WEBDREAM: A Speculative Future for Gen Z & the Social Internet

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Madison Holloway

Abstract or Description

I love the internet, but I'm scared for its future, and subsequently for my own because of how intertwined my life and identity are with it. The ways we interact online are not careful or sustainable. Our behavior harms us and others, and we have very little incentive to care. My generation is the most connected to date, but I worry our focus on what is truly meaningful is lacking due to the “attention economy” of social media. There’s so much possibility but maybe even greater potential for harm on the internet because most of us don’t understand where the boundary lies. If we are going to secure the brighter futures we dream of — social justice, an end to extractive capitalism , a healthy relationship to earth — I believe restructuring our relationship with the internet is necessary. As a researcher and communicator of the new generation, I feel a responsibility to explore possibilities of an internet future that makes our minds feel more like gardens and our communities better equipped to heal and grow.

Through this project, I am exploring the question "How can Gen Z work toward an internet future that radically aligns with communal well-being and growth?" My generation is already yearning for a better internet - a place to grow and enact change together. Borrowing creation methods from zine culture, I am building an interactive digital space that houses short essays, visuals, and prompts to engage people in imagining a different future for the social internet.

Mentor

Megan Kaminski