Who gets to decide what this place is? How are we being represented

“An important distinction is slowly being uncovered about the definition of the term “#Fediverse.” Who is it that gets to decide what this place is? How are we being represented?”

https://mastodon.social/deck/@fdrc_ff@www.foxyhole.io/112435833670527639

The lack of discussion about the nature of the space the #fediverse occupies raises questions about representation and identity within this #openweb “native” network.

  1. Ownership by Communities: The fediverse offers a way to build the internet by communities, in contrast to centralized #dotcons social networks that prioritize monetization over community well-being. By decentralizing governance, the fediverse empowers people to take control of their online spaces and relationships.
  2. Audience and Adoption: The fediverse is valuable for those who are hostile and disillusioned with monetized social networks and seek ways to connect with real change/challenge comunertys. While some are eager to explore alternatives, others face limitations or challenges in transitioning to the fediverse. Nonetheless, the slow growth of communities within the fediverse is essential for building a strong “native” foundation for decentralized networking.
  3. Governance and Community: A key distinction of the fediverse lies in its shared governance model, where people have a say in how their communities are shaped. This contrasts with centralized social networks, where governance decisions are made by a central authority that does not align with community interests. People are drawn to the fediverse for its emphasis on inclusivity and people’s agency, allowing individuals and social groups to express themselves without fear of censorship or coercion.
  4. Coexistence with Centralized Networks: The fediverse does not require people to opt out of centralized social networks entirely. Instead, people can maintain connections on both networks while stepping to decentralized networking. This allows people to become familiar with the fediverse’s culture and its advantages.
  5. Website Design and Accessibility: With the foundational principles of the fediverse defined, the focus shifts to website design that reflects these values. Accessibility, both in terms of physical access and cultural understanding, is prioritized to ensure that the platform is inclusive and user-friendly, in sharp contrast to too much of the bad #UX history of #FOSS coding.

The fediverse represents a shift towards community-driven, decentralized networking, offering an alternative to #dotcons. By prioritizing people’s and community agency, inclusivity, and accessibility, the fediverse creates spaces where people can connect and express themselves. Let’s reboot the #openweb as a start, we could try calling this #web1.5

On the subject of activism, “don’t be a prat” is a good start.

Images of protest posters

Thalia and Ian Campbell have been #makinghistory throughout their life’s, by collecting an amazing collection of posters that we have divided into categories below:

Peace Posters
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Csvttwcur7hzkH6HA

Labour and Trade Union Posters
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Csvttwcur7hzkH6HA

Feminist Posters
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LMCQHpJYkj4GUXog8

Counter Culture
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8V4S2skG15EDcrBh9

Branding – 4opens collective identity and values of the network.

#Branding in the #Fediverse raises considerations about effectively communicate the identity and values of a decentralized network while preserving its diverse and inclusive core.

* Purpose of Branding: Branding serves different purposes for different organizations within the Fediverse. It is a way to assert control and ownership over the platform/network, but it can also be used to communicate identity and values to people and potential adopters.

* Instance Branding vs. Project Branding: Shifting the focus from project branding to instance branding give’s more control to the communities using and running the instances. This decentralized approach allows for customization and fosters inclusivity within the Fediverse.

* Impact of Strong Branding: Strong branding by developers and platforms overshadows the diversity of instances and communities within the Fediverse. It limits collaboration and customization, threatening the very decentralization that is at the centre of the path.

* Scale of Branding: Branding is used at different scales within the Fediverse, from single instances to suppliers of federated services. While branding can facilitate onboarding and accessibility, it may also pose a threat to decentralization if single entities gain dominating influence over the network.

* Balancing Accessibility and Freedom: Visual identities play a crucial role in guiding new people to the Fediverse and communicating its values. However, a strong branding presence may restrict the freedom of expression of instances and communities. It’s important to balance accessibility and freedom when designing branding solutions.

* Community Acceptance: New branding solutions should be organically accepted by the majority of communities within the Fediverse. The current logos are tolerated because they communicate an idea without imposing a single identity or viewpoint. New branding should aim to achieve the same balance to build “native” community acceptance.

