Sermon Two

I'm going to be the first to say that the Nexus of Networked Orthodoxy for the Web isn't exactly the most original idea in the whole history of the world, but it's not one of the most 'normal' ones, either. Much of what we're attempting here has been tried before -- with varying degrees of success -- but not exactly in the same way, let alone the same medium. As a result, the Nexus can seem at once familiar and odd, mundane while still being incredibly strange.

Because of all this, it may be difficult for some who are new to Nowism to get a clear handle on what the point of all this is, and what we're trying to accomplish. On the one hand, it's a campy Internet in-joke, another take on the "can't we all find some way to just freakin' behave" issue that's endemic to the Web. On the other hand though, it's deeply philosophical with a not-so-subtle religious overtone to it, however haphazard.

The very basic ideas behind the Nexus were covered in the first sermon, which really is the first place to go to start finding answers to some of these questions. What I'm going to do now is build on the framework we cobbled together in that talk, and try to give a few more detailed pointers toward our goals here, and how we hope to accomplish them.

Our first and most important goal is to promote simple courtesy on the Web. This is what the Ten Commandments for the Web, a.k.a. the Big 10, are all about, and this is why observing the Big 10 is the one cardinal requirement of being a Nowist. Everything else is just the gravy. Okay, I think it's like the premium homemade organic mushroom gravy, but it's still gravy nonetheless.

Now, as seriously as we'd like people to take the Big 10, we don't want them to be taken TOO seriously. Fanatacism of any stripe can quickly throw anything off-balance, wrecking the whole venture. Our intent isn't to impose some kind of hegemony or homogeneity, just to promote a bit more harmony. It's important to remember that harmony isn't everyone singing the same note, it's just that people are singing together; nobody's singing impede's anyone else's. We're still going to have extreme disagreements and people getting annoyed at each other, but it's possible to do this without wrecking the Web for everyone.

As a globally networked community, we absolutely have to learn to play well with each other, despite our many differences. If we don't, we'll stay a fractious and divided group, easy pickings for those who would sweep in and impose their own way of doing things, 'for our own good'. It's often said that a house divided against itself cannot stand, and a good history book will show you how that's been proven true in the past. So 'playing nice' isn't just some altruistic, happy-go-huggy pablum, it's a serious requirement if we want to keep our beloved Web a place where free formation and expression of ideas can take place. If we don't police ourselves, somebody else will. Once you acknowledge that, maybe you can understand why we feel so passionately about 'good behavior'.

Another goal of ours is to keep the Web accessible. No matter how fabulous a tool is, it's no good if people can't use it. Solving that dilemma is what seeded our value of Simplicity, the idea that less really is more, most of the time. This is in direct opposition to the rapidly out-of-control file sizes of the Web, where pages tend to be more Java and Flash than substance. The idea behind overly-showy web design is generally to get your attention rather than to help you out, which actually makes what they have to offer harder for you to get to. People with slower connections often can't really access their site, and those who can access it can't find what they need behind the clunky organization and haphazard design.

The funny thing is that it's actually cheaper and easier to make a more efficient and useable site. The time and money saved on pure and simple design frees up resources for creating true substance, and improving the layout and accessibility of what you have created to offer. Beautiful and intuitive site design is very often done with rather small file sizes, with sparing use of crisp and lovely graphics, and code that's streamlined down to the barest lines required. The pages load faster and break less. They're also easier for your target audience to get some real use out of, encouraging them to come back.

Keeping the web accessible also touches on a topic that can be a fairly hot-button issue: the availablity of internet access for everyone. Several communities and at least one country have set up broadband access that's available to everyone within their borders, but things aren't so great for most of the rest of us, especially in the United States. Despite being one of the most technically advanced countries in the world, we are very far from the most technologically-enabled. Fewer areas than you might think even have access to reliable internet access, let alone the broadband connections that are becoming increasingly necessary for accessing the whole Web. Don't let the broadband companies' self-reporting fool you; they'll report that a region is serviced if only one tiny portion of it actually has access.

What's the solution to helping everyone get broadband access to the Web they can afford? We're not sure. Blanketing areas with wireless broadband seems to be a great solution, but it hasn't played out in the long term yet to prove itself. Besides that, some of those who are currently making an awful lot of money on selling broadband services are doing their best to make sure that such an option will be restricted or illegal. I think the best thing right now is to make sure that no reasonable solution is taken off the table, and let them prove themselves in actual practice. After we have a better picture of how things play out, we can better see where the best answers lie.

Finally, one of our topmost goals is to spread the word of the Web as a tool for personal self-improvement in every area from (a) to (z). There's help out there for just about any topic you can think of, but people need to first know two very important things: first, that it's out there, and second, how to do some searching and cross-checking to make sure you're actually finding the help you need. The world has conflicting perspectives and reports on every topic under the sun, and on the Web, all of them are accessible and none of them should be latched onto as fact without some serious work at independent verification. There could definitely be some better ways for people to find what they're looking for on the Web, and each new generation of search engine and portal sites brings us closer to that goal.

When it comes to the idea of using the Web to improve people, the first item we have to acknowledge is the fact we can't change other people; each of us can only change ourselves. Sure, we can sometimes be there to help out when people are ready to change, but nothing we do or say can really MAKE someone change in a way they're not ready for. People don't always see it that way though, and you'll find corners of the Web ablaze with the verbal warfare that results when people try to force change in each other's views and behavior. That's why it's very important to recognize that all we can do is give our best efforts toward making the right information and tools available, and hope that those who are ready to use them will do so.

Now when I talk about self-improvement, I actually have a bit of a 'global change' agenda going on behind the scenes. At the Nexus, we often view the world as we do the Web: an organismic matrix made up of individuals, each of whom impacts the world around them. Because of this, any idea of 'changing the world' really comes down to changing individual people. The more people improve themselves and their surroundings, the better the world as a whole becomes.

The Web has already proven to be a powerful tool for people who want to work together to achieve their individual goals, both for themselves and for their communities. We'd like this use of internet become a common feature in people's everyday lives, but this will only be a realistic goal if the Web is a place where people can feel free to learn and express themselves, without the fear of being abused or harrassed. There's some important work and play for people to do on the internet, and we need to make sure we can all do it without wasting each others' time on bad behavior.

And that brings us full-circle. It's hard to say how we're going to accomplish all of this, since we're still at such an early stage that it's hard to tell what our resources will be in the short-term. I can say that we're hoping word-of-mouth will spread an awareness of what we're doing here, and that people will pitch in to accomplish some of these things in their own lives. As this happens, we'll have more experience and more voices to help point us to better and better answers to how we can each spin a better Web. We'll continue to learn as we grow, and we're prepared to evolve a great deal as time moves us forward.

I hope some of the things I've shared here will help you in your own evolution-over-time. Whether it's here with me or anywhere else, I hope you take advantage of every opportunity to increase the tools you have and expand your knowledge of how to use them. Most of all, I hope you have a great deal of fun while doing whatever worthwhile thing you choose to do; the best kind of learning almost always happens while we're enjoying the process.

Enjoy!