The age of
free information is over. There was a time when creating a site for the express concern of becoming
indi-famous and entertaining/informing the masses were the only concerns. People didn’t
expect to be paid for their fresh insight; who would pay anyone to read about
retro-toys or
analysis of the stupidity plaguing the world? And that’s exactly the point: Webmasters were writing exactly what they wanted
without second-guessing themselves (‘Will this
offend my sponsor? Better not post it.’).
Now, we end up with a
corporate circus to grab the next big thing, and plaster logos of sponsorship all over it. Sites no longer become
fresh and new, but are
time-locked at the exact moment that their corporate ‘friends’ felt they were best.
Not only do these
corporate advertising networks steal from the fans, but the webmasters are also
shafted. It’s a
vicious cycle, and the end result is a
hollow shell of a site with no further funding, and an individual with a much
darker outlook on the world.
Now, I’d be a
hypocrite if I were to say that I wouldn’t love to be
paid to sit in front of my computer everyday, spewing out whatever
dribble happened to be floating around in my mind at
any given moment. What I am saying is this: Are we occupying the same place we were 3 years ago? Is the Internet still the ultimate
land of the free, or is it a
wasteland for corporate enterprise? It looks the same, but am I in a place where I can be
shocked or inspired at any given click of the mouse?
I’m slowly coming to grips with the
homogenisation of a place
I used to love.