The #fediverse, is “native” to the #openweb balancing accessibility with the preservation of diversity and expression. Branding solutions should be community-driven and strive to represent the collective identity and values of the network. We should be VERY questioning of ONLY strong code base branding as a path to grow this space.

“don’t be a prat” springs to mind.

Development of technology in a community-centric direction

Shaping technology to empower people and building to their needs is core to create an inclusive and democratic digital environment. We need technology that prioritizes people and customization first:

  1. User-Centric Design: Technology should be designed with the people in mind, focusing on usability, accessibility, and flexibility. This means involving people in the design process and incorporating their feedback to create technology meets real needs, process and preferences.
  2. Open Source and Open Standards: Embracing principles promotes transparency, interoperability, and people’s control. By making source code freely available and adhering to open standards, developers empower people to modify and customize the technology they are building according to wider social requirements.
  3. Decentralization: Moving away from centralized platforms and embracing decentralized architectures fosters community and resilience in the digital ecosystem. Decentralized technologies empower people to have control over their digital lives and communities, stepping away from reliance on large corporations and promoting a more democratic online environment.
  4. Education and Empowerment: Educating people about technology and creating tools and resources to shape and customize to their needs is essential. By fostering digital literacy, people can understand and thus take control of their digital experiences, to create a more informed and engaged user base.
  5. Community Engagement: Engaging with communities and building collaboration and thus co-creation leads to the development of technology that reflects the diverse needs and perspectives of people. By building inclusive and participatory processes, developers can ensure that technology serves the interests of the community.

In the context of the #Fediverse and #openweb reboot, prioritizing these principles helps to steer the development of technology towards a more community-centric and empowering direction of real use. By stepping away from the #dotcons tech that pre-shapes people’s behaviour and embracing a more participatory and inclusive approach, we build a digital ecosystem that serves the needs of people.

#KISS is a good start on this path.

Composting in tech

The #OMN (Open Media Network) is composting in tech, it is a process of recycling and repurposing digital resources and technologies in a sustainable and environmentally conscious manner. As composting in agriculture involves breaking down organic matter into nutrient-rich soil, composting in tech involves reusing and repurposing digital assets and technologies to create new value and reduce waste.

* Reuse of Code: Instead of reinventing the wheel, developers should reuse existing code and software components to build new applications and platforms. This approach reduces duplication of effort and promotes community and efficiency in software development.

* Repurposing Digital Content: With media and content creation, composting in tech involves repurposing existing digital content (such as articles, videos, or podcasts) to create new linking content and derivative works. This practice helps extend the lifespan of digital assets and reduce the need for constant creation of “new” generic content.

* Open Source and Collaboration: Embracing principles and collaborative development models is a form of composting in tech. By sharing code, knowledge, and resources openly, developers collectively improve and build upon existing technologies, growing innovation and sustainability in the tech ecosystem.

* Circular Economy in Tech: Composting in tech aligns with the principles of a circular economy, where resources are used, reused, and recycled to minimize waste and maximize use. By applying this concept to digital technologies, #OMN promotes a sustainable approach to tech development and consumption.

“Composting in tech” reflects a mindset of sustainability, resourcefulness, and responsible stewardship of digital resources within the #openweb, it’s a path we need to take.

The mess we need to compost:

* Arrogance and Ignorance: In alternative and grassroots movements, there is a recurring problem where people displaying arrogance and ignorance. This hinders progress and collaboration within these movements. At a time when there’s a growing need for successful examples to inspire larger, more #mainstreaming alternative and progressive movements. Addressing these issues becomes important.

* Challenge of “Stupid” Individualism: #Stupidindividualism refers to the pervasive influence of individualistic thinking promoted by #neoliberal ideology. This mindset undermines collective action and makes it difficult to build alternative tech and social projects that prioritize community over individual gain.

* Vertical vs. Horizontal Structures: Hierarchical thinking (“vertical”) disrupts egalitarian structures (“horizontal”) within movements. This disruption contributes to a cycle of destruction and rebuilding, making it challenging to maintain momentum and achieve lasting change that is needed.

