kottke.org Questions Internet’s Missing Public Spaces, Comparing Today’s Web to Spike-Covered Benches
Updated
Updated · kottke.org · May 11
kottke.org Questions Internet’s Missing Public Spaces, Comparing Today’s Web to Spike-Covered Benches
2 articles · Updated · kottke.org · May 11
kottke.org published a commentary arguing the modern internet lacks true public spaces where people can simply gather, linger or interact without commercial control.
The piece compares today’s web to cities built for cars, saying users are funneled into controlled apps and search engines designed for extraction rather than open civic use.
Since 1998, the site has positioned itself as an independent corner of the web, and the post extends that critique to a broader concern about how online spaces are structured.
86.47% of the web, in the site’s tongue-in-cheek framing, may be "beloved" by kottke.org, but the essay’s wider point is that the internet increasingly offers fewer shared, public commons.
Is the future of the internet a choice between corporate 'extraction' and small, subscription-based communities?
Can new 'agentic AI' truly decentralize the web, or will tech giants simply find new ways to control our online lives?