How did we get into such a mess?

The current mess is the social and economic outcome of 40 years of widespread #neoliberal policy and ideology. This did not appear from nowhere. It was built deliberately through institutions, media, economics, and politics over generations.

Thinkers like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman developed and promoted the core ideas: society should be organized primarily through markets, competition, privatization, and individual self-interest. The role of the state was to enforce market logic, not protect social commons.

Politicians like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan implemented these policies at scale during the 1980s, fundamentally reshaping government, labour relations, education, housing, media, and public life.

The goal was clear enough: restore elitist wealth and power after the post-war era of stronger unions, public infrastructure, welfare states, and redistributive social democracy had partially limited the dominance of capital.

Business interests, financial institutions, think tanks, academic economics departments, and much of the media ecosystem all played roles in normalizing and spreading this worldview. Over time, neoliberalism stopped appearing ideological and instead became framed as simple “common sense.” That is its real power.

The crises of the 1970s – oil shocks, stagflation, industrial conflict, and declining profitability – created the opening for #neoliberalism to present itself as the only serious alternative. Once embedded, the ideology spread far beyond conservative parties. Traditionally left-wing parties, including Labour Party in the UK, gradually absorbed the same assumptions about markets, privatization, growth, managerialism, and competition.

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, meaningful opposition inside mainstream politics had largely collapsed. Different parties still argued culturally and rhetorically, but underneath they increasingly shared the same economic operating system.

This is why the current crisis feels so total. It is not simply a matter of “bad politicians” or individual corruption. The problem is structural. Over 40 years, neoliberalism fundamentally altered how people, institutions, and governments understand themselves and their role in society.

Citizens became consumers, communities became markets, public goods became investment opportunities, education became job training, journalism became content production, politics became branding and human beings became “human capital.” Even resistance movements were reshaped by this logic.

The result is the rise of what can be called #stupidindividualism – the idea that every social problem should be solved through personal lifestyle choices, branding, competition, and individual moral performance rather than collective action and shared responsibility. This thinking now feels like “common sense” precisely because neoliberalism successfully embedded itself into everyday life. People who believe they oppose the system often still reproduce its assumptions:

  • careerism over solidarity,
  • competition over cooperation,
  • visibility over substance,
  • branding over organizing,
  • management over trust,
  • and market logic over commons.

This is why so many well-meaning projects end up reproducing the same failures. The ideology operates socially and culturally, not only economically.

Importantly, this was not primarily a conspiracy. It was a historical convergence of self-interest, institutional incentives, economic crisis, and #mainstreaming cultural momentum. A lot of people genuinely believed these policies would create freedom and prosperity. Others simply adapted because the system rewarded conformity and punished alternatives.

The result, however, is the mess we now live inside, collapsing public infrastructure, housing crises, ecological breakdown, permanent precarity, weakened communities, platform monopolies, endless culture wars, rising authoritarianism, and widespread social fragmentation.

In the current era of #climatechaos, this increasingly looks like a #deathcult path. We continue pushing endless growth, extraction, privatization, and consumption despite overwhelming evidence that the system is undermining the conditions needed for human and ecological survival.

And because neoliberal logic has become embedded as “reality,” many people struggle to even imagine alternatives. This is one of its deepest victories. That is why rebuilding commons culture matters so much.

Projects rooted in mutual aid, the #4opens, cooperative process, federated governance, gift economies, and grassroots organizing are not side issues. They are practical attempts to recover social relationships and collective capacities that neoliberalism systematically eroded.

The challenge now is not only resisting the current system, it is relearning how to build outside its assumptions.

What works?

What drives the rise of social justice movements and grassroots mobilization is simple: they begin locally. Movements grow from the lived experiences of people and communities directly affected by injustice – those with the motivation and need to bring about real change.

To help these movements expand and connect, technology need to be built to serve people, not control them. That means prioritizing open, decentralized networks like the #openweb and the #fediverse, that grow free, serendipitous communication. These digital commons give activists the tools to organize, share stories, and build collective power without being bound by corporate and state control.

Projects like the #OMN and #indymediaback are built with this ethos, tools for coordination, not domination. But movements also need historical memory. We need to document and preserve the history of activism, its tactics, its victories, its failures, to educate and inspire new generations. Understanding the struggles of the past helps today’s movements avoid repeating old mistakes and build on hard-won gains. That’s the work of the #makeinghistory project.