* Affective Direct Action: This type of activism emphasizes emotional engagement and personal connection to issues. This experience underscores the cyclical nature of social and political challenges and highlights the importance of addressing underlying issues for meaningful and lasting change.

* Capitalism as the Root Problem: The solution, involves stepping away from capitalist structures. This requires a combination of strategies, including non-violent resistance and, in some cases, revolutionary action.

Addressing the challenges faced by alternative and grassroots movements requires collective action, strategic thinking, and a rejection of individualistic and hierarchical ideologies. It involves creating spaces where collaboration and community-driven solutions can thrive, ultimately working federating these to works towards a more equitable society.

What names to use?

The term #openweb refers to an internet ecosystem characterized by decentralized, interoperable, and community-driven platforms and protocols. It emphasizes principles of openness, inclusivity, and user control over data and online experiences. The “openweb” contrasts with the #dotcons centralized and proprietary nature, the mainstream internet platforms, thus offering an alternative vision for the future of the internet, and the society this shapes.

Meanwhile, #Fediverse refers to a specific decentralized social networking ecosystem built on interoperable protocols (#ActivityPub), allowing people on different platforms to interact and share content seamlessly. It encompasses a variety of codebases such as #Mastodon, #PeerTube, and #Pixelfed, offering alternatives to centralized social media giants like #Twitter, #YouTube, and #Instagram.

#web1.5 is a more technical term used in geeky conversations, this can be useful as a buffer to the #ecryptionist mess that talks about #web3

Talking about the fediverse can be hard, for broader, #mainstreaming audiences, simply using #mastodon can be sufficient, as Mastodon is one of the most well-known platforms within the Fediverse. This term may resonate more with individuals who are less familiar with the technical nuances of decentralized web architectures but are interested in exploring alternative social media platforms.

The choice of terminology depends on the context and audience. Whether you’re engaging in technical discussions with the “tribe” or introducing newcomers to decentralized internet paths, using the appropriate term can help facilitate understanding and communication.

Tribalism can make this harder than it needs to be, “don’t be a prat” comes to mind.

The limitations of #mainstreaming “history”

In the realm of activist family archiving, the clash between #mainstreaming and alternative approaches to history preservation becomes very apparent. While smaller, more agile organizations embrace the concept of living history, encompassing the entirety of family narratives and experiences, larger national institutions prioritize selective pieces of history that fit within their established narratives.

For smaller organizations, history is dynamic and ever-evolving, reflecting the lived experiences and diverse perspectives of individuals and families. These organizations recognize the value of preserving the “context”of histories, from the everyday to the extraordinary, as a means of capturing the richness and complexity of human life.

On the other hand, larger national institutions tend to favour a more static and curated approach to history, focusing on specific events or narratives that align with their predetermined agendas. This approach results in the omission or marginalization of certain voices and experiences, reinforcing established power structures and perpetuating a narrow understanding of history.

The tension between these two approaches highlights the broader struggle for control over historical narratives and the importance of preserving diverse perspectives within the historical record. By embracing the concept of living history and advocating for the inclusion of marginalized voices, archiving organizations can play a key role in challenging #mainstreaming narratives and promoting more inclusive and representative understanding of the past, and thus helping to shape the future.

https://opencollective.com/campbell-archive is an example of this path

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In the family archiving, we are starting to feel the limitations of #mainstreaming “history”. The smaller, more nimble organizations will take the entire history. In this, history is something to be created, living history. The larger, more national organizations only want the tiny parts that fill insignificant holes in their existing liberal narrative of history. In this history is establishment and fixed, This is dead history.

People react defensively to bad news, blaming others rather than confront uncomfortable truths

We need to look a bit at the psychological barriers that hinder communication and action in urgent social challenges. Concepts, like spontaneous trait transference, lead people to attribute negative traits to those delivering important messages, rather than focusing on the message itself.

