Technology analyst @ ricmac.org · Internet historian @ cybercultural.com · Founded ReadWriteWeb (2003-2012) · 🥝 in 🇬🇧 My atmosblog: https://ricmac.leaflet.pub Other Bluesky a/cs: @cybercultural.com — internet history @classicweb.site — old web screenshotshttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.orghttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mlqmbiterk2fThe agentic web is becoming a business issue. As AI agents begin to discover, interpret and act on websites, businesses need to rethink what their websites are for. My new post looks at what this means for business leaders, product teams, publishers and developers. https://ricmac.org/2026/05/13/why-the-agentic-web-matters-for-businesses/13 May 2026 15:23 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlqmbiterk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mlduljqic222What is the agentic web? I’ve published a new post defining the term and placing it in historical context: Read web → Read/write web → Platform web → Agentic web The key point: websites aren’t disappearing. Indeed, I'd argue their role is expanding. https://ricmac.org/2026/05/08/what-is-the-agentic-web/08 May 2026 13:47 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlduljqic222https://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3ml4knbtqe22uAX was the new DX. Now it’s becoming the new UX. In my latest post, I explore how "agent experience" has morphed beyond "developer experience" and become a branch of "user experience". https://ricmac.org/2026/05/05/agent-experience-new-ux/ #AgenticWeb05 May 2026 16:00 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml4knbtqe22uhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mkuaiofn222tHa, @ernie.tedium.co also mentioned this in a comment, but this is *so* GeoCities :) Which is a good thing, in my book — visual creativity on the web is to be encouraged, in a world of bland social media / Medium / etc designs. Dare I say, maybe even a bit of early MySpace anarchy? [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 May 2026 08:37 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkuaiofn222thttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mkkhj2eeys2hNew post -> Agentic web patterns: what Web 2.0 taught me I connect a story from my early Web 2.0 days — working on "design patterns for Web 2.0" — with the emerging patterns I’m now seeing for AI on websites. https://ricmac.org/2026/04/28/agentic-web-patterns-what-web-2-0-taught-me/28 Apr 2026 11:16 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkkhj2eeys2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mk3l4oeq2k2oI’ve been exploring how AI is changing websites over the past few months — both writing about it and building a few things. I’m now working as an agentic web consultant, and I’ve just produced a 36-page playbook on how to add AI to a website. You can request it here: https://ricmac.org/agentic-web-playbook/22 Apr 2026 13:11 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk3l4oeq2k2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mjwy6qle3c2qReflections on 23 years of blogging; and why I still raise a toast to the real RWW, despite what’s happened to it over the past decade. https://ricmac.leaflet.pub/3mjwy6k77u22q20 Apr 2026 17:22 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjwy6qle3c2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mjmtl54brs2vSorry, no leaflets today because of the reginos.16 Apr 2026 16:32 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjmtl54brs2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mjh43hppsc2eThoughts on 'informal blogging' by doing an audio note in the Day One app. Also: why I've put my 'formal blog' Cybercultural on pause. https://ricmac.leaflet.pub/3mjh43dzdpk2e14 Apr 2026 09:49 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjh43hppsc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mjcsruh35s2kThere's a lot in Leaflet that reminds me of Radio Userland in 2003. Including that its informal blogging format (or "EZ blogging" as @pfrazee.com calls it) encourages a different kind of open social participation. Remember when we used to think through topics by blogging them? #BringBackBlogging https://ricmac.leaflet.pub/3mjcsrphlnc2512 Apr 2026 16:52 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjcsruh35s2khttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mjcdrqvnms2hI started a @semble.so, which is "a social knowledge network for research built on the AT Protocol." My first collection is about Internet History, and I've made it open so anyone can add to it: https://semble.so/profile/ricmac.org/collections/3mjcdivsubk2p12 Apr 2026 12:23 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjcdrqvnms2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mjc2natuec2n“The open web […] didn't win because the tools were better. It won because a critical mass of people decided that the alternative, a handful of AOL-style walled gardens choosing what everyone saw, was not the future they wanted. Then they built their way out of it.” https://timtrautmann.com/blog/the-nerds-are-building-a-new-internet-and-i-could-feel-it-in-the-room/12 