Well that was an interesting chain of events:
I read the first several paragraphs. Since they seem wordy and light on actual meaning, and the post is long, as I often do, I grabbed all the text and headed to ChatGPT/Claude -- in this instance ChatGPT.
"Summarize this in no more than twenty bullet points."
ChatGPT spits out exactly twenty bullet points, including pointless gems like:
- He believes public social media, particularly blogs, played a more vibrant role than traditional media during their heyday
- Rao humorously attributes the blog’s success to the low-interest-rate era, with its cheap hosting and free distribution.
"Summarize this into no more than 20 bullet points. Skip unimportant housekeeping bits."
Claude also feels the need to produce exactly 20 bullet points, including exactly the housekeeping bits I pointed it away from like:
- Some content threads (lab tinkering, fiction) will find homes in other media or formats.
- Rao plans to compile book-length volumes from the blog archives.
ChatGPT:
1. Venkatesh Rao is retiring his blog *Ribbonfarm* on November 13, 2024, after 17 years.
2. He views this as the end of the blogosphere era, which played a major role in shaping the internet during the Web 2.0 phase (2000-2020).
3. The decline of blogs is linked to rising interest rates and the shift toward paid distribution models, which replaced the free, open web environment that allowed blogs to thrive.
4. Rao coined the term "cozyweb" to describe the more intimate, private online spaces (like Discord and Substack) that are replacing the public nature of blogs and social media.
5. *Ribbonfarm*'s closure symbolizes the broader cultural shift from the chaotic, public blogosphere to this new era of niche, cozy communities.
• After 17 years, Venkatesh Rao is retiring his blog, Ribbonfarm, on November 13, 2024 (his 50th birthday).
• Ribbonfarm's lifespan (2007-2024) coincides with the rise and fall of the blogosphere, Web 2.0, and public social media - a significant chapter in internet and civilizational history partly enabled by low interest rates and cheap venture capital.
• Rao sees the "cozyweb" (a term he coined in 2019) as the successor to public social media, favoring more intimate, subscription-based platforms like Substack.
• In recent years, Rao shifted to writing "blogchains" and avoiding viral content, reflecting broader changes in online writing styles.
• Post-retirement, Rao plans to compile book-length volumes from the blog archives but is uncertain where to share his "random impulses" that found a home on Ribbonfarm.