We can have a different web

White does a great job telling the story of the evolution of the web through analogy. It is very easy to follow. I sympathize with her perspective. I love the web, and will continue to inhabit the web on that layer. Indieweb services, run by real people, with genuine authors publishing real things.

But some of this is certainly based in the feeling that the web was just better back then. Fewer trolls, and a lot fewer bots. Google search results that actually returned what you were looking for, not just the sites that paid the most. Cobbled-together blogs and LiveJournal pages written by people who felt authentic, who maybe wanted to attract more visitors to tick up their pageview counters or add entries to their guestbook pages, but who weren't trying to cultivate a persona as an influencer or a thought leader, "build a brand", or monetize their audience.

Her point that you can choose to have this web is spot on. We all can make this choice. It really isn't hard. And I can tell you, the water is so much better out here.