Why does Laurel Schwulst advocate for individual websites over social media? Do you agree with her? Please explain your answer.

Laurel points out that while social media platforms initially appear accommodating, they are in fact manipulative. Behind each site is a company which is prioritizing advertising and sales over the user’s needs. Naturally, most users feel anxiety in relation to social media rather than fulfillment. A personal website fulfills the same inherit desire that social media should: an opportunity to express oneself. However, a website can be personalized in a way that these company-owned sites cannot. Laurel argues that for the web to be authentic, it needs to be run by individuals rather than corporations. It needs to actually fulfill the users needs rather than the needs of a company. She believes that individual websites can bring the web back to its original architecture.

I understand what Laurel is arguing and do believe that she is correct in theory. I don’t see her solution as realistic – at least not today. While the idea of untouched, unlimited possibilities for personal expression is intriguing, it’s difficult to put in practice. Most people have no idea how to create a website, let alone what they would put on that website if they did. Social media platforms give people who do not know – or do not want to know - how to use the web an opportunity to still be present online.

In this article, Schwulst outlines several metaphors defining the behaviour of websites. Write a paragraph describing your own metaphor for a website.