Sloweb. A fast technology for minds who are not ashamed of slowing down and thinking
Hyper-connected and vulnerable. Almost hypnotised as we scroll down our social media profiles, watching comments and reactions from friends and users flow before our eyes. We are addicted, bulimic, greedy and, when it comes to the web, nearly illiterate.
Our irresponsible use of the internet prevents us from actually learning anything: everything is limited to the surface on which, indeed, we “surf”.
We surf, we float, we swallow large amounts of meta-data without properly “chewing” or digesting them. To make matters worse, we never have a real siesta after our daily binge of data, we never stop to ruminate on these overflowing amounts of information. Thus, we doom ourselves to an endless journey, an endless surfing towards no new horizons, as we allow the currents of search engines and social media algorithms to carry us on.
In the world of the web 2.0, social networks, instant chats, selfies and mass storage clouds, the internet appears to have lost a large part of the positive values it once wanted to represent and has become a huge market where buyers are sometimes aware of what they are doing, and sometimes not. And one where they are constantly selling themselves, though unintentionally. A deep forest, an ill-famed place full of pickpockets and impostors, where we are offered “free” distractions in exchange for our behavioural data, our profiles and our interests. In this way, we give away our personal and browsing data to advertisers, allowing them to influence our daily life.
In fact, the web was certainly not born to become a commercial trap, but rather to be a tool to spread and share information and knowledge. It can (and should) be used to promote empowerment, to pursue freedom and to nurture our individual and collective growth.
If we can just manage to go back and exercise our right to organise our own time, to think, to choose and act according to our needs instead of responding to marketing strategies, then we have a great opportunity before us. It is not too late, yet it is not too soon.
These thoughts have prompted us, together with friends and colleagues, to create a movement — Sloweb — in order to promote higher sustainability and responsibility in the use of the web.
Sloweb is a movement dealing with “web ethics”. It aims at opening a broad debate on the risks and opportunities of the web, promoting several information and education activities, and defining behaviour guidelines for companies and groups that operate through the internet or use web tools. Our intent is to fight the improper use of the web made by irresponsible organizations, firms and individuals.
Sloweb, for example, aims at helping people understand the main clauses of the contracts they accept on the web — though often hardly aware of their contents –, teaching users a responsible way to organise their online presence (and time) while using social media and digital tools, promoting several other activities that define what we think is a “good”, virtuous use of the internet.
Sloweb has also much to do with teachers and pupils, students and handwriting. Instead of creating a logo, we thought to write “Sloweb” just like a primary school student would: with a neat hand, with care, time and taste. In italics, with a handsome and rather “round” capital S. In this way, it is immediately clear what this is all about: learning and thinking.
Sloweb. A Short Guide to a Responsible Use of the Web — edited by Pietro Jarre and Federico Bottino and published in Italian by Golem Edizioni — 120 pages, 14 euros.
Preface by Enrico Deaglio — San Francisco USA
Essays by: Guido Avigdor, Carlo Blengino, Pietro Calorio, Giovanna Giordano, Paolo Jarre, Jacopo Mele and Peppino Ortoleva — Torino Italy
Short Guide to a Responsible Use of the Web. The Introduction
Hyper-connected and vulnerable. Almost hypnotised as we scroll down our social media profiles, watching comments and reactions from friends and users flow before our eyes. We are addicted, bulimic, greedy and, when it comes to the web, nearly illiterate.
Our irresponsible use of the internet prevents us from actually learning anything: everything is limited to the surface on which, indeed, we “surf”.
We surf, we float, we swallow large amounts of meta-data without properly “chewing” or digesting them. To make matters worse, we never have a real siesta after our daily binge of data, we never stop to ruminate on these overflowing amounts of information. Thus, we doom ourselves to an endless journey, an endless surfing towards no new horizons, as we allow the currents of search engines and social media algorithms to carry us on.
In the world of the web 2.0, social networks, instant chats, selfies and mass storage clouds, the internet appears to have lost a large part of the positive values it once wanted to represent and has become a huge market where buyers are sometimes aware of what they are doing, and sometimes not. And one where they are constantly selling themselves, though unintentionally. A deep forest, an ill-famed place full of pickpockets and impostors, where we are offered “free” distractions in exchange for our behavioural data, our profiles and our interests. In this way, we give away our personal and browsing data to advertisers, allowing them to influence our daily life.
In fact, the web was certainly not born to become a commercial trap, but rather to be a tool to spread and share information and knowledge. It can (and should) be used to promote empowerment, to pursue freedom and to nurture our individual and collective growth.
If we can just manage to go back and exercise our right to organise our own time, to think, to choose and act according to our needs instead of responding to marketing strategies, then we have a great opportunity before us. It is not too late, yet it is not too soon.
These thoughts have prompted us, together with friends and colleagues, to create a movement — Sloweb — in order to promote higher sustainability and responsibility in the use of the web.
Sloweb is a movement dealing with “web ethics”. It aims at opening a broad debate on the risks and opportunities of the web, promoting several information and education activities, and defining behaviour guidelines for companies and groups that operate through the internet or use web tools. Our intent is to fight the improper use of the web made by irresponsible organizations, firms and individuals.
Sloweb, for example, aims at helping people understand the main clauses of the contracts they accept on the web — though often hardly aware of their contents –, teaching users a responsible way to organise their online presence (and time) while using social media and digital tools, promoting several other activities that define what we think is a “good”, virtuous use of the internet.
Sloweb has also much to do with teachers and pupils, students and handwriting. Instead of creating a logo, we thought to write “Sloweb” just like a primary school student would: with a neat hand, with care, time and taste. In italics, with a handsome and rather “round” capital S. In this way, it is immediately clear what this is all about: learning and thinking.
Sloweb. A Short Guide to a Responsible Use of the Web — edited by Pietro Jarre and Federico Bottino and published in Italian by Golem Edizioni — 120 pages, 14 euros.
Preface by Enrico Deaglio — San Francisco USA
Essays by: Guido Avigdor, Carlo Blengino, Pietro Calorio, Giovanna Giordano, Paolo Jarre, Jacopo Mele and Peppino Ortoleva — Torino Italy
