Writing in book margins

A few years ago, i started annotating the books i read.

It had a slew of benefits:

making my reading more focused (as in “no need to re-read the same page five times because my mind is drifting”)
reframing reading as a creative pursuit instead of a passive submission to the author (“what interesting annotation could i leave in this page”)
giving me building material for future writing pieces
making the book a surprise to my future self who had forgotten what i’d annotated on the first read (a €20 note forgotten in a pair of jeans, if you will)
and, most importantly, it became a way to connect more intimately with my friends when i lent them the book (they had extra insights, jokes and thoughts from me, their friend, in the margins).

here’s one i left in the Houellebecq book of a friend 🌝

That being said, these days, words are more often found on the internet than in books.

That’s why i started looking for chrome extensions to annotate the web.

Web annotation for content creators

I did find a few, and sure, they made my reading more engaged, but:

That’s when i decided to create enlight: a web annotation extension that would let content creators (i call them light-bearers):

And so i did, and if you’re reading this, it’s probably because you started using it.

Curation: when light-bearers enlight an article on the internet, they tell their audience that it’s worth their time. More than ever, there is value in people you trust telling you where to invest your attention.
Elevation: light-bearers elevate the pieces they enlight, by adding a reading layer to it, some critical thinking, by connecting it to other articles, … They enlighten their audience.
Connection: enlights offer a platform for light-bearers to connect more deeply with their audience. They not only point them to the right content but also share their intimate thoughts and belief on the piece they’re sharing.

If this sounds a little wishy-washy, or lacks concrete examples, i suggest you go read about a few use-cases.