Who are we?
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We are not the next big thing.
We're not Ted Turner or Bill Gates or even Louis Rossetto. We don't have deals with Time Warner or TCI or the Devil. We have no plans to control the Web and we're not the media establishment.
What we are is a group of writers and artists and geeks who believe the media is on shaky ground. The idea that freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one is an old one, but it is fiercely held by the old media guard. The Web offers new, revolutionary opportunities in mass communication. It is the closest we've ever come to a truly democratic, many-to-many medium. Never before has the playing field been more level.
But as conglomerates race to put their wires into your home before other conglomerates put their wires there, we wonder, "What's their real hurry." We don't believe they want to share the means of information production. We believe they're trying everything they can to get the same grip on new media that they have on the old.
We're not going to let that happen.
And what do we want?
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We want the Web to realize its potential.
We want those who are on it to realize that the Web can be so much more than a digital brochure rack. And we want those who aren't to realize it has something to offer. We want the Web to be a place where ideas are spread, where bad guys are brought to justice before the court of public opinion, and where the good people out to change the world are given a pat on the back and the huge surge in momentum that can only come from having their story told. Or better yet, telling their story themselves.
We believe the word "I" is the most powerful word in the English language that's why it's been banned from traditional media. Even on the Web, where so many rules are being rewritten, personal journalism is rare. But writers aren't robots and journalists aren't drones. Their opinions are ever present, even in the bastions of objectivity we call the morning paper. But they are hidden. Ours will be crystal clear.
Tweak will exist as a forum for the people building the media of the millennium. Not just the hackers and geeks who have made the Web their lives, but people of all walks who have something to say. Our goal is to give voice to the voiceless. What's on your mind should be on these pages.
We don't want to change the world. We just want to tweak it a little.
Tweak the world!
