> The "slow web" never left.
i wish we had usage stats that were as simple as FB or insta’s “monthly active users”. because i feel like there’s an ebb and flow to this. 15 years ago, blogs had comment sections, pingbacks, RSS. 10 years ago, SEO displaced the blog. 5 years ago, blogs grew again with Twitter announcements replacing the role of RSS. today, email lists are back in style and my friends ask me for RSS reader recommendations.
then there’s the whole aspect of forums. most of the forums i used growing up are effectively dead. on the other hand, there are still new ones i run across monthly. it’s very difficult for me to separate my own trajectory from the overall “small web” trajectory: i just wish i knew of clean stats to illuminate the true state of things.