Asveora Social
Returning to a more human paced internet with intention.
Summary
Asveora is an expansive digital network project that looks to re-calibrate the world of online interaction to where power is put back in the hands of the end user rather than a corporation. I believe that we have jumped the gun with web 3 and have yet to properly solve web 2 in a number of ways. And one of the biggest problems that we are seeing with late stage web 2 is the instability, opaqueness, and lack of autonomy that has come with the practices of centralization which began to really gain ground by the late 2000s and early 2010s. Asveora looks to take things back to the early 2000s and late 90s where the internet was more independent and people had more control over how they expressed themselves on the interent and what happened to their data. Asveora is about teaching tech literacy, advocating against centralized dependency, and informing individuals about how they can transform their digital lives both in security, privacy, autonomy. You can see the network in action here.
Process
Asveora started out as a project that was seeking to replicate and eventually replace the horribly handled Amino App that was made by Narvii and eventually bought by MediaLabs. However, as the project grew, it became something completely different and sought to give people the ability to build their own online homes and networks without having to rely on centralized nightmares such as FaceBook, Instagram, Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, etc. to keep in touch with family and friends. The process started with deep research into networking schemes, tech policies, and different forms of content sharing. Such a process has stayed constant even up until this day as the network evolves and expands. The next step was turning those sketches into digital presentations which would eventually become the blueprint for the real thing. Now the network is alive and well, seeing updates regularly from myself and its other members who I was able to recruit through some friendly advertising.
Reflection
Asveora Social has been a huge learning experience for me and without this project I do not believe that my skills in design and coding would have improved as rapidly as they have during its life span. For a few years I felt like my skills had plateaued or I was simply too hesitant to take the next steps on my journey as a multimedia designer. However Asveora has provided me with great motivation to learn new things as I am always wondering what can be added, optimized, etc. When I first started making Asveora it was very unoptimized as I was intimidated by the idea of programming even though in years prior I had made a video game and ran a few websites. This intimidation was mostly because I kept telling myself that it was going to be too difficult. I decided to seek out feedback from people in FOSS spaces who were experts in tech, both by hobby and profession. Their feedback pushed me to learn and to fail forward. I began picking up new skills as the project evolved and hope to continue doing so!