Communities don’t adopt digital technologies—they adopt #KISS tools. People don’t think about TCP/IP or HTTP when browsing the web, or SMTP when sending emails. Similarly, they don’t think about #ActivityPub when using the #Fediverse. They interact with intuitive tools that simplify these layers. One of the toughest challenges in grassroots #DIY tech is creating #FOSS…
Navigating challenges: online governance, trolling, and privacy
It’s interesting and useful to look at the critical issue of online governance, community dynamics, and the problem of #mainstreaming trolling on both the #dotcons and open social platforms like #Mastodon, #Fediverse and the broader #openweb Let’s start with mastodon, the complexity of (default) privacy settings leads to public conversations inadvertently shifting into private spaces,…
Communities and People are the #Openweb
The #Fediverse, short for Federated Universe, is a part of the #openweb made of human connections through #4opens computer networks. Its value is not a collection of software packages, much more about the flows of human community that build relationships across diverse groups and regions. Imagine the Fediverse as a web of communities, each represented…
State Funding of #FOSS and Open Source: Is it a Good Idea or a Bad Idea?
The questioning over state funding of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and open-source initiatives revolves around invisible ideological debates about benefits and drawbacks. Let’s look at this from a few specific examples: #NLnet, #NGI, and the European Union (#EU), to understanding the implications and effectiveness of this funding path. The is some democratization as…
#dotcons push consumerism as propaganda
In the United States, propaganda is intertwined with consumerism. Edward Bernays working in the US is the father of modern propaganda, he believed that humans were driven by instincts and animal desires. His work was used to harness these instincts through advertisements (propaganda) to create inner desires within people, to feed consumerism, which corporations could…
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.…
Signal to noise on the #FBI seazing a database of a fediverse instance
https://kolektiva.social/@admin/110637031574056150 The #Fediverse is all #4opens so should not be used for anything that should be P2P encrypted. It’s important to keep this clear to users by not focused on the fig leaf of “hardening” security as the is non. It’s a very successful #OMN open media network, and it’s value lies in this. Peoples…
Why is Mastodon so dominant in the fediverse?
Q. Why is Mastodon so dominant in the fediverse? A. It had better #UX and @Gargron running it was an effective communicator at #KISS and built it out as a #4opens project alongside a healthy (white) lie about security and privacy. The rest of the projects lacked these things – #Pleroma the obverse compaine was…
Liberal trolls – are often not WHO they think they are
DRAFT to be edited http://hamishcampbell.com/2023/02/14/archiving-the-openweb-in-a-personal-way/ http://hamishcampbell.com/2023/02/12/thinking-about-why-openweb-projects-fail/ It’s hard to get a thried out of mastodon, hopeful this is in the right order and not missing bits. As usually, if you would like to be anonymous with no linking please say so, thanks. Made a blog post, if you reply your text might be added to…
Thinking about why #openweb projects fail.
Many #openweb projects have failed over the years, and there are reasons, first is the challenge of sustaining a project that is built on open-source principles and relies on community involvement and collaboration. In capitalism, without a clear and consistent funding model, it can be difficult to keep projects going over the long term. Another…
#indymediaback is a #openweb project of consensus based radical grassroots journalism
The #IMC project is an affinity group – so we are planing to work through consensus and diversity of strategy to move the project past where it was ripped apart by internal stresses after 10 years of running as a successfully worldwide radical grassroots media project. To do this we have a #nothingnew policy beyond…
Bluesky thinking of a “governance” body of the fedivers
“A resource arrangement that works in practice can work in theory” What exists already? The is a pretty sorted #ActivityPub crew, then some organizing sites/forums, the yearly conference. MOST importantly some “kings”, “princes” a bit of a tech/influencer aristocracy who currently hold much of the “power”. Where do we go from here? On online “governing…