Do you remember when the internet was… fun?

Before smartphones.
Before we optimized every word and posted only at peak times.
Before your every click trained the algorithm.

When blogs were diaries.
Tumblr was a collage.
And you could post a blurry photo of your breakfast or a 2am thought spiral… and no one expected it to become content.

I miss that.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Miranda July and Harrell Fletcher’s “Learning to Love You More” project — how they gave assignments like:
#43 — Make an exhibition of the art in your parents’ house.

It was strange and sweet and communal and unnecessary in all the right ways.

It didn’t optimize anything.
It just made you feel like a human.

Some days, I want to go full analog.
But honestly? I love the digital too.

I don’t want to choose sides.
I want to languish in the sweet middle and mess around.

Lately I’ve been gathering things — thoughts, tools, tiny invitations — that might help us do just that.

It’s not ready yet. But it’s taking shape.
A digital shape, but one that remembers how to play.

I’ll share more soon.

 

But for now:
What was your favorite thing about the early internet?

Hit reply if you want. I’d love to hear.

P.S. Do you still have an old blog somewhere? A secret Tumblr? A folder of screenshots from when everything online felt more like a whisper than a performance?