Yet we face the ever-present threat of co-optation, when activist groups shift their focus to chase funding and institutional legitimacy, losing their deep roots in the process. Staying independent and mission-driven is hard, especially in today’s hostile environment, but it has been done before, so it can be done again. If you value this work, support us here: https://opencollective.com/open-media-network to build these tools.

Activism thrives when there’s a balance of spiky and fluffy – bold direct action paired with strategic planning and long-term vision. Pragmatism is key: we must address urgent needs now, while laying the groundwork for lasting change.

Let’s be clear: the relationship between grassroots movements and capitalism is fundamentally antagonistic. Capitalism erases history. It ignores the material realities of class struggle, slavery by debt, violence, ecocide, and mind-numbing oppression. Breeding a culture of #stupidIndividualism that keeps fuelling the #deathcult we now call “common sense.”

In its place, we should seriously consider other paths like – socialism and anarchism – not as abstract ideals, but as practical socio-economic paths rooted in public ownership and collective decision-making. These models offer a chance to distribute wealth and power more justly.

Capitalism is collapsing under its own weight.

“We all know the system we live under is destroying itself.
So what comes next? Fascism or revolution?”

Radical change isn’t a dream, it’s a necessity. The #openweb, the language of hashtags, and the memory of past movements offer us practical tools to build collective paths, connect communities, and organize resistance to the hard pushing. These are our counterforces to the algorithmic mess of #mainstreaming. We already have the tools. Now we need the will.

The real blockages in activist tech

The mess we have made #mainstreaming postmodernism

A complex philosophical and cultural movement of the mid to late 20th century. At its core is a rejection of objective values and beliefs, scepticism towards the idea of absolute truth, and a distrust of grand narratives. Let’s have a brief look at this, with Noam Chomsky view of why this movement is still pushing the intellectual and social “mess” we try to live in.

Rejection of Absolute Truth: #Postmodernism challenges the idea that there is a simple truth. Instead, it posits that truths are only, subjective, and socially constructed.

Rejection of Grand Narratives: Postmodernists are critical of overarching narratives and ideologies that help to explain large-scale historical, social, and cultural phenomena. Arguing, these narratives suppress alternative perspectives and reinforce power structures.

Critique of Power Relations: Central to postmodernism is the analysis of how power operates within society. Postmodernists highlight how power is unevenly distributed and shapes people’s identities, experiences, and world-views.

Deconstruction: This involves taking apart and examining all the underlying assumptions, ideas, and frameworks that constitute texts, ideas, and social practices. To push the inherent contradictions and power dynamics within them into view.

Chomsky’s Critique of Postmodernism:

Obscurantism and Inaccessibility: Chomsky argues that postmodernist writing is overly complex and obscure, making it inaccessible to the public and academics. That this complexity serves to alienate and insulate postmodernist thinkers from actual grassroots activism and practical engagement.

Lack of Concrete Action: Postmodernism allows people to adopt a radical stance without engaging in any meaningful action. That the focus on abstract theorizing detracts from any real-world activism that as a hope of change to challenge the #mainstreaming mess.

Creation of an Academic Power Structure: Chomsky asserts that postmodernism created its own academic power structure, where material rewards, prestigious positions and conference opportunities are given to those who adhere to its complex and impenetrable discourse. Thus diffusing and displacing the real voices of change and challenge.

Contradictory and Trivial Claims: Chomsky criticizes postmodernists for making contradictory statements dressed in complex language to appear profound. That many postmodern claims mix trivial truths with outright absurdities, diluting the pats of knowledge and understanding.

Detrimental Impact on Third World Countries: We need to highlight the negative impact of postmodernism in developing countries, where intellectuals who could have contributed to meaningful social and political change are instead drawn into the abstract and irrelevant debates inside the postmodernism mess.

A #fashernista look at this mess, do you think it’s helpful spreading this #dotcons fodder?

