anyway i'm actually writing the Thoughts On Mastodon post for real. already at 1k words and 6 footnotes and i'm not even out of the introduction. might be a bit until it's done.
some of the footnotes would work better as Asides so i'm genuinely considering writing an article theme that lets me use them that way.
100% agree with this, I love putting marginalia in shit I write and would love to provide some better way of formatting it on here
e.g. the electronic version of "host" by david foster wallace is an essential web text to me
nicky case's nutshell is also something I've been thinking a lot about recently
i am of the firm opinion that the best way to add marginalia to hypertext documents (if columns aren't feasible or don't fit) is the classic tooltip (or clicky popover).
on a less "ok but here's a problem" note:
check out http://hypothes.is, which is *grasps for metaphor* margin notes for the web, by the people reading the page.
but shared publicly, which is meant for researchers.
I instead use it as almost dark souls notes, things travelers through the space should know, related concepts and links, errata for how the thing has changed over time vs what's written, etc.
that whatever format people use be functional cross-device. Dotted lines with hover-over don't work on mobile devices, for instance. These days most people actually don't own regular desktop computers and the majority of users are on phones or tablets. It's also important to remember screen-readers and other accessibility devices.
I love marginalia but I think something which still keeps the text fully visible by default is ideal