“that’s your internet, not mine.”
What do you think of when you read this sentence? I’ll update this post with answers - both blog posts & e-mail are welcome.
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Published 03 Feb, 2025
responses
Artemis wrote me:
When I read this statement, I immediately thought about how we each get a different internet served to us by algorithms that tailor content to “our liking.” The things I would get to see on corporate social media don’t have to be the same for another person.
What I consider to have gone viral and side-eye another person for not knowing about might’ve very well been viral on my side of the (corporate) internet only, whatever that is, and vice versa.
Also, it means that we don’t own the internet. It’s not ours to explore but another’s to dictate what we see (see Musk’s algorithmic manipulation since his takeover of Twitter).
Krish wrote me:
In regards to your “That’s your internet, not mine.” prompt...when I see that, my gut reaction goes to internet echo chambers. Thanks to personalized algorithms, users experience a very narrow stream of information that makes them particularly "tick". As a result, people can experience two completely different kinds of "internet".
Rishabh said in his own blog post:
When I read that line, I thought about the ugliness of the internet in terms of exploiting social networking algorithms. I used to be a technology geek who was always updated with new gadgets, internet tools, and God-forbidden social networks. Luckily, I realized a couple of years ago that this was not what I had signed up for, and I quit all of them for good. Since then, life has never been better. I am exploring and learning so many new things about myself and the world, which would be impossible if I wasted my time on micro-blogging platforms.
Sadly, the majority of people around me, including my own family members, are stuck in this trap. Even when they notice about their screen time (not for the same reasons Ava mentioned), it is hard for them to quit because these algorithms manipulate people on deeper psychological levels.
It is a sad reality that the whole society is negatively affected by a few evil companies, and that's not my internet.
James wrote a post; here’s a snippet:
“that’s your internet, not mine” implies to me an experience that has been made by someone else that doesn’t align with what we need or want – a web that is missing something that would make it feel like ours. This is a frightening prospect because I believe the web should be for everyone. To get there, we cannot assume that one view of the web is the right one. We need a plurality of options, all designed with different needs and interests in mind.
At its core, “that’s your internet, not mine.” feels like part of a call to action. What is the web you want? How can we make a web that better serves people? Further, how do we make tools for the next decade available to as many people as possible?
Sara wrote a post, here's a piece:
I will enjoy the parts of the internet I want. The rest of the internet can be your internet. It does not have to be mine. Do with it what you want.