{"id":3100,"date":"2023-06-13T09:29:16","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T17:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/networkeffects.ca\/?p=3100"},"modified":"2023-06-13T10:05:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T18:05:04","slug":"reclaimopen-closer-to-the-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/networkeffects.ca\/?p=3100","title":{"rendered":"#reclaimopen Closer to the Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The blacksmith and the artist
Reflect it in their art
They forge their creativity
Closer to the heart<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reclaim Open 2023<\/a> was the first in-person conference I have attended since OEGlobal19<\/a>. The group of brilliant people it drew together was exactly the injection of insight, reflection, and commiseration I have been missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I generally lean into hope, resilience, and determination in the face of adversity but have been dismayed for years that I am witnessing the decline of the open web. A large part of that struggle is a sense of guilt that I have played a role in it. Twitter<\/a> ate my blogging practice years ago and my 5 year affair<\/a> with Known<\/a> flamed out in 2021. While my emerging interests in solarpunk<\/a> had me getting my hands dirty with other technologies<\/a> over the past few years, I felt my enthusiasm for the web suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kathleen Fitzpatrick’s keynote “We Have Never Been Social: Web 2.0 and What Went Wrong”<\/a> resonated deeply with me. Reflecting on the open web with a group of insightful, creative educators who connect with the optimism of the early open web and also share a sense of loss gave me permission to cut myself some slack. Kathleen’s talk sharply illustrated how we were all sold a bill of goods by the Web 2.0 run at the read\/write web. We traded bits of our online identity and autonomy for tokens to the online carnival. Carnivals can be fun – I’ve enjoyed a few – but when the rides and games leave town they leave behind trampled ground and loads of garbage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainability and cultivation require responsibility and work<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I am encouraged, uplifted, and energized by the few days with the Reclaim Open 2023 choir. As Joe Murphy<\/a> noted in Discord, I really needed this practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I am going to start taking more responsibility and do the work at https:\/\/networkeffects.ca<\/a>. To start, I am re-committing to my blog practice by adopting Tom Woodward<\/a>‘s practice of Weekly Web Harvests. Tom is a thoughtful educator and gifted technician – I have endless bookmarks drawn from his Weekly Web Harvests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to all the excellent on-site coordination, the Reclaim folks also committed to sharing sessions via hybrid delivery – those archives are all available at Youtube<\/a>. I was furiously gathering links and notes during #reclaimopen<\/a> and will be revisiting those archives to organize my thoughts in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atop all this learning and reflection Reclaim Open 2023 brought me together with wonderful friends – many of whom I had not seen in years. Thanks and gratitude to the Reclaim Hosting<\/a> team for gathering these outstanding folks<\/a> – I’ll keep working on my night moves<\/a> to “lose the awkward open web blues”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n