I grew up with the internet.
I grew up with the internet.
I started exploring online worlds before home internet access was really a thing; before the web browsers really existed.
For almost as long as I can remember I’ve been using the internet, and its predecessors, to learn and explore the world. And for the last couple of decades that’s often also included watching, with wonder and confusion, the way other people use the internet.
On the morning of September 12, 2001 in New Zealand I awoke to learn of a horrible event that had unfolded overnight in the New York. I watched online as people shared their experiences both on the ground and from far away.
A couple of years later I watched in some moderately obscure dark corners of the internet as other people reinterpreted this terrible event that had unfolded in front of the world. I watched as those people constructed complicated and elaborate explanations for the simple but inexplicable things that had taken place that day.
From that time, for the last two decades, I’ve watched as those ideas, and others like them, moved from the dark corners, out into the bright light of social media and well-funded websites. And I’ve watched as world events, and understandable fears, have pulled people down into online rabbit holes.
Along the way I’ve found satisfaction in exploring internet mysteries and watching rabbit holes from a safe distance. I’ve tried to better understand weird and seemingly trivial things, and also to shed light on scary and harmful things.
I’ve written about my experiences for my friend David Farrier, and for The Spinoff. I’ve seen my writing make it’s way around New Zealand from time to time, and occasionally even make a splash internationally.
But, I’ve also realised that it’s not really a thing I can do full-time. It’s too much. Instead it is something that has to remain a side project. So that I can dip in and out when inspiration or curiousity strikes.
And this place is my outlet for that, for the time being. I don’t know how often I’ll write, or how deeply. I can’t write on everything I see, or all that’s taking place around me. But when I feel like I have something to offer, this is where it’s most likely to land.
Have learned a lot from your work in The Spinoff and appreciate the chance to hear more here, when you can. Nga mhi, Suze
Looking forward to some stories, Dylan.