Remembering the Original Promise of Digital Media
Stasis and Synchronicity. Jeffrey Zeldman wrote today about Glassdog's transformation from an "experimental narrative
powerhouse" to a mere blog. Under the provocative title The saddest music in
the world, Zeldman's piece was a reflection on how The Web has not lived up
to its original promise:
"Oh, little child. Long ago, before you were born, some of us dreamed big
dreams. We thought the simplicity of HTML and the low cost of web hosting would
produce a worldwide creative flowering. A second Renaissance, every person an
inventor and publisher. Magazines, communities, visual experiments. New
narrative forms. Interactive jam sessions. In-depth explorations of every
imaginable topic, from Leadbelly discographies to single parent self-help
resources. This we envisioned. This we soldiered for. And what did we get?
Blogs, Gmail, and Friendster."
This topic has been simmering in my own mind, like heroin on the boil, for some
time now. Coincidentally I came across an old Tim Berners-Lee document earlier
this week, entitled Realising
the Full Potential of the Web ( from December 1997). This quote nicely
complements Zeldman's point:
"I want the Web to be much more creative than it is at the moment. I
have even had to coin a new word - Intercreativity - which means building things
together on the Web."
I've long been a fan of Tim Berners-Lee's vision for the Web,
particularly his principle that the Web should be read/write and not read-only.
The original web browser that he created back in 1990, called
WorldWideWeb, was designed to browse and edit. You've heard this spiel
before from me, so let's cut to the chase: Zeldman is absolutely spot-on, The
Web in 2004 is suffering from a dearth of artistic creativity.
Renaissance
Zeldman uses the term "Renaissance" to express the ideal that he
and others strived towards in the early-to-mid 90's. Renaissance means "cultural and scientific rebirth" according
to the Wikipedia. Another definition of Renaissance that I like is
this:
A revival of intellectual or artistic achievement and vigor
So Zeldman is lamenting the lack of artistic creativity on the Web - "visual experiments", "new narrative forms",
"interactive jam sessions" and so on. But is it fair to pin the blame
on blogs? Are blogs boring? Matt Mullenweg pointed out that weblogs are
revolutionary because they drastically lower the barrier to writing on the Web.
That's true. But the content on most blogs isn't very revolutionary, at
least if you compare it to literature and art in the English
Renaissance (for example).
I think Zeldman may even be saying the blog format, maybe even the whole
blogging zeitgeist
at this time, is restricting creativity. And it's a fact that the vast majority
of weblogs follow the same format: reverse-chronological, short and pithy posts,
loads of linky love within each community, blogrolls, linkblogs, and so on. Most
bloggers conform to these things. The same is true of web design as it relates
to weblogs - you see a lot of 2-column, fixed width and centred designs. There
are variations on that theme, but they usually don't deviate far.
Stasis
That's the word for it. And the Dictionary.com definition of stasis touches on the theme of this post:
A condition of balance among various forces; motionlessness:
"Language is a
primary element of culture, and stasis in the arts is tantamount to death"
(Charles Marsh).
In another coincidence, I've been thinking about stasis lately as it relates
to my life in the real world. Every morning, Monday to Friday, I catch a bus
from my home to the train station, then I catch a train into Wellington city to
my work. Before I arrive at work, I buy a muffin at the cafe just down the
road. Then I go into the office and sit down at my desk. I turn on my computer, read
my emails, check my weblog for comments, eat my muffin, browse Bloglines for a bit, go and get a coffee
(filtered), go back to my desk - where I sit and work for the next 8 hours. When my working day is over, I take the train and bus back to my
home, spend time with my family, and then spend a couple of hours in front
of my home computer - reading Bloglines and writing on my blog.
That's my
routine during weekdays. And I'm feeling the stasis of it. I know this because
deviations in the bus and train schedules make my palms sweaty. I rely on the
two to be on time you see, otherwise my bus misses its connecting train (or vice
versa). And that throws my routine off, which makes me stressed. Sometimes I
wonder if I'm going to spend the rest of my life working in an office 8 hours a
day. Stasis.
Synchronicity
I think we need more synchronicity in the Web world. This is just a hunch
right now, but I have a feeling we've gotten too comfortable with our RSS
Aggregators. We rely on them to find content to read, when we should be
venturing out into the wider Web, or the world of multimedia, or the musical or
literature realms. Here's the Wikipedia definition of
synchronicity:
Synchronicity is a term used by the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung to describe
the alignment of universal forces with one's own life experience. Jung believed
that some, but not all, coincidences were not mere chance, but instead a literal
"co-inciding", or alignment of forces in the universe to create an
event or circumstance. The process of becoming intuitively aware and acting in
harmony with these forces is what Jung labelled "individuation." Jung
said that an individuated person would actually shape events around them through
the communication of their consciousness with the collective unconscious.
Synchronicity is "magical thinking" and we need more of it on the Web.
I want to
align myself with the creative forces on the Web, and in my life. Sing to the
tune of I want my
MTV:
I want my, I want my, I want my synchronicity {Repeat, ad lib
to fade} [Read/Write Web]
7:13:18 AM 
|
