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Reading plain text | |
October 14th, 2018 | |
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While reading moji's phlog [0] I started considering how I read on | |
gopher, or in plain text in general versus my methods on the web. | |
Certainly I do more scanning in a web browser, which I attribute | |
at least partially to the various font and style treatments that | |
both allow for and promote the bite-sized ingestion of content. | |
There is also an element of reading fatigue that plays out | |
differently here in plain text, and thats where my mind went (not | |
to say that moji was in any way tiring). | |
When I'm tired of reading on gopher it is instantly apparent. | |
I skim over blocks of text looking for something to jump out at | |
me, but that isnt how it works. Warning claxxons blare in my brain | |
and I shut down figuratively and literally. It's clear I need to | |
do something else and come back later. I get no such signal on the | |
web. I peruse long past the point of usefulness. I trade reading | |
for browsing. Surfing becomes skimming. Infinite scroll is | |
infinitely useless. | |
My time in text is short and productive in the sense that I get | |
something from it, whether information or entertainment. My time | |
on the web offers sone of that, but the trappings are extreme and | |
it is all too easy to give more time than necessary or helpful. | |
This is intentional. Capitalism demands attention, and it is that | |
monstrosity which guides the design patterns on port 80. Even | |
informational sites follow the patterns because that is what | |
drives engagement. Look at the analytics, measure your performance | |
goals. How do we keep them longer? How do we show them more ads? | |
How do we get them to spend a little more? | |
I'm sick of environmental leeches. I want my landscapes clear and | |
clean. Mow down the billboards and flashing neon and let me get | |
where I'm going on my own terms, please. | |
There is no way out on the web. The experience is condemned to | |
these patterns. People scream when you try to pull that bandage | |
off. They demand more convenience despite the cost. The masses | |
want to live like this. We're the weirdos for questioning it. | |
[0] moji - unlearning |