Explaining Myself.
My Answer to The Ruinous AI Slopping of the Web
09/20/2026
...Watched this video today. Explaining Computers is a channel run by Christopher Barnatt, a creator whose viewpoints on technology I take seriously. Despite now having watched countless doomsday videos about the web and how AI and enshitification are speeding that along, my attraction to his articulating charisma made room for one more take, and, my following response to it.
(ahem)
A useful web was originally built by real people—writers, artists, hobbyists, and enthusiasts—who created their own spaces and interlinked with one another simply to share. "Blogging as a business" and the rigid assumption that a website must be tied to a monetization strategy came later, quickly overtaking that original foundation.
The web’s actual utility and human engagement don't have to disappear. They can remain just as vibrant as ever—if people remember what it means to own a personal website and curate links to others.
There is already a critical mass of people today who adhere to these raw, early-web principles. The more everyday users who discover and join this community, the more resilient the World Wide Web will be against fading away into algorithmic noise.
If you want to help save it, use AI as a tool to learn—it’s great for conversing, asking questions, and picking up new skills without fear. It's even great (in the eyes of this publisher) for copyediting - this very article is part of that. Then, register a domain, learn a little HTML, and jump back into the lake.
People creating, sharing, and interlinking directly among themselves will keep the web alive—and likely make it better than it has been in years. We have the power to move past the era of platform decay and corporate monetization, and build something genuine again.
By Dave for Personal Blog.
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Reactivating the Web on BlueSky
07/05/2026
Let me explain.
I was inspired to create a BlueSky account that serves as my effective bookmarking system for the discovery of new personal blogs and websites making a go of it on today's enshitified World Wide Web.
The point of it is to have a formal place to call out these discoveries and make them in some way discoverable by others. And, by doing that, accelerating what I'm am referring to as the web's "reactivation".
I'll use the account to highlight such findings. I may have to refine this later but for me to post a new entry to the account:
- First, I have to encounter it (I will make a point to hunt and gather)
- The site has to be be personal and not exit directly for profit branding
- The site has to look good first on the "desktop web", mobile second (if at all)
That one about looking good on the desktop web means it has to look good to a person viewing it from a desktop or laptop PC. I call a series of sites like that as composing an ecosystem of the new "desktop web" and is critical to the label. The desktop web is a network of presentations, all interlinking with each other, in a pretend world where mobile flat out does not exist. Fuck the uniformity of responsive design that has killed the creative human beauty and variety of the web, not to mention the simple publishing logistics involved that mean publishers have to be professional at it or turn to some cookie cutter bullshit service (which of none I won't call out by name but you can probably think of a couple).
This movement speaks to the people who get it upon reading these very words.
If you have a site you want circulated on the account (or for me to link to), feel free to use my contact form to drop me a note and I'll give it a review. Keep in mind I have a very specific taste and vibe so if I reject anything I'll offer up my critique whenever I do. The conversation over rejected sites is as important to me as simply throwing up glowing examples of what hits right.
By Dave for Personal Blog.
webreactivated bluesky desktopweb
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