The Old Web

I emailed with a friend this morning, maintaining a longtime asynchronous and attenuated conversation.

I posted a music composition proposal online this morning, and two people have already uploaded music in response, with many more responses to come.

I sent out an email newsletter, and several people I have never met replied with interesting input on related topics I previously knew nothing about.

I sent a post to an email list, and read replies to other posts.

I read semi-personal, semi-professional writings online by individuals whose perspectives and work I find interesting, alerted to their publication by my so-called feed reader (née RSS).

The old web isn’t dead. It’s still there. The old web is a persistent weed that grows in the alley behind the shopping mall that is the modern web. Some recognize that weed as a healthy vegetable. The old web is a conversation that takes place quietly while countless others are busy blathering as loudly and quickly as possible. The old web is right there, in plain sight. The current old web is in some ways larger than the old old web; a problem is that the modern new web is, indeed, even so much larger. 

The old web isn’t dead. It’s still there. You do have to look for it, though. And it helps to participate, too.