This is from the view of progressive, grassroots and Alt media in the UK:
Silo, definition: Closed data systems hoarding information. Impact: Data vanishes when projects end, diminishing the effectiveness of alternative media. Most alt/grassroots media projects are silos, capturing data without open licensing for reuse.
Portal, definition: Attempts to be the dominant site, locking users into their ecosystem. Impact: Builds projects that trap users, contrary to the #openweb’s logic. In alt/grassroots media, this resembles a one-party state approach of the 20th century.
#Dotcons, definition: For-profit data silos and pseudo-networked portals. Impact: Many alt media projects mimic #dotcons, aspiring to their closed models.
Link, definition: Fundamental to the #openweb, giving content value. Impact: The absence of linking in alt media reduces the content’s value.
#Activitypub, definition: is a protocol and open standard for decentralized networking, a tool for commons building. Impact: this is growing in use.
#RSS, definition: An open web standard that adds value through data sharing. Impact: RSS is underutilized in alt media, overshadowed by silo and portal models.
Geek Culture, definition: A subculture focused on control and technical solutions. Impact: Often closes open projects, contributing to the failure of alt media initiatives, ca use the hashtag #geekproblem
#Fashionista Culture, definition: An unthinking pursuit of innovation and conformity. Impact: Churns through alt/grassroots projects, preventing them from growing.
#NGO, definition: Bureaucratic entities consuming resources. Impact: Push agendas that overshadow grassroots initiatives, often invisibly counterproductive.
Network, definition: Both technical (wires, frequencies) and mutual aid (diversity of strategy). Impact: Essential for alt media but underutilized.
#4opens, definition: Open source, open data, open standards, open process. Impact: Exemplified by projects like Wikipedia; foundational to just and effective media projects.
To sum, up, we are still in the process of moving away from the mess of most UK alt/grassroots media projects, who are focused on silos, on capturing data and users rather than linking and sharing to build commons. Emphasizing the #4opens and fostering a culture of linking and openness help’s to break this cycle and build a more interconnected and effective alternative media landscape.
The mess is a result of the socioeconomic outcome of the widespread adoption of #neoliberal policies and ideology. Neoliberal theorists like Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman developed and promoted the ideas, emphasizing competition and market-based solutions to social and economic problems. Politicians like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan implemented neoliberal policies on a large scale, fundamentally altering over the last 40 years the role of government and the structure of our society.
Business interests, pushed neoliberal policies to restore their power and wealth, which had diminished during the era of “progressive” liberalism. Think tanks, academic institutions and university economics departments played a role in spreading and legitimizing neoliberal ideas.
The economic crises of the 1970s, stagflation and oil shocks, created an opening for neoliberal policies to be pushed as an alternative to existing redistributive social democratic economic models. This was then taken up by #mainstreaming political parties, including traditionally left-leaning parties, such as Labour in the UK, who pushed the same neoliberal agendas, contributing to the ideology’s total dominance across the political spectrum. The “mess” we are in is not the result of a conspiracy, more the failed #fashionista pushing of ideas, self-interest, and historical circumstances.
Over the last 40 years we have fundamentally altered how people, institutions, and governments see the world and their roles in society. This shift has led to social brake feed by “common sense” #stupidindividualism and market-based destruction of social goods and environment. The “common sense” pervasiveness of neoliberal logic made this thinking difficult to escape, even for people who profess to oppose it. This mess is proving to be a #deathcult in the era of #XR
let’s look at this through one example. The term #enshittification coined by https://mastodon.social/@pluralistic@mamot.fr is a pop term for a very real social/tech problem. I have been using the term #dotcons for the last 20 years to express this same idea and feel this is a better hashtag, but that’s just my view, you can see the thinking for this latter.
* Obscuring Responsibility: Using terms like “enshittification” obscures the true root causes of the issue. Instead of attributing problems solely to a general decline in quality, the focus should be on identifying specific actors and factors responsible for this decline.
* Profit Motive and Diverging Interests: Behind the concept of “enshittification” lies the profit motive inherent in capitalist systems. There’s a divergence of interests between product users (consumers) and product owners (corporations), where decisions are driven by maximizing profits rather than improving user experiences.
* Lack of Accountability: By simplifying issues like “enshittification,” there’s a risk of absolving those responsible for making harmful decisions. The critique should emphasize the need to hold accountable the individuals and entities that prioritize profit over societal well-being.
* Liberal Perspective and Tech Ecosystem: The discussion needs to extend to the role of liberalism and the resulting tech ecosystem in perpetuating these problems. We need to criticize how the #openweb was enclosed and co-opted by the #dotcom industry, with complicity from #fashionista liberal circles.
