From The Superhighway

If you’re on the Internet in the modern era, there’s no doubt that you’ve seen someone lament the loss of the “old web” - a romanticized age when the Internet belonged to independent hobbyists, artists, and tinkerers first, and large ad-funded platforms a distant second. I was once one of those lamenters, having resigned myself to the idea that the old web was lost to us forever. However, in early 2024, after discovering a few independent websites and stumbling down a truly colossal rabbit-hole of experimental creativity, I realized that I was wrong. The “old web” is not only still alive, but it is in many respects thriving more than it ever has. I thought that the general public needed to know that, and From The Superhighway (FTS) is how I intend to tell them.

With every monthly update, FTS includes a slate of recommendations from the “indie web” - places outside of conventional social media where the frontier of Internet culture is being expanded every day. Additionally, each issue includes an interview with a notable artist or community member from the indie web, in which I ask them about their inspirations, process, and predictions for the future of Internet culture. In the relatively short time the newsletter has existed, I have already seen a veritable explosion of interest in the indie web, some from existing readers of Down The Ladder, some from folks stumbling upon the newsletter through word-of-mouth, and, most notably, from personal and professional acquaintances in real life.

On the tech side, I was able to leverage the existing infrastructure I had built for Down The Ladder’s newsletter and expand upon it (still using Astro for the frontend and Fastify for the backend) leaving me more time to experiment with the site’s design. I went for a late-90s Playstation aesthetic, directly inspired by the UI and presentation of games like Metal Gear Solid and the Wipeout series. Additionally, in the spirit of the old web, I’ve implemented a webring on the site that’s present on most independent Falchion Studios projects - membership in which is included with a subscription to the Falchion Studios Patreon.

The reaction to FTS has been immensely gratifying - several people have personally informed me that they have begun surfing the indie web as a direct result of the newsletter, and many more have had their pessimism about the future of the web replaced with enthusiastic excitement for what increasingly appears to be a new age of Internet culture being born before our eyes. It’s one of the projects I’m proudest of, and I’m looking forward to it being a tribune for the indie web for years to come.