A List Apart: Why Are You Here?

Wonderful read on why online use is becoming so much more fun, ubiquitous and downright necessary.

A List Apart: Articles: Why Are You Here?: "Now, however, it’s no longer geeks and early adopters who are preaching the word. People all over the world who have no interest in Web standards or SQL are flocking here, looking for something that they can no longer find in physical reality. Look at Diaryland, for example. Yes, yes, a lot of the writing in Diaryland is crap, but 99% of everything is crap. And even if the authors of Diaryland aren’t penning the Iliad, they’re writing. They’re out here. They’ve been given the opportunity to make their voices heard. They’ve peeked through the veil, and they’ve seen that there is possibility here in the online world, that there might be something that can answer the questions we’ve all had.

This is a huge shift from the tech-happy libertarian/anarchic ethos that gets all the hype. However, people don’t want the Next Big Thing; they want a space where they can get away from modern life. Instead of getting on their knees and asking someone for the answers, they’re trying to determine the answers for themselves. They want a space, a cave, a retreat, a wall they can mark on so that others can see and share."