Postmodernism’s rejection of universal truths and grand narratives leads to intellectual fragmentation. Without any common framework, society become fragmented, making it difficult to build consensus or coherent strategies for social change. The complexity and elitism of postmodernist “thought” erodes the public trust in intellectuals and academics. When scholars are disconnected from everyday concerns, their influence and credibility diminish. Postmodernism’s emphasis on the subjective nature of truth leads to cultural relativism, where all viewpoints are seen as equally valid. This undermines efforts to address injustices and challenge harmful practices. The focus on deconstruction and critique leads to a paralysis of action. If all truths and structures are seen as flawed, it becomes impossible to mobilize collective action or propose constructive solutions we ungently need

In conclusion to this sad story: Postmodernism has dug itself deep into contemporary thought, so that people don’t see any more its part in establishment norms and power structures, but it’s still there pushing much of the current mess. This has grown intellectual insularity, a lack of practical engagement, and a strong tendency to obscurantism, thus building the current “messy”, hard blocking of meaningful activism and most clear discourse.

#KISS it’s a mess we need to compost, best not to be a prat about this, thanks

Socialism and Capitalism

#Socialism is a socio-economic path where the production (factories, mines, machinery, tools, raw materials, land, buildings, means of transport, etc.) are “owned” and controlled by the public. The goal is to create a basic equitable distribution of wealth and power by reducing the wide disparities seen in capitalist societies. Socialism abolishes private control of the means of production, to transition to a system where goods and services are produced for use rather than profit. The guiding economic principle of socialism is “from each according to their ability, to each according to their work.”

Public Ownership: Big industries and resources are owned and managed by the people, democratic governance and cooperatives.

Economic Planning: Public planning is used to allocate resources efficiently and equitably. With the digital transition and #4opens technology, this becomes more practical.

Social Welfare: Social programs like healthcare, education, and social security ensure a basic standard of living for all people.

Reduced Income Inequality: The gap between the rich and the poor is reduced.

Democratic Control: Workers and the public control the economic decision-making processes.

Where #capitalism is an economic system run for private ownership of the means of production and profit. This includes capital accumulation, competitive markets, a price system, private property, and wage labour.

Private Property: Individuals and corporations own and control the means of production, and thus survival.

Market Economy: Goods and services are produced for and traded in competitive markets, where prices are determined by supply and demand. In today’s world, this means strong monopolistic control for private power and profit by the shrinking #nastyfew

Profit Motive: The driving force behind economic activity is individual greed and the pursuit of profit. This fits well into #stupidindividualism

Capital Accumulation: The accumulation of capital is central to economic growth and expansion. This leads to huge “external damage”, that’s the degradation of the poor and the environment we all live in today.

Wage Labour: Workers sell their labour to owners of capital in exchange for wages. Over the last 40 years, this has seen a widening disparity which will continue to grow on the current path.

It should be obverse to us all that capitalism leads to inequality and exploitation. Some Marxist theory on this subject:

Exploitation: In capitalism, workers do not receive the full value of their labour, instead, the surplus value (the difference between what workers produce and what they are paid) is appropriated by capitalists as profit. We can see this very plainly happening over the last 40 years.

Alienation: Workers are alienated from the products of their labour, the labour process, their fellow workers, and their own human potential because they work primarily for wages rather than for personal fulfilment or communal benefit. We have no idea how production happens any more, our “economy” is a god we worship. But this is a #deathcult

Inequality: Capitalism concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few, leading to significant social and economic inequalities. This builds social strife.

Instability: Capitalist economies push cycles of boom and bust, leading to periodic crises of overproduction and under consumption.

Means of Production The means of production are the physical, non-human inputs used for the production of economic value. This includes factories, machinery, tools, raw materials, land, and buildings. In a capitalist society, these are owned by private individuals and corporations not by the workers them selves.

Exploitation refers to how capitalists extract surplus value from workers. Workers produce more value through their labour than the wages they are paid; this “excess” value is taken by the capitalists as profit.

Surplus value is the difference between the value produced by labour and the actual wage paid to the labourer. It is a fundamental concept in Marxist economics, describing how capitalists generate profit by exploiting workers.

Capital refers to wealth in the form of money or assets that are used to produce more wealth. This includes investments in factories, machinery, raw materials, and labour.

Class struggle is the conflict between classes in society, primarily between the bourgeoisie (owners of the means of production) and the proletariat (working class). This struggle is the driving force of historical development in Marxist theory.

Social Democracy vs. Socialism

Social democracy advocates for a mix of capitalism and socialism. It supports a market economy, but with significant government intervention to ensure social justice and equity. Policies include welfare programs, labour rights, and regulation of markets to reduce inequalities and provide public services.

