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Looking to 26

Saskia

• 3 min read
An image displaying a number of items related to the number 26, such as iron, opal, playing cards, Michigan, and a rubiks cube.

2026 is nearly here. Here are my hopes for the year ahead.

2025 - What. A. Year.

When a certain Trump took control of the U.S. in the start of the year (on my birthday, I might add), things felt pretty dire.

Since then, we've seen some of our worries be unfounded and a whole lot more problems we never thought we'd have to worry about become true. Some of what's happened seems so unrealistic you'd think it was an episode of The Boys.

The world is still a cesspit of hate and it doesn't seem to be stopping, it's spreading. So why on Earth would anyone be looking forward to 2026? Well, because 2026 is the year of action.

Instead of rolling over and showing bellies to corrupt politicians and Big Tech egomaniacs, we're seeing the beginning of a revolution.

Michael and I spoke about this at SFSCon and I dug deeper in my blog post following the event.

Now we have to keep those sparks safe, nurture their glow, and slowly start feeding them oxygen until they become flames.

Organisations and the people who make them are fed up of letting Big Tech platforms take advantage of them and the communities they've built. Local news publishers are no longer trying to play the system, they're moving around it. Academics and researchers are solving the problem by looking in new directions for solutions. Communities are taking ownership and control of their digital space, not just their physical one.

So, what does 2026 look like for me? It's a time of hope and of change.

"Hold onto hope if you've got it. Don't let it go for nobody. They say that dreaming is free, I wouldn't care what it cost me."

Firstly, we kick off the year in the same way I always have, with a birthday (it's very hard to create a resolution to be healthy when you know you've got cake coming up). Then, we move onto the serious stuff.

In 2026, I'll be putting a lot more focus on:

  • Reaching new people in new places
  • Communicating the importance of digital community
  • Showcasing that the tech communities are asking for already exists
  • Educating people on the Social Web as a whole and why US solutions may not be the best answer
  • Learning how to introduce people to this space on a professional level
  • Posting more blogs, updates, etc!

On a personal level, I'll also be trying to:

  • Beat my 2025 count of 42 books read (so far) in the year...
  • Stop sitting at my desk all day - I think best when I'm outside, so I need to make time in my day for that
  • Visit family and friends more
  • Get out of a long-running creative slump

I can't pretend to predict what 2026 will bring, even if every other person on LinkedIn can. But I really hope that my hope isn't a mistake.

Don't get me wrong, 2025 has been an interesting ride. But it feels like everything we've been doing has been in preparation for a moment. I think that moment is nearly here. That this is the time where we, the people who believe in the Social Web, can really help create change.

I hope, if you're reading this, you have a brilliant New Year and that your hopes for 2026 can come true too.