* Call to Action: The #dotcons, critique is a call to action against those who exploit technology for profit without regard for societal consequences. It condemns the manipulation and exploitation within the tech industry and urges a more critical approach to understanding and addressing these issues.
In summary, we need to challenge the use of “common sense” terms like “#enshittification” to describe complex societal problems, advocating instead for a deeper examination of the profit-driven motives and systemic inequalities that underlie deteriorating online quality and community experiences. #dotcons highlights the importance of accountability and critical view in addressing the harmful impacts of technology in the hands of capitalism on society.
Our liberals need to think about this, if they can think, best not to be a prat about this please.
Hamish Campbell, looking at the past and future of “native” grassroots media.
In the last three decades, the digital landscape has undergone dramatic changes. I have witnessed its evolution firsthand, working in radical media and engaging with grassroots technology. But this journey hasn’t been without its challenges and setbacks.
The Dawn of the OpenWeb
The early years of the #openweb were a golden age. It was a time when the power of connectivity and innovation was shared and wielded by people rather than confined to corporate silos. This openweb we cherished was built at a human scale, with real conversations and decisions made not by algorithms or profit-driven entities, but by human beings with a vision for a decentralized and inclusive digital space.
However, those pioneering days of the openweb seem distant now. The landscape rapidly shifted, favoring echo chambers over open forums, transforming the dream of a participatory digital spaces into commercialized pockets designed to commodify our data and society
The Rise and Fall of .Coms
The term #dotcons, inspired by the .com boom, exposes the underlying deceit in this new era of the internet. Companies emerged with the aim of capitalizing on our online presence, turning every click and keystroke into a financial opportunity. Social media platforms like #Facebook—aptly dubbed #Failbook and others have become disasters for both our personal mental health and societal construct.
The Encryptionist Agenda
In response to the corporatization of the web, alternative technology, especially within radical grassroots movements, began to focus heavily on encryption. Yet this #encryptionist agenda, instead of fostering a true alternative, led us to a dead end. #Indymedia, which once stood as a beacon of open, participatory journalism, eventually succumbed to this closed technology approach.
The Plight of Progressive Technology
#Fashionista politics—those which blindly follow trends without questioning the underlying systems—have dominated the progressive tech landscape, often embracing the very platforms that stand contrary to open standards. The ideals that spurred movements and created spaces for change have been eroded, leaving us in a technological quagmire that stifles creativity and real progress.
Rebuilding from the Roots
Despite these challenges, hope remains for a resurgence of grassroots media. By revisiting the core principles that made #Indymedia a force in its early days, we can steer the movement back on course.
A Simple Federated Network
I consider Oxford IMC, which I co-founded, as a blueprint for this revival. Through a network of trust-based content sharing, we can create a federated model that allows information to flow freely yet responsibly.
Think of it as a series of nodes: activist news websites, Mastodon instances, peertube channels, and local blogs, all interlinked by trust and moderated collaboration, governed by a simple yet effective set of controls—including link subscribe, moderate/trusted flow, and rollback functions to maintain the integrity of our content.
Trust First, Moderate Later
By focusing on trust-first networking, where content flows are based on established relationships, we not only streamline communication but also protect against the pitfalls of a closed, controlled web. This approach allows for open, decentralized storytelling, with an organic curation system that respects the diversity and autonomy of each node.
Reclaiming and Reshaping Security
Recognizing the need for secure communication without sacrificing openness, the reboot incorporates both bridges to other #4opens network publishing and guidelines for pseudo-anonymous contributions through Tor.
These measures provide a balanced approach, enabling activists to share their stories without fear of repercussion while maintaining a spirit of openness and community-driven journalism.
Foundations of the Reboot
Central to this reboot are the #PGA hallmarks and the #4opens—open data, open source, open standards, and open process. This framework, informed by the lessons from #Indymedia’s past, will ensure that we do not repeat the same mistakes.
Moreover, by adopting federated databases and leveraging tags and flows of news objects, this network will function as a vibrant, resilient web of news, accessible at different levels and capable of adapting to the ever-changing demands of radical grassroots journalism.
Be Part of the Open Media Reboot
I invite you to join us as we embark on this journey to reclaim our digital commons. If you share the vision for an open, grassroots-powered web, visit http://unite.openworlds.info and contribute your expertise. With a commitment to the #4opens and a collaborative spirit, we can usher in a new era of the fediverse centered on truth, empowerment, and community.
This is more than a project—it’s a movement. Let’s create a network that stands as a testament to our collective power, one that honors our past achievements while forging a future that lives up to our highest aspirations. Let’s make history, again.
The open web is not just a concept; it’s our birthright. Together, let’s bring it back to life.