Socialism transitions away from capitalism, to abolish private ownership of the means of production altogether. The goal is to establish a classless, stateless society where resources and wealth are distributed according to need.

Communism is the final stage of #Marxist theory, where the state has withered away, and a classless, stateless, and moneyless society has emerged. All means of production are owned communally, and goods and services are distributed based on need rather than market dynamics. The guiding principle is “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.”

To actually move on this path, we would need a #Revolution, to overthrow one class by another. In Marxist terms, a socialist revolution involves the working class (proletariat) overthrowing the capitalist class (bourgeoisie) and establishing a socialist state as a transition to communism. This process entails significant social and economic upheaval to replace capitalist structures with socialist ones. Understanding these concepts provides a clearer path for ongoing debates and action.

The defeatist Illusion of realism in the era of the #deathcult

Our everyday, often dogmatic “common sense” in capitalism disregards the history of socio-economic material conditions, #classwar, #ecocide, debt, slavery, violence, and oppression. In this we are currently blinded by the myth that there is no alternative to the current crap and broken system, this willfull blindness blinds us and obscures the brutal realities, pushed out of sight, on the edge of our “privileged” western lives. The narrative is too often of inevitability, the market logic pushing us down the path of extinction is natural and unchangeable. So, what can we do? It becomes obverse that we need to change this “common sense”, how do we do this?

To understand why capitalism cannot be reformed into an ethical system, we need to delve into its history. Capitalism always thrives on exploitation and inequality, the wealth of the few is built on the backs of the many, over the last 40 years, after the decades of hard moving away from 20th century social democracy this has accelerated into view.

Class War: The division between the working class and the ruling class has is stark, with the latter using their power to maintain and increase their wealth at the expense of the former. This struggle is not just economic, but also a political and social battle, deeply embedded in the fabric of our societies.

#Ecocide: Capitalism’s dogmatic pursuit of “profit” leads to environmental degradation, which now grows at on an unprecedented scale with the blinded pushing of #climatechaos. It’s simple, the logic of endless growth is incompatible with the finite resources of our planet. This drive for the illusion of total control leads to a legacy of destruction that we are now have to begin to reckon with.

Debt and Slavery: The modern economy is built on a foundation of debt, trapping people and “nations” in cycles of dependence and exploitation. This mirrors the historical use of slavery, where human lives were commodified and controlled to serve the interests of capital. While the forms of exploitation have changed, the underlying power dynamics remain the same. From colonial conquests to modern-day policing, violence is a tool of the capitalist system to suppress dissent and build control.

The liberal attempts to reform capitalism have failed because the system’s core is fundamentally unethical. Reforms serve to placate dissent without addressing the root inequality and exploitation. This band-aid approach leaves the structural issues intact, allowing them to fester and re-emerge in new forms we see today.

Economic Inequality: while making lives meaningful for meany people, wealth redistribution measures, such as progressive taxation or social welfare programs, do little to challenge the accumulation of capital by the worst people. When the cycle of boom and crash comes round, these measures are rolled back and undermined, highlighting the difficulty of enacting lasting change within the capitalist path.

Environmental Initiatives: Green capitalism, focus on sustainable business practices and eco-friendly products, fails to address in any way, the systemic drivers of environmental degradation. It results in greenwashing, where the appearance of sustainability masks ongoing ecological harm. It’s not working and is not going to work.

Social Reforms: While social justice movements have achieved victories, they face fierce resistance and are limited by the capitalist context in which they operate. True social change requires a fundamental shift in the distribution of power and resources #KISS

Today, we are at a juncture, the choice is simple: continue down the path of capitalist “common sense” with its smoke and mirrors and building crises, or embark on a journey towards a different, equitable, and sustainable future. This shift requires collective action, imagination, and the courage to change and challenge entrenched holders of power. The revolutionary calls for a new global movement established outside the collapsing system, ready, willing, and able to build examples of this alternative, so people have options to move away from the blinded “common sense”. In this change, we don’t actually have any choice!

