"Meta's fediverses", federating with Meta to allow communications, potentially using services from Meta such as automated moderation or ad targeting, and potentially harvesting data on Meta's behalf.
"free fediverses" that reject Meta – and surveillance capitalism more generally
The free fediverses have a lot of advantages over Meta and Meta's fediverses, some of which will be very hard to counter, and clearly have enough critical mass that they'll be just fine.
Here's a set of strategies for the free fediverses to provide a viable alternative to surveillance capitalism. They build on the strengths of today's fediverse at its best – including natural advantages the free fediverses have that Threads and Meta's fediverses will having a very hard time countering – but also are hopefully candid about weaknesses that need to be addressed. It's a long list, so I'll be spreading out over multiple posts; this post currently goes into detail on the first two.
Opposition to Meta and surveillance capitalism is an appealing position. Highlight it!
Focus on consent (including consent-based federation), privacy, and safety
Emphasize "networked communities"
Support concentric federations of instances and communities
Consider "transitively defederating" Meta's fediverses (as well as defederating Threads)
Consider working with people and instances in Meta's fediverses (and Bluesky, Dreamwidth, and other social networks) whose goals and values align with the free fediverses'
Build a sustainable ecosystem
Prepare for Meta's (and their allies') attempts to paint the free fediverses in a bad light
Reduce the dependency on Mastodon
Prioritize accessibility, which is a huge opportunity
Commit to anti-fascist, anti-racist, anti-colonial, and pro-LGBTQIA2S+ principles, policies, practices, and norms for the free fediverses
A really cool thing about the #fediverse (or #socialweb) is that there's so much still to codify and address.
Every so often a talking point about some protocol weakness is rehashed and debated — account portability, eventual consistency, inter-instance fueds, etc., and it really reminds me of when the #internet was much younger, and there were so many more significant and novel things to address. The social web and #activitypub is still so much more nascent than people give it credit for.
Some people prefer to talk about the "social web" instead of the "fediverse".
If you do, do you just prefer one term over another, or do you think "social web" could emcompass more functionality than what today's fediverse can do?
Other than that, I also started to think of #SocialWeb as the encompassing concept, and #Fediverse as the current most popular instance of it.
This with "Social" relating to truly social, but also to the full range of technologies to support truly social experiences online. Those are much broader than only AS/AP which we tend to think of first when hearing Fediverse.
But the tech is just implementation detail, the #Peopleverse is what is collectively built.
This is probably the most exciting time to be an internet person, possibly since the 'net first blinked on.
How we experience the web is undergoing seismic shifts —#AI, #XR, and the #SocialWeb will make for increasingly personal and engaging experiences, softening the borders between our digital and physical worlds.
I like & get value from Goodreads, and have many connections there that I value. I'm also a fan of the #SocialWeb / #fediverse and believe in open protocols and data portability. I've optimistically setup a #BookWyrm account here: https://sfba.club/user/dcreemer . Reading is visible to followers only for now.
Looks like the #threadiverse has been widely used by the #Lemmy and #Kbin communities for years, but now it's slowly being co-opted (including by #Meta staff) to refer to the #federation of #Threads.
I predict a complete takeover of the #hashtag, and term in general, before the end of 2024.
"This is the same opportunity in front of the social media landscape right now: a rare chance to unbundle the internet, to pull apart an existing system and rebuild it, piece by piece, in vastly better ways. If we do this correctly — if the next phase of how we congregate and communicate online is built for humans and not advertisers — there won’t be a new titanic company to rival Meta or a platform with eye-poppingly huge numbers like Facebook."
"You could build a news reader that only includes posts with links to news sites and automatically loads those links in a nice reading interface. You could build a content moderation tool that any fediverse app could use to filter and manage content on their platform. You could build the perfect algorithm that only up-ranks shitposts and good jokes, and license that algorithm to any app that wants... 'Epic Posts Only'..."
The target audience is Bloomberg's readership which is very much the business community, not the techie crowd. So the author uses kid gloves to gently guide the reader through technical terms like "protocol".
Just listened to the great talk about Mastodon and the Social Web by @mike and @Gargron at https://flipboard.video/w/cTBu4HusskGTuPBahqm6WY. I like their take on Threads and what it means to use an open protocol. It’s the latest episode of the new podcast Dot Social, and I look forward to the other episodes ⚡️🎧
And yes, it’s a great idea to call it Social Web instead of Fediverse 🤩
Today I heard that the "Fediverse" should be called the "Social Web" instead and.... OMG, I love this.
