About

What the web was

The Internet has never been a stable place. Estimates suggest over a third of internet traffic is now bots, and over a third of pages that existed in 2013 are no longer accessible. Despite being a cornerstone of modern infrastructure, it remains in flux, and websites come and go as much as the old ideas that underpinned the optimism and do-it-yourself attitude of the early Information Age. The independence and curatorial nature of the early Internet has diminished, and the habit of casually surfing the web now feels dated. The uniqueness of links and domains is falling sharply. Search engines are becoming less central as artificial intelligence reduces user clickthroughs. People are more interconnected and engaged than ever, but mainly within the behavioural patterns that social media enables. Outside that ecosystem, it feels like something has been lost.

So why create another ill-fated link aggregation website? As a very amateur digital preservationist, this site is a small attempt to collect and remember sites I encountered, memorable moments, and topics that interested me. Adding the dimension of time to link aggregation also places the sites in context as a whole - the living, breathing internet that continues to wax and wane, grow and shrink as digital and cultural memory.

About me

You can contact me at @cybreco on social platforms or at rcybreco@gmail.com. I welcome feedback, site ideas, and suggestions.