We don't have to let the internet standardize, and we don't have to let this resource be co-opted.
Doesn't have to tell you what to like.
Don't have to underpay artists and overcharge customers.
Don't have to sell data in order to turn a profit.
Don't have to dictate how individuals use the web.
Most web pages look about the same as a result of the constraints presented by screens and viewports. There are fallbacks in web-design that tend to show up across the board.
This is the white box gallery of the web, except the white box is everywhere, not just in museums. Flat colors because they load quickly and are lightweight and easy to integrate. Classic automatic fonts because they’re cheaper and you don’t have to pay a typographer. Horizontal stripes of content in reaction to the vertical bias on most devices. We use stock background images because they scale easily across devices and their viewports. Big type and smaller images over the background are simple and accessible.
It's overwhelming to constantly be paying attention. But companies know that, and manipulate the fact that users will reliably stop fighting back.
Kyle Chayka, writer of Filterworld:How Algorithms Flattened Culture wrote, “There are ‘lean-in’ moments, when the user is paying attention, choosing what to consume and actively judging the result, and there are ‘lean-back’ moments, when users coast along with content running in the background, not worrying too much about what it is or what plays next."
Evgeny Morozov, "the hitman of silicon valley", calls it Technocapitalism.
Frank Chimero, a writer and a web designer says of these elements, “Many sites will share design solutions, because we’re using the same materials. The consistencies establish best practices; they are proof of design patterns that play off of the needs of a common medium, and not evidence of a visual monoculture."
There is a lot to be learned from the old web.
Before templates. Before graphic design. Before "technocapitalism."
Social Media
Prefab Web
Old Web
It's easier to be alone these days.
Easier to stay distracted.
Easier to be overwhelmed.
But it's also easier to create.