22 Sep 2024 – Collecting ∞ Connecting

I am in constant search for a different web, a slower web. I am bored by the move to more and more algorithmic content generation and curation.

Here are two digital spaces that I am drawn to as alternatives: Arena and Montaigne.

Arena

I’ve been using Are.na for quite a while now. Gemma got me on it and it quickly became an essential tool. It is like a user-friendly, elegant pinterest without all the ads, though that is to sell it short. I use it as a reference scrapbook when starting new design projects as well as a general bookmark tool. However, where it stands apart is through encouraging connections across disparate disciplines and knowledges.

Every post is a connection, linking to other people who have also added the same thing. It is wonderful to follow the trail across users, the non-algorithmic version of "if you like that, you might like this" – and so much more interesting than machine learning could ever be.

What do ‘Cosmoecology’, ‘acrocybernetics’, ‘six of cups’ and ‘Strange Intimacies’ have in common? A little starfish. I follow the trail and finally learn to remember what the 6 of cups means.

I was a Tumblr baby, and Arena scratches the same itch.

Montaigne

Montaigne is much newer, only a few months. I came to it through Russell, the king of connecting, whose own version is a delight in randomness.

Montaigne publishes to a simple webpage via iPhone notes. There is precious little customisation possible. Simple. Perfect.

Back in Tumblr days, I used to take photos of passages in books that struck me and collate them all together every so often. I'm trying to revive that here, but it is also an attempt to replace the validation hook of instagram stories It’s very cliche to do a social-media-is-bad thing. I'm not saying that. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't – an aside for another time..

I’m still developing this practice and I forget about it for weeks at a time. The old saying that it takes 6 weeks to make a habit; I think it takes me about a year.

Noticing, Collecting, Sharing

When I am consistent with these practices, I see things in a different way. My attention changes. I notice things I probably wouldn't have otherwise. I am more likely to spot interesting juxtapositions and make lateral connections. I feel more inspired to make things.

Russell Davis introduces his book, Do Interesting, with a simple premise.

You can make your work – and the world – more interesting by practicing three things:

Noticing – if you pay more attention to the world, it starts to look more interesting
Collecting – if you bang together the things you've noticed, they get more interesting again
Sharing – if you get good at sharing all that stuff with people, it gets even better

In the following chapters, he suggests a range of ways to do those things. Arena and Montaigne are two of mine, and I can confirm that Russell is correct. It makes the world more interesting .