Internet layers: social media, the open web, RSS, newsletters and the cozy web
Map of the internet layers: the dark forest of the public web with social networks and its predators (bots, LLMs, agents, algorithms); below it RSS, newsletters, digital gardens and personal blogs linked by the IndieWeb; below that the cozy web of private chats and groups; and, separately, the dark web.
/\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\ /\
/ \ o o/ \ / \ o o/ \ / \ o o/ \ / \ o o/ \
/____\ /____\ /____\ /____\ /____\ /____\ /____\ /____\
|| || || || || || || ||
bots LLMs agents algorithms
social networks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: RSS · newsletters · digital gardens :
: [blog]------[blog]------[mine] IndieWeb :
:..............................................................:
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| COZY WEB |
| (chat) (group) (chat) |
| (group) (chat) |
| |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| DARK WEB |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
/\ /\ /\ /\
/ \ o o/ \ / \ o o/ \
/____\ /____\ /____\ /____\
|| || || ||
bots, LLMs, agents,
algorithms
social networks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: RSS · newsletters :
: digital gardens · IndieWeb :
: [blog]--[blog]--[mine] :
:..............................:
+------------------------------+
| |
| COZY WEB |
| (chat) (group) |
| (group) (chat) |
| |
+------------------------------+
+------------------------------+
| DARK WEB |
+------------------------------+
The internet has layers. This page is a map of where you can find me on each layer.
Layer 1 · The public web
Algorithms and social media feeds
Social networks full of trolls, clickbait, manipulators of our emotions and content generated by artificial intelligence.
On this layer of the internet, you can find me on these social networks:
My profiles on social networks are ways to discover my personal website.
Personal blogs and community websites
richardgolian.com
My personal website: everything I publish, in one place. It is also the gate to the deeper layers of the internet.
The open web
Open standards let us be independent of big platforms and social networks when we communicate online and distribute content.
IndieWeb
The so-called IndieWeb is a community and a set of open standards that let personal websites talk to each other directly, with no platform in between. This site has them built in:
- Webmention, a mailbox between websites: when another site links to me, I get a notification in my mailbox; when I feature someone in the Human filter, my site notifies that author.
- Bridgy, the bridge to Mastodon and Bluesky: when someone there responds to a post that links to my site, the response arrives at my site as a webmention.
- h-card, a machine-readable card on every page that says who I am.
- h-entry, machine-readable articles, so another site can show a mention of my text with author and date.
- h-feed and u-bookmark-of in the Human filter, so a site I link to learns that I featured it in the Human filter, and can show the note I wrote about it instead of a bare mention.
- rel="me", identity proofs that tie my profiles to this domain; with a service such as IndieLogin they also let me sign in to IndieWeb sites with my own domain instead of a platform account.
- IndieAuth, my own sign-in server, so that proving I am me runs through this domain and not through an intermediary.
- IndieWeb Webring in the footer, two arrows that take you to another personal site.
Layer 2 · The cozy web
This layer is the so-called cozy web. It is called cozy because it feels like a small, familiar room rather than a public square: there is a gate, you either walk in by your own decision or somebody lets you in, and what happens inside is not indexed by search engines.
- Living room, private room, invitation only
- Chat groups from secondary school, from university, and groups of friends from my home town
Layer 3 · The dark web
The hidden part of the internet, one layer below the cozy web, reachable through onion routers such as Tor. You will not find me here.
Off the internet · Offline
This one is not a layer of the internet. Most of what I publish starts in this place.
