reading: what they learned about the web in 2011

a big, wide, crowdsourced article, "what i learned about the web in 2011" has a sort of rhythm of harmonious agreement to it. the things that kept coming back are that everyone learned about how important it is to multi-platform gracefully, to allow users to access content from however and wherever and whenever they wish, without having to conform to any set-in-stone standards. it's critical to learn the heart of the content, and let it take whatever form it has to in any of those contexts, rather than imposing upon it some act-of-god organization method that tries to pin in the organic nature of information. organic is a good word for what online content is becoming, and must become... it must ebb and flow through different currents and platforms and resolutions, all without losing its purpose. web design is less, now, about imposing order and providing strict, top-down information, than it is about connecting people, whether that is with one another, their feelings, their ideas, or the information that they need. it's looking more and more like real life. and that's pretty awesome.