People often react defensively to bad news, seeking to attribute blame to others rather than confront uncomfortable truths. This is rooted in our evolutionary psychology and plays a role in the proliferation of conspiracy theories and the scapegoating of messengers.

The exhaustion and frustration in trying to navigate these psychological barriers while we try to address issues like #climatechange and #openweb reboot can lead to a sense of urgency and despair, that underscores the gravity of the challenges we face and the need for effective communication and action.

This is touching on the complexities of human psychology and the daunting task of confronting societal crises in the face of widespread denial and defensiveness. We do need to highlight the importance of resilience, compassion, and strategic communication in navigating these challenges and inspiring meaningful change.

More on this here https://www.okdoomer.io/thebadguys

The victimhood narrative needs composting

In the #openweb reboot, metaphors are a strong path

We do need to look t things differently, for example the #darkweb is in our poisoned self that has fermented for the last 40 years. It’s the algorithms of manipulation, and the #geekproblem unthinking pushiness of this fermentation. The #dotcons are the shiny surfaces of this mess. And the #openweb the seedlings to grow community to step on the path away from this.

We have turned our backs on this metaphor the last few years, can we now turn back before we are consumed by the #dotcons the shiny surfaces of #mainstreaming mess

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let’s try, in the metaphorical landscape of the #openweb reboot, the concept of the #darkweb represents the darker aspects of our digital existence that emerged over the past four decades. It encompasses the algorithms of manipulation that fuel online platforms, the unthinking pushiness of the #geekproblem culture, and the shiny surfaces of centralized platforms (#dotcons) that dominate our online experiences.

The #darkweb symbolizes the poisoned self that has fermented within our digital spaces, perpetuating societal division, misinformation, and exploitation. It reflects the consequences of prioritizing profit and power over community and collective well-being.

In contrast, the #openweb represents a path towards renewal and regeneration. It embodies the seedlings of community and collaboration, offering an alternative vision for how we engage with technology and each other online. The #openweb encourages decentralization, transparency, and participatory governance, fostering a digital ecosystem that prioritizes the needs and interests of people.

In our #fedivers based #web1.5 reboot, there is #mainstreaming mess pushing, a collective turning away from the #openweb metaphor, as centralized platforms continue to exert their influence and dominance.

We are attracted to be consumed by the allure of shiny surfaces and instant gratification offered by #dotcons, we risk losing sight of the values and principles that underpin this #openweb path.

The challenge now is to rekindle our commitment to the #openweb and reclaim its promise of community, empowerment, and connection. It requires a collective effort to resist the pull of centralized platforms and reassert the importance of human community.

The #openweb reboot metaphor is a reminder of the ongoing struggle to shape the future of the internet in a way that aligns with our humanist values and aspirations. It calls upon us to confront the darkness of the #darkweb within ourselves and embrace the potential for renewal and transformation offered by the #openweb.

You can help support this here https://opencollective.com/open-media-network

This blog is on ActivityPub – please subscribe

What do we have here, Hamish Campbell’s blog covers a range of topics related to technology, activism, social justice, boatlife and the #openweb. As an activist, Hamish provides insightful commentary and analysis on issues like digital rights, decentralized technology, media activism, climate change, and more.

Feel free to subscribe to Hamish Campbell’s blog for

  • Thought-provoking content: Hamish’s blog offers thought-provoking insights and perspectives on contemporary issues in technology and activism. Whether it’s discussing the impact of social media on society or exploring alternatives to #mainstreaming platforms, his posts stimulate critical thinking and inspire discussion.
  • Expertise in digital activism: With years of experience in digital activism and media production, Hamish brings a wealth of knowledge to his blog. His insights into the intersection of technology and activism provide valuable guidance for people and organizations looking to make a positive impact in the digital sphere.
  • Openweb advocacy: Hamish is a passionate advocate for the #openweb and #decentralized technology. His blog delves into topics such as the importance of preserving net neutrality, the dangers of centralization in online platforms, and the potential of decentralized alternatives to empower people and protect digital empowerment.
  • Diversity of topics: From technical discussions about peer-to-peer networks and the mess of blockchain technology to reflections on the state of contemporary grassroots politics and society, subscribers can expect to find engaging content that spans multiple disciplines and interests.