#OMN #Revolution #NewFoundations #EndCapitalism #SustainableFuture #CollectiveOwnership #Degrowth #RadicalDemocracy #UniversalBasicServices #NonviolentChange #GlobalMovement #R21C #OGB

You can help make this happen https://opencollective.com/open-media-network

#TED – A Community of Delusions

For millennials lost after the mess of 9/11, the wars, economic upheaval, digital division, and social atomization, #TED was an appealing #mainstreaming alternate vision of a society where ideas had currency, and a wider group of people could identify with the intellectual vanguard. This vision was delusion, but it easily overtook the norms of drift and disconnection in our failed alternative culture.

To have been young and thoughtful in the late 2000s was to be a citizen of TED nation – a community of dreamers more than doers, united by a common creed: that ideas matter, that inspiration is power, that the future belongs to those who can capture imaginations. This naivety was an easy path to take for the children of the #deathcult. TED’s prominence shaped the aspirations of a generation, it shaped how we thought about ourselves. This #stupidindividualism pushed the blinding possibility: you, too, could have an idea worth spreading. You, too, could be special.

TED defined the poverty of the blinded intellectual spirit of this era, a profoundly millennial idea: that we are each of us main characters and have an individual calling and a mission to “change the world” in some vaguely indefinable generally pointless way. And while the reality fell well short of the rhetoric, the animating spirit was strong and likely sincere for most people.

The priests of the #deathcult pushed #TED as class war, it was not a youthful indiscretion of a generation, a rite of passage on the road to hard-earned intellectual growth. Rather, it was a smoke and mirror mess pushed by a “progressive” #fahernistas class. In the post TED world we are back to where we were 20 years ago, the messy reality of class war, unfriendly and unwelcoming.

#MillennialZeitgeist #IdeasWorthSpreading #TEDTalks #Dotcons #Intellectualpoverty #liberal #mainstreaming

PS. it’s interesting to remember that #TED tried to be #openweb native at the start, they only turned to #dotcons when that path was abandoned by our #fashionistas and lead to the mess we are in today, what a mess.

Our democracy over the next ten years

We face stark choices, the liberal centre is not holding, we don’t have time to try #fascism, as there will not be time for a second go to repeat this mistake if we make it. We either stop this hard right shift, or we’re likely stuck on the fascism path, a millennium of violence, disease, starvation, and – ultimately – extinction, brought to you by fossil fuel psychopaths and the politicians and journalists they pay for.

The current mess is that fossil fuel corporations get to own the political parties for a tiny part of their annual profits. This is the same story for “journalist” who doesn’t challenge this, as they are both pushing the collapse of our civilization and the killing of billions of people, they are simply, acolytes of the #deathcult, propagandist profiting from this mess.

Let’s not make this election about demonizing desperate people fleeing countries decimated by our fossil-fuelled system, focus please #KISS. The #mainstreaming news media ignores and trivialises the story of climate breakdown in a global context during one of the final elections before fossil-fuelled societal collapse happens, where even our deeply corrupted democracy ceases to function. Yes, it’s a mess.

Please lift your head from worshipping the #deathcult

Working with neo hippies for 20 years, they are now #mainstreaming

The #mainstreaming does not create culture, this is almost always from the alternative, but they do consume culture, and shape it to their agenda. It’s not that weird to see billionaires sitting in luxurious ayahuasca ceremonies (facilitated by #neocolonial white guys) to do “personal development” instead of funding the actual regenerative movement that we all obviously need. This social conditioning runs deep, during the “Dark Ages,” this was a story of the church. Today, it is media, algorithms, influencers, and corporate science, operating in service of the #mainstreaming #deathcult. We’ve simply replaced god with the unregulated market, our new age capitalist hippies are trying to bring “god” back to obscure the mess they are making

There’s little cognitive dissonance in this “common sense” because of the norms of dogmatic individualism, for personal merit, and toxic positivity. This behaviour is the new normal—racial, social, economic, and new age. The social conditioning that blinds us is profound. We’ve been pushed to believe that the market will provide answers, much like the church once did. Yet, those who have grabbed the means to make the most significant changes push deluded personal enlightenment rather than the collective progress we urgently need. You could see this from the hippy side, as karma for past lives of greedily grasping power. These people are crap, we can’t afford to wait for them to change, they are not going to change. Yes, it is a mess that needs composting, let’s get to it.

Revolution: It’s Inevitable. So, What’s the Plan?