This blog post is a call to action. It’s a bid to revive the original spirit of #Indymedia and extend a hand to those willing to contribute to the future of open, grassroots media.
# Introduction – Hamish Campbell’s background in grassroots and radical media – The open web’s early potential for alternative media
# The Failure of Alternative Media – Rise of big tech like Facebook led to closed and monopolized systems – Encryptionist agenda went nowhere over the past decade – Climate crisis shows need for societal alternatives
# The Open Media Network – Explaining the decentralized federated network model – Trusted flows of content based on open standards
# Rebooting Indymedia – Rebuilding the local community news site with focus areas – Approaches for enabling secure anonymous publishing
# Why Indymedia Failed – Early successes but internal disputes over openness – Problems with incompatible customized systems – Control desires led to user-hostile encryption
# Lessons Learned – Open standards critical for networks – Loose flexible processes over rigid bureaucracy – Explicitly embedding the “four opens” philosophy
# Project Overview – Building a web of trusted news flows – Agnostic decentralized network via protocols like ActivityPub – Get involved to help create alternative media
Take a moment to think about basics: activism/campaigning is about building resistance to the mainstream to change its flow in progressive directions. Were #mainstreaming is about shifting activism to reduce these resistances to the mainstream flow. Thus, it’s good to understand that #mainstreaming is a #NGO agenda to build the jobs of the people involved, and is in turn funded to this end. Good not to get this shit mixed up.
Lifestyle is a way of forming a tribe inside this mainstream flow. The problem for activism is that this old school tribalism is obviously a BLOCK on social change, as looking and talking right are MORE important than being right. Being right would be “resistance” and lifestyle is about going with the counter flow.
On the other hand, there are advantages to “modern” tribal and lifestyle activism – it functions as social glue to hold campaigns together and provides a “uniform” flag to rally round. You notice I do not use words like anarchist, socialist, liberalism here as these have a different role in social change thinking – they are the ideas – the clothing is what I am taking about #fashionista is the hashtag.
#Revolution is about blowing up the flow of the mainstream so it floods into a different path, with much “collateral” damage in the process as we live inside a highly urban complex society. Both paths can be useful, both have costs.
It’s time to #reboot many parts of the #openweb With the “visibility” of the failing of #dotcons such as #failbook privacy/obscured agronomic control of you, #uber and the race to the bottom culture.
The will be a plausible “class” of people who come up with convincing sounding solutions, these #fashionista are not part of any solution and are a clear and historical core to our failers in the past.
I understand it’s hard to see the differences of tech projects, what is worth supporting and what not. We have issues from two different directions that have to at least a little understood to have a hope of supporting projects that have the possibility to be part of a real LINKING alt.
They will dis-empower the worst of the #fashionista thinking by shining light on their actions and mediate to a better outcome the “closing push” of the #geekproblem by keeping the LINKING in place.
Simple and sweet, a first step solution in a hashtag 😉
In my expirence the flowering of the #indymedia networks followed by the first years of #climatecamp were the high points of activist culture. The end of climate camp was the low point of activist culture, after this the drift to #NGO and #fashionista was wide and dissipating.
#Occupy was a break in activist culture, it was the first mass “internet first” on the ground manifestation that happened disconnected to the past of activism because of the use of #dotcons tools as prime organising space. The old culture has been discredited by the failings of climatecamp, the new dotcon tools had been celebrated and used well by Ukuncut etal. Where Ukuncut was a reboot of the old climate camp crew, occupy was a project of the #failbook generation in all its wide reflective madness.
Where are we now? The old left is rebooting with a broken mix of the Blairite right and the Stalinist/toxic left, both pulling at the radical liberal centre. Alt media content is being rebooted but the network it needs to build, to stop its drift to NGO burn out, is missing. The right is ideologically bankrupt and visibly grasping, but stronger than ever.
In activism currently we are full of the biter taste of occupy and NGO worshipping of dotcoms and careerism. The working of the 21st century is potentially different to the workings of the 20th century the are groups, networks and individuals that embody this and a larger group/individuals who fight for the past century working practices.
The “certainties of the 20th century” are grasped in our frail and trembling hands, the first stage of a “network” reboot is to let go of these “certainties” one constructive path to this is to fill in the gaping activist memory hole by looking at what works and what does not. The lost and flailing progressive alt needs foundations bridging this gap to build on.
The IS NO SHORT TERMISM HERE, but the is speed and nimbleness, plenty of fun, creative motivated building to be done. Many of the foundation problems can be built in parallel as a “network” so it can happen faster than most can imagine.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
UPDATE:
Am currently working on two projects to take steps to mediate the issues I outline here:
In my expirence the flowering of the 
