The #fediverse is a glimpse of a radically kind of society through decentralized and community-driven models of governance and organization. This path can be used to challenge traditional hierarchies and power structures, making it possible to resist the imposing liberal “common sense” solutions which align with existing paradigms of control. On this different path we need tools like #OGB (Open Governance Bodies) to grow native systems that are transparent, participatory, and empowering.
But one of the issues that is used to block the wider project move is branding and its role in the #fediverse, branding, while seen as a unifying force, actually is as often imposes barriers to community ownership and agency. When centralized branding dictates the identity of a project, it stifles participation and creativity. To counteract this negative default path, we can:
- Shift to Community Branding, with communities running instances to create their own visual and cultural identities. This empowers localized expressions while fostering ownership and pride.
- Standardize for collaboration, develop shared guidelines for a cohesive experience, while maintaining flexibility for local adaptation.
- Minimize branding barriers, by avoiding overly strong branding in open-source codebases to make technology easier for people and communities to adopt and customize.
This focus leads to a decentralized and inclusive ecosystem, where control is balanced with the communities rather than only developers and funders. Core to this is the path of challenging #StupidIndividualism, in this context the hashtag critiques the focus on individualistic thinking and self-serving branding in #openweb projects. To challenge this, we need to hold in place open dialogue on the power dynamics of branding and its impact on participation.
To flourish, we need to focus on decentralized trust-based networks like the #fediverse that amplify grassroots voices. Encourage messy, iterative approaches to activism that embrace the complexity of social change. Build #FOSS tools that empower communities to take control of their narratives, reclaiming native paths from centralized systems and corporate algorithms.
We need to counteract the entrenched despair of #mainstreaming paths to compost the mess for real, impactful change.
