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  1. May 2023
    1. However, even personal websites and newsletters can sometimes be too public, so we retreat further into gatekept private chat apps like Slack, Discord, and WhatsApp.These apps allow us to spend most of our time in real human relationships and express our ideas, with things we say taken in good faith and opportunities for real discussions.The problem is that none of this is indexed or searchable, and we’re hiding collective knowledge in private databases that we don’t own. Good luck searching on Discord!

      Appleton sketches a layering of dark forest web (silos mainly), cozy web (personal sites, newsletters, public but intentionally less reach), and private chat groups, where you are in pseudo closed or closed groups. This is not searchable so any knowledge gained / expressed there is inaccessible to the wider community. Another issue I think is that these closed groups only feel private, but are in fact not. Examples mentioned like Slack, Discord and Whatsapp are definitely not private. The landlord is wacthing over your shoulder and gathering data as much as the silos up in the dark forest.