Overall, subscribing to Hamish Campbell’s blog provides readers with a unique opportunity to stay informed about important issues in #technology, #activism, and social justice, while also gaining valuable insights from an experienced and knowledgeable voice in the field.

@info is the link you need inside the #Fediverse

The tech world is in a state of chaos and dysfunction

The tech world is in a state of chaos and dysfunction, to compost this mess it’s crucial that we reckon with the consequences of our past decisions to understand how we arrived at this point.

Over the past four decades, there has been an intertwining of #postmodernist social thinking and #neoliberal economic ideology. This marriage of #ideologies has fractured societal values and pushed down ideological divides, leading to right-wing polarization and dysfunction in both politics and technology.

In the realm of technology, this has translated into the proliferation of centralized platforms and the erosion of community. We’ve witnessed the rise of platforms that push profit over people’s well-being, exacerbating societal divisions and amplifying disinformation and hate speech.

As we confront existential threats like #climatechange and ecological degradation, it’s imperative that we acknowledge our role in shaping the current reality. For forty years, we’ve marched down this dark path, shaping our “human nature” through collective choices and actions.

The next four decades will be marked by hardship and suffering as we grapple with the consequences of our actions. But we must take responsibility for charting a new course forward. It’s well past time to reject the poisoned philosophies and dogmatic economic doctrines that have brought us to this precipice.

We must reclaim agency over our collective future and commit to a path of social healing, reconciliation, and renewal. This begins with the first step of acknowledging our complicity in creating this mess and embracing the power of collective action and solidarity to fix it.

#stupidindividualism let’s try please not to just push mess back at this text. It’s essential not to view this social thinking as an individualistic moral judgment. The effectiveness of postmodernism and neoliberalism in achieving their goals is evident, the judgment lies in our collective choice of path.

The disintegration of social norms and the widening gap between the rich and the poor are natural outcomes of the path we’ve chosen over the last four decades. It’s not just about moral judgment; it’s about recognizing the consequences of our choices and taking steps to course correct towards a more just, equitable, and sustainable future. And away from the current “common sense” mess.

Yes, if you hear the shouting “don’t be a prat” it’s likely needed 😉

Cyril Foster Lecture 2024: On the Declining Success of Civil Resistance

Professor Erica Chenoweth will explore the puzzling decline in the success of civil resistance movements in the past decade, even as unarmed movements have become more popular worldwide. The findings have implications for the future of nonviolent alternatives to armed struggle, as well as to the ability of pro-democratic movements to defeat authoritarian challenges.

Erica Chenoweth is the Academic Dean for Faculty Engagement and the Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard Kennedy School, Faculty Dean at Pforzheimer House at Harvard College, and a Susan S. and Kenneth L. Wallach Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute. They study political violence and its alternatives. At Harvard, Chenoweth directs the Nonviolent Action Lab, an innovation hub that provides empirical evidence in support of movement-led political transformation.

  • Creative messy thinking
  • Structured rigid thinking

Over the last 20 years we have moved from the first creative messy at Greenham Common Peace Camp and 1990’s road protests thought to the turn of the century anti globalisation movement.

Then this started to shift with the very affective protest movement Climate Camp, with pushing in process geeks ossifying the process and direction. To a hard shift of the occupy movement, process and organising on #dotcons social media.

As this lecture illustrates, the last ten years activism of all forms has been failing, likely due to in part to this shift.

Academic thinking is a part of this, giving rigid thinking strength to push on to messy activism.

Why is academic thinking so bad and irrelevant? “Getting it done people” have no time or interest to talk to academics, they are to focus on the hard mission of “getting things done”. Who the academics and journalist end up getting their data from is way to often wannabe #fashernistas do, in this academic knolage, and the journalism that feeds it, is “manurist” and not helping, and harming a lot of time.

Ideas on how to talk about this, please.

#oxford