Apr 2026 09:40 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjc2natuec2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mjbxcsdrl22sThat annoying question that endures… https://ricmac.leaflet.pub/3mjbxcmg2bs2s12 Apr 2026 08:40 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjbxcsdrl22shttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mjaqjobuhc27Hey I’m back blogging again! And it’s because I’m a shit microblogger. But also because I am looking for that 2003 RWW feeling again. Can I keep this going? I don’t want to pressure myself, but then blogging in 2003 was an informal, experimental thing. That’s what I would like to do with Leaflet. https://ricmac.leaflet.pub/3mjaqjkdy522711 Apr 2026 21:06 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjaqjobuhc27https://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mj354cy3g22xI’ve been exploring how AI systems are starting to act as an interface to the web. To help organizations navigate this shift, I’ve developed an Agentic Web Audit — a hands-on, non-automated assessment of how AI systems access, understand, and interact with your site. https://ricmac.org/agentic-web-audit/09 Apr 2026 15:35 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj354cy3g22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mj2q2fo3wk2rI've updated my handle to @ricmac.org, since my personal website has become the center of my online existence again. Previously I had a handle connected to my internet history website, Cybercultural — but that's currently on pause while I focus all my energies on earning an income post-TNS.09 Apr 2026 11:41 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj2q2fo3wk2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mj276cy3bk27Checking out the ATmosphereConf 2026 highlights. Wow there are a lot of videos! I'm especially curious to watch ones about "atmospheric websites" and blogging on AT Protocol. Didn't immediately see any videos about @standard.site, etc — anyone have pointers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBYN5DsGPYY09 Apr 2026 06:39 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mj276cy3bk27https://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mivohybcok2vMost people think AI will reduce the importance of websites. I think the opposite is happening — but in a very different way. Here's how I'm looking at the emerging Agentic Web, including its opportunities for web publishers and developers...and the very real threats, too. https://ricmac.org/2026/04/07/the-agentic-web/07 Apr 2026 11:30 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mivohybcok2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mhoblcat2s26It’s 20 years since Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet. That same day, 21 March 2006, I posted “microcontent design” on ReadWriteWeb. This was the feeds world web geeks like me wanted to become a reality: web standards-based feeds, using RSS/Atom, microformats, etc. https://web.archive.org/web/20060508071004/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/microcontent_de.php22 Mar 2026 19:25 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhoblcat2s26https://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mhfwmuu5gk2yNew from my Web AI Lab: I’ve built an “article assistant” for my site that runs using local AI in the browser (via Chrome + Gemini Nano) when available — and falls back to a cloud model when it isn’t. I think local AI has huge implications for the #OpenWeb. https://ricmac.org/2026/03/19/article-assistant-local-ai-browser/ #WebAI19 Mar 2026 11:48 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhfwmuu5gk2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mgrrdty7b22rI experimented with WebMCP on my personal website, exposing two tools an AI assistant can call directly from the browser: searching an article and subscribing to my newsletter. It’s a small prototype, but it hints at how websites are fast becoming AI-interactive surfaces. https://ricmac.org/2026/03/11/webmcp-ai-agents-interact-website/11 Mar 2026 11:20 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgrrdty7b22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mgfdf5szyc2aAs part of my Web AI explorations, I built an AI chatbot for my personal website called Ask Ricmac. Under the hood, it runs on a Cloudflare Workers backend that uses Vectorize, D1 and Workers AI. During development, I also used the WordPress MCP Adapter and Claude Desktop. https://ricmac.org/2026/03/06/building-ask-ricmac-my-first-experiment-in-the-web-ai-stack/06 Mar 2026 12:38 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgfdf5szyc2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/ricmac.org/post/3mg673xzgcc2yIn the latest post in my web design history series, I look at Batman Forever, an influential 1995 website by @zeldman.bsky.social and friends. Also, later in the year HTML tables arrive, along with early visual design tools FrontPage & PageMill. https://cybercultural.com/p/1995-web-design/ #WebDesignHistory03 Mar 2026 16:33 +0000at://did:plc:ev4fhapxcvyjk2ldlwvcfzoq/app.bsky.feed.post/3mg673xzgcc2y