We all now know the system we live under is destroying itself. So, what comes next? Fascism or revolution? We all know it’s coming – the revolution. The signs are all around us, and it’s becoming increasingly clear that a significant shift is on the horizon. The question is no longer “if” but “when” and “how.” So, what’s the plan? How do we prepare for this transformation in a way that ensures we come out on the other side stronger, fairer, and more resilient rather than dead. We need to come together and think seriously about this. The time for passive hope is over; the time for active planning has arrived.

Identify Issues and Goals: We need to define what we are fighting for, what does the future we envision look like? What are the core issues that need to be addressed to get there?

Develop Strategies and Tactics: It’s not enough to know what we want; we need to figure out how to achieve it, practical strategies and tactics that can be implemented on the ground.

Build Networks and Alliances: The revolution will not be won by isolated groups working in silos. We need to build strong networks and alliances that can support each other and work together towards common goals.

One of the key outcomes we hope to achieve is the rebooting of an international organization like the #PGA. These organizations need to be dedicated to creating and supporting frontline collective efforts. To build a federated network for resources, information, and coordination, helping to unify and amplify our efforts.

The coming revolution is from a spiky perspective, about destroying the old or a #fluffy perspective composting the old; and building new and better in its place. The fluffy crew at #XR are on a mission to do this https://www.r21c.net what more #spiky path do we have?

This site is full of stories

This site is both a personal journal and a platform for broader discussions, this is a path that reflects a deep engagement in grassroots media, #4opens technology, and the mess we make with #neoliberalism and consumer culture. This tapestry of reflections, critiques, and ideas centred around technology, media, activism, and society is what you make of it, what are your thought-provoking, intersections of technology, society, and activism? It’s also outlining concrete projects to make the change and challenge we talk about here happen.

Open Media and Decentralization: a strong advocate for open media networks and decentralized paths.

Critique of Neoliberalism: our worship of the #deathcult leads to social and ecological decay.

Technology and Society: The impact of technology on society, especially the role of big tech companies (“#dotcons”) in shaping our lives.

Activism and Social Change: Deeply rooted in activism and social movements.

Hashtags and Digital Story’s: Hashtags are a feature to weave complex narratives and critique of the current digital mess. Hashtags like #deathcult, #openweb, #4opens, and #geekproblem are central to discussions.

Personal Reflections and Metaphors: Personal anecdotes and metaphors convey points to make the posts accessible and relatable, to help compost “#techshit” into fertile ground for new ideas and social change.

The primary purpose of the site is to challenge the “common sense” status quo and inspire people to think, and more importantly act differently about both technology and society, to provoke thought and then action. Candid, reflective, and polemical, not shying away from prodding #mainstreaming perspectives and offering alternatives grounded in experience. The flow of hashtags, metaphors, add a layer of depth to posts, inviting people to think critically by linking the issues. Whether you’re a technologist, activist, or simply interested, please take the time to read and then join the weaving to knit the compelling narrative on the importance of open, community-driven media and technology to grow a different world.

You can support this work https://opencollective.com/open-media-network/projects/hcampbell

Serendipity and #Hashtags

What our #fashionistas do in the #dotcons and the #openweb are a problem we need to work to compost. With this in mind, we do need to talk about useful tools we are underusing. Hashtags are ubiquitous online, at best they categorize content to find and join conversations on topics. The problem with current #fashionista hashtag usage is they reinforce individualism over collective action. This is #neoliberal “common sense” and the pushing of domination of #dotcons, prioritizing profit rather than any needed change and challenge.

There is a working path out of this mess. Serendipity is about the occurrence of events by chance, this provides a beneficially fresh perspective on hashtag use. By implementing hashtags in a way that fosters unexpected connections and discoveries, it transforms how they function as social tools. Yes, misspelled hashtags result in fragmented conversations, making it difficult for people to engage in coherent discussions. However, embracing these variations also leads to a more inclusive and dynamic categorization system. By allowing for misspelled hashtags to be recognized and grouped with their counterparts, we create a more robust and forgiving serendipity path.

In a federated system like the #Fediverse, and what is envisioned for the Open Media Network (#OMN), there is a tension between universal truths and messy, subjective truths. A federated path values diversity and decentralization, allowing for meany perspectives to coexist. This aligns with the concept of serendipity, where the focus is on connections and discoveries rather than rigid categorization.

