directions

I have found myself during this process increasingly frustrated by the assumed progressivism in web technologies, particularly as the digital commons is subject to increasing enclosure. Much of the valuable literature on the subjects of this thesis are actually from, or about, the Web 1.0 era. Subjects of data ownership and pluriversal knowledges are incredibly pertinent to today’s climate of AI slop, enshittification and mis/disinformation. Forced progression towards capitalist goals produces swathes of literature on ‘future tech’ that ignores the generalisable insights of the early web.

On the materiality, I have strong interest in exploring the physical dimensions of the digital, especially as I’m building with a neurodivergent brain in mind (or as mind). The moment of capture/recording is particularly ripe for innovation as the first barrier to suspending time to reflect on later. The fully embodied interaction with technologies is too often ignored in the pursuit of the digital.

Other areas with great insights on these topics are memory studies, the indie web and slow web. In exploring more of the materiality in the future I’ll delve further into these. I’d also like to take more insight from specifically disabled scholars in crip theory, as my neurodivergent framing was somewhat neglected. In the long-term, I’m drawn to permacomputing as a framework of rebuilding the web.