The natural history of the web
Given human beings' natural tendency to anthropomorphize anything more complicated than a rock, it's natural that we tend to expect any complex entity to grow, peak, decline and die. Rock bands, game consoles, clothing trends, empires, scientific paradigms. But some things have a different lifecycle, or go through multiple cycles. It looks like websites are or can be in that second category. Metafilter used to be the hip A-list hangout, and it was relaxed, funny and smart. Then Matt opened membership up to the masses, we went to war with Iraq and the place went to shit. But now it's back (at least for me - maybe, like Columbus discovering America, it's been there for a while.)
To start thinking of the most ephemeral place on earth as a home for long-lived communities - communities that won't be destroyed by changing zoning laws, or core residents moving away - is a little bit brain-bending. Time to start thinking long now.
Given human beings' natural tendency to anthropomorphize anything more complicated than a rock, it's natural that we tend to expect any complex entity to grow, peak, decline and die. Rock bands, game consoles, clothing trends, empires, scientific paradigms. But some things have a different lifecycle, or go through multiple cycles. It looks like websites are or can be in that second category. Metafilter used to be the hip A-list hangout, and it was relaxed, funny and smart. Then Matt opened membership up to the masses, we went to war with Iraq and the place went to shit. But now it's back (at least for me - maybe, like Columbus discovering America, it's been there for a while.)
To start thinking of the most ephemeral place on earth as a home for long-lived communities - communities that won't be destroyed by changing zoning laws, or core residents moving away - is a little bit brain-bending. Time to start thinking long now.
Comment 
