what is are.na-rail?

Are.na rail is a webextension, that runs while you are browsing the web. For each website you visit, it looks up if there are any corresponding blocks on are.na. are.na is a platform where people collect ressources, such as websites, images etc. in curated channels. Ressources connected in a channel are called blocks. If so, it displays all the channels containing this url at the bottom of the browser window.

Clicking on one of the channel icons opens up a display of all website blocks in this channel. Starting from the current block, you can take the subway towards the first or last block. Doing so starts an automated voyage. The browser will automatically navigate from one page to the next, staying there for the amount of time that you can specify yourself.

why?

Navigating the web apart from using hyperlinks is happening most of the time through algorithmic curation, be it search engines or social media feeds. Being able to move through websites based on human associations is, in my opinion, a wonderful experience which is similar to browsing through webrings or following 88x31 buttons.