The small internet vs. the big internet
There are basically two internets right now, and they're drifting further apart. Picking the right one is most of the battle.
Roughly speaking, there are two internets right now and they don't have much in common.
The big internet is the handful of platforms that 90% of online attention flows through. They have algorithmic feeds, infinite scroll, advertiser-driven ranking, and a strong incentive to keep you on the page as long as possible. They're spectacular at scale and bad at surprising you.
The small internet is everything else. Personal sites. Tiny indie games. Single-developer tools. Small forums. Webrings. Hand-coded HTML. Newsletter archives. Niche directories. It runs on shared hosting, static site generators, and old-fashioned curiosity.
The small internet has worse search, smaller audiences, fewer features, and a much higher hit rate per minute spent. The big internet has incredible reach, polished products, and a much higher chance of leaving you feeling slightly worse than when you started.
You don't have to pick one, but it pays to notice which one you're spending your minutes on, and to consciously rebalance every so often. The small internet is still there, and it's where most of the fun is hiding.