Sophia French on microblogging being the next big art movement:

As mega media players and their algorithms burrow themselves further into our lives, a return to the tactics of the early days of microblogging signals more than just nostalgic yearning. It could be the way forward for how artists share their work, process, and life online – on their own terms.

Andros Fenollosa on why we want small systems instead of decentralized ones when talking about online communities.

There are no commercial interests and people know each other. It’s like a shoe shop in a small town. The shop can only serve a few customers because there is little space, you know the owner’s name (maybe even his wife’s) and the shelves don’t offer much variety; and yet you know you will be well served and the owner wants you to leave with what is best for you.

A manifesto making the case that owning your own website instead of feeding a platform is basically punk.

Henry Desroches makes a thoughtful case for reclaiming the Web we actually want by embracing personal, hand-coded, syndicated websites and protocols like RSS & Webmentions.

Hand-coded, syndicated, and above all personal websites are exemplary: They let users of the internet to be autonomous, experiment, have ownership, learn, share, find god, find love, find purpose. Bespoke, endlessly tweaked, eternally redesigned, built-in-public, surprising UI and delightful UX. The personal website is a staunch undying answer to everything the corporate and industrial web has taken from us.

Steve Simkins built a site about how the answer to doomscrolling and disconnectedness is Blog Feeds. It’s meant to be an antidote to endlessly scrolling, just a curated list of people you actually care about.

Alexandra Ciufudean explores the IndieWeb, where people’s personal websites are pushing back against the corporate internet.