That is also where the business argument…

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