I've really been enjoying Manu's People & Blogs^[1] series, so naturally I added him to my RSS feeds^[2]. This recent post^[3] about online counterculture really resonated with me.

Counterculture is spending time making zines and sending them out to 10 people across the globe, rather than posting shorts on fucking TikTok. Counterculture is sharing things you’re passionate about not because you plan to make a living out of it but because you believe connecting with other human beings is important.

I've been using Mastodon as my main social media since closing my Instagram account in January, and I mainly connect with people who enjoy photography or live nearby. It's been a great way to meet people, and to find community. We share links to our blog posts, talk about our passions, and build the better Internet we want to see in the world.

You either believe that an alternative is possible, and you start actively working towards it, or you roll on your digital side and you metaphorically die.

The same is true of politics. If you can't imagine a better world, you'll get stuck with the worst someone else can create. I think we've started to see that outcome from letting corporate tech own the web for so long, but it's far from a done deal. The indie web never went away, and it's still a place for us.