As cute and original and all "Fediverse" is, if it wants to become mainstream and instantly make sense to everyone and anyone, "Social Web" is such a better name.
What do you think? Personally, I guess that's it, I'm done saying Fediverse... It'll be difficult, maybe I need a transition period.
I've listend to 3 of the 4 available episodes of Dot Social podcast.
Very interesting podcast if your interested in the history and possible future of the Fediverse.
"Learn about the Internet’s next wave on the open social web and what it will unlock for how we connect, communicate, and innovate online. Hosted by Flipboard CEO Mike McCue."
Should be available in all the places that podcasts are available.
I understand why people are upset and concerned about #Threads joining the social web. Most of us have been burned, or considerably worse, by #Meta before.
But this is the promise of the #SocialWeb. The point is to break down the walls. To give us all the opportunity to connect, while retaining our right and freedom to choose who and how we do so, on a personal and on a community level.
The internet as we know it is now over 30 years old, and author John Battelle says we must get over the "extraordinary inertia" of the system we’ve built. How do we create a better internet? Federation may be the answer. Listen in as Flipboard CEO @mike catches up with the WIRED co-founder, journalist and entrepreneur.
What’s the BBC up to in the Fediverse? What have they learned so far from their experiments? And how is all this like the early days of the internet? In the latest episode of Dot Social, Flipboard CEO @mike chats with Ian Forrester (@cubicgarden), Senior Firestarter at @BBCRD. (How cool is that title, btw!)
Do not misconceive of a ‘social construct’ as something that isn’t real.
Make the mistake of disregarding our social reality as a way to circumvent it, and you will find yourself banging your head against the very real walls of sociality until you go mad.
Once you accept the reality of our social constructs you will see they can only be deconstructed and made anew by the collective imagination of our socialized power.
A new episode of Dot Social, the first podcast about the open social web, is out! In it, Flipboard CEO @mike chats with ActivityPub co-author @evan about what the protocol unlocks for builders and entrepreneurs, how open-source social networks change our relationships to content and each other, and why any of this matters at all. Learn more and take a listen!
I'm thinking I might stop using the term #fediverse#fedi or #activitypub when I want to talk about this community of federated social media services.
It's confusing and to be honest sounds way too much like a corporate brand trying to sell something.
I'm thinking I might start using something like "open internet" in general and "open social media" in particular to make the point that fedi isn't some specific thing; it's the default social media for the open internet.
Don't think you're wrong. As long-time fedizens we are kinda used to hear fediverse / fedi. To the uninitiated it sounds weird and off-putting.
I avoid "social media" (media too much associated with broadcasting, selling your message), and use "social networking" there, which we also do offline for ages already.
Instead of #Fediverse I increasingly refer to open/decentralized #SocialWeb, which makes it more broad and inclusive (e.g. different network stacks than #ActivityPub-based).
Imho the abstraction of apps we apply to the #Fediverse is hampering potential of the #SocialWeb.
If "social web" means "the online world where people interact and socialize" then a current fedi #app is like a pair of glasses one has to put on to perceive a particular aspect of that world. And you can only put on one pair of glasses at a time.
Compare: In daily life I consume services in a steady stream of activities (#ActivityStreams, get it? 😜).
The #IndieWeb service #Bridgy is ready to handle bridge AT protocol and ActivityPub protocol posts and replies once federation is enabled in production (already working in sandbox test server).
The format will be:
To follow a #Fediverse account from BlueSky / AT protocol: <username>.<server_domain>.ap.brid.gy
To follow a BlueSky / AT protocol user: <username>@atproto.brid.gy
Example: @atp.youronly.one@atproto.brid.gy
This allows users from each side to see new posts and to reply to these threads.
What is more interesting is that, if you have IndieWeb support on your website or blog, you will see comments from BlueSky / AT protocol appear as a comment, thanks to #Webmention. It is already possible to do this with Fediverse / ActivityPub. ^_~
What makes the lack of algorithms in the #Fediverse great? I get to see posts and talk with people all around the world.
You don't get that on #SNS with algorithms because they filter things for you, and you have no control over it.
Don't get me wrong, algorithms by itself are not bad. Just that, it is used in a way that limits your exposure (your posts to the world; and the world to you); and you have no control.
Another improper use of it is, like in #Facebook's case, they push #ads as well as to control the narrative and shape people's minds and opinions.