WHOAMI
I am Aron. A designer, marketer, photographer, art director and techie based in Oslo.
In January 2025, I found myself without a job. I had more than enough going on, working as a quizmaster, my first solo as a photographer was only months away, and a few design side gigs, if side gigs exist if you don't have a main gig.
Only three months prior, I was diagnosed with a disorder I have had my whole life, without knowing it. I had to rethink everything in my past, present, and future. I had obviously handled this ever-present obstacle quite well; working full time, big network, above average salary, nice resume, interesting hobbies, and in relatively good health. For all intents and purposes, like any healthy, normal, happy person.
But this was a completely new perspective on life. On the one hand, there was an overwhelming chance of getting better from something that had always been there. Like getting rid of an itch or a headache that you thought was the baseline. On the other hand, there were two huge tasks ahead of me: The rewriting of my story, and the future I wanted to build with an estimated 15-65% increased capacity to work, exercise, be present, do things I love.
The prior, at least the public version, I'll postpone till I'm old and self-centred enough to believe the world needs to hear about it, the latter sort of starts here. I want to create more thoughtfully. Rabbit-hole into things that interest me and reflect on them, and invite people who may find the same things interesting to my research, thoughts, and opinions. But how? All the platforms totally suck. Or do they?
We're taking back the Internet
Autumn, 2025. The Internet has become evil. All the services we use are owned by people who either exploit workers to a point where they're not allowed to go to the bathroom, think empathy is a weakness, believe that nobody likes making music, and, of course, the good ol' stealing our data, making people depressed, pushing racist propaganda, and all the other sexy stuff Silicon Valley bro's do in the name of enshittification and no responsibility whatsoever.
Not only that, we have also become accustomed to getting all kinds of crappy "content" in our face as a sort of "price to pay" to get access to what we're really looking for. Stuff so irrelevant or dumb we would have laughed or cried only 10-15 years ago, but that are now as common as leaves on a tree.
October 15, 2025. I am surrounded by the antithesis to big tech, standing in a room full of techies who either cut the chains to the Zuck and his equals, or are in the process of doing so. The big tech has to go festival at Hausmania in Oslo attracted a whole bunch of interesting people, both on an off stage, who were using, creating and ideating alternatives to the big tech garbage that ruined the internet for all of us.
As I was standing there listening, I realised that while the politics and ethics of it all was important to me, what really got my blood pumping was that the Internet could be interesting again. Blogs are back. Newsletters are taking off. Local social media, like "Hudd" here in Norway, without the anti-human algorithms, data mining to the point of exploiting suicidal thoughts, and the endless flow of cash away from the economy we are actually in, are there to be enjoyed.
Follow someone, read what they write whenever you want. Nothing in between you, and the source. No boobies, fake news, content marketing (also known as content without content), Temu-ads... Just what you signed up for. But not only are newsletters and blogs back. there is also:
The Fediverse
In fear of sounding like a fedi-bro, I'm not going to go into too much detail. But in short, the Fediverse is a decentralised version of social media. Much like email, it's not a platform. It's a protocol. Like you don't have to use Gmail to send and receive emails with someone who uses Gmail, but are able to use Outlook, Yahoo mail, or even your self-hosted mail, you can criss-cross however you want between different platforms. You don't have to use Pixelfed to follow someone on Pixelfed. You can follow them on Mastodon, Misskey or Friendica - and not only follow, but like, repost and comment. Anyone on any platform can see and interact back. Nobody owns the protocol. Isn't that an idea, a web of communication that is free for everyone to use however the want. It sounds vaguely familiar...
The internet is fun again
An Internet where we decide what we see. Where we can simply stop following streams we don't like, and they won't show up anymore. But maybe most importantly, where we can talk about what we want, without having to think about what conservative Americans might be offended by.
For too long, we've had to avoid themes like war, LGBT+, nudity (including depictions of nudity in places like the Sistine Chapel) or political views (dangerous stuff like suggesting immigrants deserve healthcare). A friend of mine had their Instagram account disabled for using the hashtag #goddess because apparently, that week or hour or day, it had been used by other people for something someone somewhere didn't like. People have been shadow banned for referencing the book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". Apparently, you can make a movie about it for everyone to see, but if you mention it in a comment, you risk your digital presence being walled of.
So here I am,
blatantly self centred. I think I write interesting stuff that I think you or at least someone might find interesting to read. I like writing, but I dont like writing in a cookie-cutter mold made by Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk.
I'm feeling free to write whatever I want. Inspired. Liberated. So let's get it out of my system for the first time in years:
Sexy lingerie is sexy. I think Cannabis should be legal even if I don't smoke. Protests against war is something I support. The country of Israel is genocidal. Vaccines are generally good for you. Terrorism is bad. Gender is a social construct. Pussy Riot is a feminist protest group. I used to own some Crypto. Porn is predominantly misogynous. Here's a link to an encrypted chat service called Signal that is being used by all kinds of people including criminals. Hamas wasn't elected by the current population of Gaza. Onlyfans is a website where a lot of creeps hang out. Russia and Ukraine are in a conflict started by Vladimir Putin, who is a war mongering dictator who is against homosexuality. I like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but not Donald Trump. Orgasms feel good. BDSM is a concept within fetishism that I haven't properly tried. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered with a gun.
And just to finish it off:
Bomb, lesbian, trans, Zelensky, atheism, islam, Anthony Fauci, Black Panthers, Uncle Tom, vagina, clitoris, Ketamine, fuck, Vodka, immigrant, spanking, Nazi, abortion, synagogue and anorexia.
Damn, that felt good. Quote that on Facebook and see what happens.
But I won't be controversial. Probably.
Even if I make a point out of free speech and unfiltered opinion, I won't usually be very spicy. This is simply because I'm not a very controversial person. I just like the freedom of being able to at least mention a country, person or body part without being filtered by some ultra conservative algorithm in the Democratic Republic of Trumpia.
Talking to the void
If you read this, thank you for checking out what I call my journal. This is the first post so I imagine your'e in a club of approximately 6-34 people who actually read this post. Subscribe if you want, or just bookmark the site like it's 1999.