This is the value in the OMN, which address these issues by implementing word grouping flows, where different spellings or variations of hashtags can be grouped together to build cohesive category flows. This approach makes misspelled hashtags functional, thus addressing some of the fragmentation caused by individualistic usage. But the OMN project faces significant challenges in securing funding and overcoming “common sense” internal and external obstacles. The difficulty in obtaining #FOSS funding highlights the broader issue of support for projects that prioritize open, decentralized, and community-focused paths.

The use of hashtags is a progressive and critical perspective on technology and society. Think about neoliberalism (#deathcult) and consumer capitalism (#fashernista), promoting the ideals of the open web (#openweb) against the for-profit internet (#closedweb #dotcons). The interlocking hashtags tells a story that advocates, transparency, collaboration, and sharing in open-source development (#4opens).

Example Meanings:

  • #deathcult: Neoliberalism and its detrimental social and ecological impacts.
  • #fashernista: The trivialization of serious issues through consumerism and fashion.
  • #openweb: The original horizontal path of the World Wide Web.
  • #closedweb: The pre- and post-open web internet dominated by for-profit control.
  • #4opens: Principles of transparency, collaboration, and sharing in open-source, #FOSS development.
  • #geekproblem: The cultural issues within the tech community, a strong tendency towards control and determinism.
  • #techshit and #techchurn: The negative consequences of constant new technological projects that fail to address any social issues.
  • #nothingnew: The question whether new projects are needed or if existing ones should be improved.
  • #OMN and #indymediaback: Rebooting the altmedia projects on the #openweb.
  • #OGB: Open governance and the power of community lead decision-making.

For hashtags to be effective tools we need for social change, we need to shift the balance from individualistic to collectivist. This requires tech systems that accommodate human error and diversity of expression, while maintaining coherence and building community. The #OMN has a promising approach by grouping variations of hashtags, but it faces significant challenges in implementation and support due to current blocking of any funding and coding resources.

Please, let’s embrace a serendipitous view of hashtag to enrich conversations in the era of the #deathcult.

A serendipity story

Hashtags for Social Change

The Potential of #Hashtags as Shared Social Paths

#Hashtags have good and useful potential to be used for social change. They create connections between people, amplify voices, and mobilize communities. When used effectively, in a native way, they transform individual expressions into collective movements. However, the current #dotcons culture presents a very real and disempowering challenge to this.

The Problem of #StupidIndividualism

Today we are shaped by #stupidindividualism, on this path hashtags become acts of individual expression rather than collective tools for change. This individualistic approach hides the potential for constructive use. Instead of fostering solidarity and shared purpose, hashtags become fragmented and lose any meaning and thus impact.

#Dotcons as temples of the #Deathcult

Tech silos like Facebook (#failbook) and generally the dominant digital corporations (#dotcons) exacerbate this problem. Their business models and design promote individualism over community, a culture obsessed with profit and control at the expense of human values, creates a landscape where meaningful social change is impossible to achieve.

The Need for Collective Action

For #hashtags to regain their social function as tools for change, there needs to be a shift in the balance from individualism to collectivism. This requires:

  1. Shared Understanding: Developing a common understanding of the issues and the role hashtags can play in addressing them.
  2. Community Building: Using hashtags to build and strengthen communities rather than only expressing individual opinions.
  3. Strategic Use: Deploying hashtags strategically to mobilize action, raise awareness, and create pressure for change.
  4. Platform Accountability: Holding digital platforms accountable with the #4opens

The Role of Movements like #XR

Movements like Extinction Rebellion (#XR), though well on the #fluffy side, can play a role in this transformation. By emphasizing collective action and the power of grassroots mobilization, they could seed hashtags to build a global community, a common cause.

In conclusion, Hashtags have potential to be used for grassroots social change, but this potential is blocked by our #mainstreaming of individualism, which is pushed by our continuing use of the #dotcons. To harness the power of hashtags, there needs to be a shift towards native #openweb tools and a more collective agenda, community building, and strategic use. Movements like #XR could be a part of this path, as could projects like #OMN #indymediaback and #OGB

Talking about #hashtags
The #hashtags embody a story and world-view
The #hashtags tell a storie
Why use the hashtags?
Reminder about the hashtag family
Thinking outreach of the hashtag story
Let’s talk about the hashtag story
What is a hashtag

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