We create tiny underground burrows of Slack channels, Whatsapp groups, Discord chats, and Telegram streams that offer shelter and respite from the aggressively public nature of Facebook, Twitter, and every recruiter looking to connect on LinkedIn. It’s the digital realm of Gen-Z vibes. Casual, comfy, and not trying to kick up a fuss. The cozy web works on “(human) protocol of everybody cutting-and-pasting bits of text, images, URLs, and screenshots across live streams”, hopefully one day evolving “from cut-and-paste to a personal blockchain of context-permissioned, addressable, searchable, interlinked clips” as Venkat puts it. It’s since become a standard part of the Venkat Vocabulary for fellow Ribbonfarmers and Yaks, and remains one of my favourite of this year.
