Thoughts and ideas on people and technology.
December 2, 2024
I’ve been on the internet since the mid 90s. Once I started “cyber-schooling” a few years later my time spent in front of a screen skyrocketed. One of the time vortices both for and outside of school was finding things on the internet. Everything from encyclopedia-style information pieces to news articles to music to games; the hunt was relentless.
Search engines were the primary was this was done. In the early days my school officially recommended Ask Jeeves, but the students found Google’s results much more thorough. Us little scientists-in-training were even running parallel searches, recording outcomes, and sharing results. We eventually got in trouble for wrongthink...I mean...not following instructions, but were vindicated soon after when the school's recommendations changed to "use whatever search engine you like, as long as the results chosen are quality sources".
The problem of “how to find things on the internet” has recently returned. “Google it” is no longer the genericized verb it once was. Grand tomes and PHD theses have been written on the subject of why, but most point to motives and monetization. The original problem was finding things, and the solution was search. But how would the bills get paid? Computers are expensive! Printing newspapers is expensive too, and the solution was the same for both: sell advertising space. Unfortunately for us users, that has become the primary business for much of the internet. Search engines are no longer motivated to get you the results you’re looking for as quickly as possible, but to keep you on their platform looking at ads. Pundits have coined the term “enshittification” (which even has it’s own Wikipedia page now) to describe the phenomenon.
Worry not, for not all is lost! There are still ways to find things on the internet. Methods vary depending on what kind of things you’re looking for. One of my most common searches is for how to do things; everything from home repairs to mechanical to technology. My primary method for this is to use Google to search Reddit. Reddit is a massive collection of forums with almost two decades of human-generated content. Unfortunately it’s built-in search is mostly terrible, so that’s where Google comes in. Do the same Google search you’d normally do (say, “how to fix a squeaky door”), but add “site:reddit.com” to the end. This tells Google to only show results from Reddit. What you’ll get is forum threads and comments from (mostly) real humans with real human experiences. Of course humans and their commentary can still be deeply flawed, so stay skeptical of what you read, but it’s largely a much better experience than a naked Google search.
Less mainstream search engines are trying their hands at paid subscriptions as a way to avoid the advertising hell-spiral. Kagi is one I’ve been trying, though admittedly not as often as I should. They do have a free tier if you want to sample it.
A more high-tech solution is AI systems. ChatGPT recently released a tool specifically for internet searches, though their general prompt tool has been usable for this for a while. Kagi also has an AI-powered search tier. Both are pretty expensive for casual users though.
Another recommendation is to frequent interest or topic-specific forums and blogs. If you find yourself regularly needing vehicle repair tips, try joining a forum on the subject. Same goes for most other do-it-yourself tasks. You may even make some internet friends! Blogs are also a great way to find things and get connected to experts (shameless plug fully intended).
Lastly, some interesting things are happening on the Nostr protocol that could help bring information together without the commercial overreach. (See “Become Unbannable” for more on Nostr.) I’ve been using a site called Zap Cooking (https://zap.cooking) to browse recipes. Recipes here are Nostr notes (posts) that have been formatted and categorized, and can be commented on, rated, and tipped, all using the free and open Nostr protocol. No algorithms, no banks, no governments, and no ads!
Want help with or training on finding things on the internet? You can find us at scalebright.ca.
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