In screen time Writes Tech Reporter Rutger Otto Weekly About the Internet. This time, he looks at what the internet is writing and drawing on a giant online world map.
I was fascinated this past week by a website where you can draw on a virtual world map: wplace. Once you’ve colored a pixel, it takes half a minute before you can place a new pixel. That mean you have to work together to create large images, or you have to work very calmly – and hope that no one draws about your creation.
Wplace is a spiritual successor to r/place. That was an art project of the online forum reddit, where users could color in pixels on a blank canvas. The Initiative Became Hugely Popular, And Entire Groups Emerged who Claimed Their Spot on the Canvas and Tried to Defend It. I wrote at the time about ten thousand Dutch people who made and protected a pixel version of the night watch .
I’m up for these childs of experiments. “People are looking for something that lies outside the beeten track of social media,” Says internet critic geert lovink when I call him about this phenomenon. Maybe that applies to me as well. These Kinds of Projects Give the Internet Some Color Again (Literally) and Something Exciting. Because a virtual world map is the stage on which people can unleash their creativity, you can be sure it wins be boring.
In my hometown of Utrecht, it’s not too bad. Of course, Someone has drawn a miniature version of the Dom. I also see a few nijntjes (creator Dick Bruna Comes from the city), and there are pictures of game characters. Anyway, most places on the map are filled with a random assortment of characters from games and animated films, interspersed with flags and references to pop culture. In Berlin, I Come Across a Pixel Version or Ozzy Osbourne.
Some places in the world are filled with statements. Israel and Gaza Are Filled with Hearts and Palestinian Flags. And in the place where Harry Potter Author JK Rowling Lives, Trans flags have placed and masse (see the image below). The Writer Has Been Under Fire for some Time Because She makes no secret of the fact that she does not consider transgender women to women.
Because the world map is QUITE MASSIVE, There Seems to Be Enough Space for People to Peacefully Claim Their Own Piece. One of the artists in the Netherlands sayes he can do his own thing. “I specially like Being Able to Draw Together with Others,” He says. “For example, when I see some else complet their drawing next to mine, or when we add small details to each minds drawings. A pleasant form or parallel play .”
With so much freedom comes a form of responsibility. Not Everything is Allowed. A Team of Moderators Tries to Ensure That Swastikas Are Removed And Nudity is also Prohibited. That Doessn’t Always Go Well. An image of some who commemorated the deceased grandmother was defaced by Others. The ugliest version of the internet can also be found on wplace.
Yet Lovink Speaks of a Special Initiative. “This is a temporary place that will probably be forgotten in the end,” he says. “But the idea of collaboration with the preservation of freedom in this project is particularly good. There is a need for that. Now that a Large Part of the Internet has Become So Cynical, Just Look at Social Media, We must Celebrate That Childs of Initiatives Exist.”