This past spring, Kernel and Foster supported me in hosting an IRL mixer. It brought about a dozen of us from the two communities together for an evening of food, socializing, reading, writing, and conversation in Brooklyn.

Inspiration

At a prior Foster event, some members shared about their longing for internet spaces that felt more like Foster’s online community of writers — positive, friendly, intimate, generative — spaces where they could spend quality time. But articulating what these places were like wasn’t easy, and hope for their existence felt distant.

The thing is, I knew of such a place: Kernel. It not only exists, but works hard to propagate the language for describing — and customs for cultivating — these digital gardens, both inside the community and out. Though Kernel’s main medium is conversation, it values on-page storytellers and wordsmiths highly for their propagation skills as well. I just knew these two groups had to meet.

Pre-read

To tee up the mixer programming, we invited attendees to do two readings in advance. Representing Kernel was Labors of Love, from Real Life magazine’s “Syllabus for the Internet” series. The article, linked to in Kernel’s open-source syllabus, provides an overview of the philosophies of Ivan Illich, who Kernel often cites. The reading from the Foster side was Steal our media strategy, Foster’s manifesto for how it’s approaching its own writing in the online space.

Activity

After introductions to the night, our communities, and each other, and of course dinner, we split into two groups to re-read two sets of parallel passages from the readings, answer writing prompts, and share. Here below are those passages, the prompts, and some bonus ones!

Note: These passages are not perfect article quotes. They were put together from different parts of the readings for the sake of focus.

Celebrating context

Kernel reading: In Illich’s view, the transition from pre-industrial to modern societies severed things — people, animals, trees, etc. — from the context-specific web of activities that made them what they were … water from a river in India and water from a lake in Canada are seen today as two instances of the same thing, H2O, that in principle can be used for the same purposes as water anywhere … By erasing…the history of each thing, its kinship with other beings, and its participation in a community that defines it according to its own cultural and social norms — the world can be reconfigured in terms of resources…which are always in limited supply.

Foster reading: The prevailing wisdom is that to succeed in internet media, your work must be hyper-niche and specialized. It’s all about finding a singular, narrow market to serve, then adding as much specific value as possible. For years, this has been the most reliable strategy for earning attention in our competitive digital landscape. That recipe applies equally to solo creators, content marketers, and indie media companies. Niche down or perish, the story goes … We're breaking free from the insular "writing about writing" space, and betting big on showcasing the humanity of our writers … writing that’s personal, honest, courageous … The media economy of the future will disproportionately reward perspectives that AI can't replicate … individuals weaving the threads of their own experience into stories that could otherwise never exist.

Writing prompt: What niches have you been forced to occupy to succeed or survive? Can you recall a time where you felt like you’d been “reconfigured into a resource?” Has this ever happened to you as a writer? When? What are the contexts that only you can claim?

Reviving the “vernacular”

Kernel reading: We have ceded too many spheres of activity to experts, institutions, and markets. Illich observes that “people have a native capacity for healing, consoling, moving, learning, building their houses, and burying their dead,” but education, architecture, and the provision of care have become the near exclusive domain of professionals … To truly guard ourselves against automation, perhaps the way forward is not to continually remake ourselves to meet the demands of the economy — and suffer as “failures” if we prove unable or unwilling to do so — but to reconnect with the work that truly sustains us. For this to occur, we need to make room for the vernacular, a realm within which Illich located the potential for creativity and surprise … From the Latin vernaculum, meaning “homebred, homespun, homegrown, homemade,” Illich took it to comprise the broad spectrum of agricultural techniques, building styles, culinary traditions, and language patterns that emerge when non-economic, non-standard modes of being are allowed to thrive.

Foster reading: [Media will] be less about projecting expertise and authority on generalized topics—something which AI increasingly excels at … [T]ruthfully, the space is now awash with content, much of it indistinguishable from the rest. And that was true even before generative AI entered the scene. What happens when AI begins producing educational, value-adding content just as well, if not better, than humans can? What happens when the vast majority of internet subcultures are flooded with “authoritative” advice and generalized perspectives? What happens when following today’s best practices turns you into tomorrow’s commodity?

Writing prompt: What spheres of life do you think have become overly professionalized? Does the non-economic thrive in any realm of your life? How so? Where would you like to embrace the vernacular? How might you bring more humanity to your writing or professional life?

Honoring limits (bonus — we didn’t get to do this one at the mixer)

Kernel reading: Illich…goes to the heart of the western economic tradition, which, broadly speaking, associates scarcity with value … British economist Lionel Robbins…proposed the enduring definition of economics as “the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between given ends and scarce means which have alternative uses.” Many locate scarcity in limited means, however, [Illich’s biographer] Cayley points out that means are not scarce in themselves, but only in relation to the infinite ends people devise for them. Scarcity is a consequence of limitlessness — of ambition, of desire, and even of good intentions, [of endless wants interpreted as needs] … According to Illich, it is only the willing acceptance of limits — a sense of enoughness — that can stop monopolistic institutions from appropriating the totality of the Earth’s available resources, including our identities, in their constant quest for growth.

Foster reading: The future of internet media is less, but better. Time and attention are precious, finite resources. How we spend them determines the quality of our lives. We believe media practitioners have a responsibility to treat time and attention as sacred, refusing to churn out commoditized filler content or algorithmic bait, and instead only ask for attention when we have something to say. Likewise, as generative AI fills the internet with unfathomable amounts of noise, we believe audiences will come to trust and cherish the creatives who most respect their time. …

Back when we were publishing weekly, it always felt like running on a treadmill, with little time to catch our breath, let alone question our strategy or consider new experiments. We poured all of our collective energy into getting the next piece out the door. Then the next one, and the next, ad infinitum. Most of us come from content marketing backgrounds, so we’ve had the dogma that consistency is essential drilled into us. Yet when we prioritized weekly publishing above all else, it felt like we were trapped in a prison of our own making. We all yearned to be innovating and taking editorial risks, but the structure we’d built robbed us of the mental and emotional resources to do it.

Writing prompt: What kind of freedoms have you found from limits, especially as a writer? What experiences have you had with the continual chasing of more? What in your life would you like to apply the concepts of enoughness or spaciousness to?

Global prompt (bonus — we didn’t do this one at the mixer either): Where did these two readings feel in disagreement to you? Do they feel incomplete in any way? What questions are you left with?

Even though I selected these readings and wrote these prompts, I was surprised at what I had to say about them, what they uncovered in me. I also loved hearing the opinions, experiences, and dreams they elicited from others. If you happen to answer them too, I’d be thrilled if you shared what came up for you with me on Twitter.

A special thanks to Dan, Minnow, and Aliya for collaborating with me on this event and content. Apply to Kernel here and Foster here!