The Pocket Cloud: The Smartphone running this Website

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This website sits on a server. No not some massive, multi-level data center but on a humble, mid-range Android phone. Nope, this webpage runs on my 2019 Redmi Note 8T. Today, you can get it used for under EUR 90.

Do we already have the power to create the next internet?

Facebook, Tiktok, LinkedIn and others are basically how we express ourselves on the internet. Their servers hold our data: the videos and photos we upload, the connections with friends, and the messages we share. We may 'technically' own it, but we can't really 'leave' and take our data elsewhere. We have little real control on how its used by these platforms for advertising, AI models, or even shared on their platform.

But what if the devices that many of us already have - smartphones, which can be bought new for as low as EUR60 - enable us to create our own digital spaces?

What if you could determine how you want to use the social network in this new internet?

Can we imagine a future where each person had their own digital presence, kept on their own devices and controlled by them? People can still connect with each other - share posts, videos, and images - but kept on their own devices, on their on terms.

Maybe you're overwhelmed with dreary world news, and just want to know what your friends are up to? Or you're tired of the platforms' targeted ads or being pushed to see folks you don't follow?

We could be, instead, following our friends and content creators based on our own preference, not what best algorithms keep you addicted to Facebook or Tiktok.

We can connect again. We can better avoid brain rot and endless doom scrolling.

Another world is possible

Social media as we know it today only started in 2009 when Facebook switched from a chronologically-based news feed to one chosen by its algorithms. These algorithms were designed to keep you addicted to their platforms, even if it meant creating anxiety or anger or spreading disinformation.

We're now in 2025 and can fully see the social costs of these corporate algorithms around us. We have new possibilities of what the internet could look like, like Mastodon or Bluesky.I hope this little webpage is one step, a small symbolic step, into exploring these new possibilities.