I’ve come back to this post following a line of thought, and now I’ve stopped to think at the place of the last comment. “A domain of your own provides you with the options to follow rabbit holes, to pry up floorboards, to paint a room, to see what happens if you mix a bunch of chemicals and set it on fire . . . ”

Ownership isn’t a simple thing in homes or domains, it turns out. Both require a literacy, a know-how. I rent a domain from Reclaim, and I do nothing with it that I wouldn’t do with wordpress.com, because I have so few skills. I don’t pry up floorboards, I don’t mix chemicals. I sense there are standards, if not rules. (Are there rules? I have no idea.) I sit inside my domain with my content like a renter sitting on my packing boxes.

As time passes I become more starkly aware of the failure my uneasy tenancy represents. I have moved into a more illustrations neighbourhood, certainly with nice and welcoming neighbours, but belonging is more than this.

So my sense here is that digital domain life for many low-skill users includes the slightly uneasy feeling of having moved into a hipster neighbourhood, quickly watching YouTube videos on how to hipster.