{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://xoxo.zone/@artlung/113267978362864254",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p><span class=\"h-card\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://social.coop/@mattl\">@<span>mattl</span></a></span> Great job and great transparency! <a href=\"https://artlung.com/blog/2024/10/07/librefm-news/\"><span>https://</span><span>artlung.com/blog/2024/10/07/li</span><span>brefm-news/</span></a> <a href=\"https://xoxo.zone/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a></p>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://social.coop/@mattl\"></a>",
        "text": "@mattl Great job and great transparency! https://artlung.com/blog/2024/10/07/librefm-news/ #indieweb"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-07T20:16:29+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42476751",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@xavierhayesmuth/113267955820335158",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Unironically typing out l8r healed a broken part of my soul lol. </p><p>On a real note, it's amazing how the <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/openweb\">#<span>openweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/fediverse\">#<span>fediverse</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/mastodon\">#<span>mastodon</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/foss\">#<span>foss</span></a> etc all make the <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/internet\">#<span>internet</span></a> FUN again \ud83e\udd73 \ud83e\udd73 \ud83e\udd73</p>",
        "text": "Unironically typing out l8r healed a broken part of my soul lol. \n\nOn a real note, it's amazing how the #indieweb #openweb #fediverse #mastodon #foss etc all make the #internet FUN again \ud83e\udd73 \ud83e\udd73 \ud83e\udd73"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-07T20:10:45+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42476752",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://indieweb.social/@louis/113267917426659850",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I'm trying to organize a big group dinner.</p><p>I need to get RSVPs and figure out who is bringing each dish.</p><p>Does anyone have any <a href=\"https://indieweb.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> suggestions instead of <a href=\"https://indieweb.social/tags/google\">#<span>google</span></a> docs?</p><p><a href=\"https://indieweb.social/tags/smallweb\">#<span>smallweb</span></a></p>",
        "text": "I'm trying to organize a big group dinner.\n\nI need to get RSVPs and figure out who is bringing each dish.\n\nDoes anyone have any #indieweb suggestions instead of #google docs?\n\n#smallweb"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-07T20:00:59+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42476555",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://live.retrostrange.com/federation/XaWkQEkNg",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Does our cold, black, hearts good to see RetroStrange Halloween Channel getting some love on the fediverse today! We launched it last year and hit an all-time high of 14 live viewers yesterday. Watch along: <a href=\"https://repeat.retrostrange.tv\">https://repeat.retrostrange.tv</a> <a href=\"https://directory.owncast.online/tags/Owncast\">#Owncast</a> <a href=\"https://directory.owncast.online/tags/IndieWeb\">#IndieWeb</a> <a href=\"https://directory.owncast.online/tags/Streaming\">#Streaming</a> <a href=\"https://directory.owncast.online/tags/Halloween\">#Halloween</a></p>",
        "text": "Does our cold, black, hearts good to see RetroStrange Halloween Channel getting some love on the fediverse today! We launched it last year and hit an all-time high of 14 live viewers yesterday. Watch along: https://repeat.retrostrange.tv #Owncast #IndieWeb #Streaming #Halloween"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-07T17:34:57+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42475655",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodontech.de/@jak2k/113267076665965578",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Semantic websites are awesome! Among other things, they let you write reusable CSS. Please send me your semantic websites, so I can analyze them for common patterns and write a composable CSS framework.</p><p><a href=\"https://jak2k.schwanenberg.name/post/collect-semantic-websites/\"><span>https://</span><span>jak2k.schwanenberg.name/post/c</span><span>ollect-semantic-websites/</span></a></p><p><a href=\"https://mastodontech.de/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodontech.de/tags/smolweb\">#<span>smolweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodontech.de/tags/semanticHTML\">#<span>semanticHTML</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodontech.de/tags/html\">#<span>html</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodontech.de/tags/semantic\">#<span>semantic</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodontech.de/tags/css\">#<span>css</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodontech.de/tags/semanticcss\">#<span>semanticcss</span></a></p>",
        "text": "Semantic websites are awesome! Among other things, they let you write reusable CSS. Please send me your semantic websites, so I can analyze them for common patterns and write a composable CSS framework.\n\nhttps://jak2k.schwanenberg.name/post/collect-semantic-websites/\n\n#indieweb #smolweb #semanticHTML #html #semantic #css #semanticcss"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-07T16:27:10+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42475012",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@lloydjatkinson/113263825667059312",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Before I go down a path of building types for <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> / <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/webmentions\">#<span>webmentions</span></a> / JF2, are there any existing libraries (in any language) I should look at? I find nothing on Google...</p>",
        "text": "Before I go down a path of building types for #indieweb / #webmentions / JF2, are there any existing libraries (in any language) I should look at? I find nothing on Google..."
    },
    "published": "2024-10-07T02:40:24+00:00",
    "photo": [
        "https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/263/825/539/512/962/original/342245bc9d47e93e.png"
    ],
    "post-type": "photo",
    "_id": "42468640",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@lloydjatkinson/113263104067270854",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I've been figuring out how to implement <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/webmentions\">#<span>webmentions</span></a> on my site, this is a small list of all the helpful posts I read. Thanks everyone in there, really appreciate your writings!</p><p><a href=\"https://www.lloydatkinson.net/notes/19/\"><span>https://www.</span><span>lloydatkinson.net/notes/19/</span><span></span></a></p><p><span class=\"h-card\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://hackers.town/@randomgeek\">@<span>randomgeek</span></a></span> <span class=\"h-card\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://front-end.social/@sia\">@<span>sia</span></a></span> <span class=\"h-card\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://social.lol/@janmon\">@<span>janmon</span></a></span> <span class=\"h-card\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://front-end.social/@mxbck\">@<span>mxbck</span></a></span> <span class=\"h-card\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://social.lol/@robb\">@<span>robb</span></a></span> <span class=\"h-card\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://hachyderm.io/@indigitalcolor\">@<span>indigitalcolor</span></a></span> </p><p><a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/programming\">#<span>programming</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/webmentions\">#<span>webmentions</span></a></p>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://front-end.social/@mxbck\"></a>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://front-end.social/@sia\"></a>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://hachyderm.io/@indigitalcolor\"></a>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://hackers.town/@randomgeek\"></a>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://social.lol/@janmon\"></a>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://social.lol/@robb\"></a>",
        "text": "I've been figuring out how to implement #webmentions on my site, this is a small list of all the helpful posts I read. Thanks everyone in there, really appreciate your writings!\n\nhttps://www.lloydatkinson.net/notes/19/\n\n@randomgeek @sia @janmon @mxbck @robb @indigitalcolor \n\n#programming #indieweb #webmentions"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T23:36:53+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42467718",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://social.coop/@mattl/113262807833135520",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Bunch of new updates for <a href=\"https://social.coop/tags/librefm\">#<span>librefm</span></a> this week. <a href=\"https://librefm.wordpress.com/2024/10/06/bunch-of-updates-to-libre-fm-this-week-2024-10-06/\"><span>https://</span><span>librefm.wordpress.com/2024/10/</span><span>06/bunch-of-updates-to-libre-fm-this-week-2024-10-06/</span></a> <a href=\"https://social.coop/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a></p>",
        "text": "Bunch of new updates for #librefm this week. https://librefm.wordpress.com/2024/10/06/bunch-of-updates-to-libre-fm-this-week-2024-10-06/ #indieweb"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T22:21:33+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42467355",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@lloydjatkinson/113262532604930947",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Question for <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> people - why do most people seem to render webmentions on their blog post oldest first? It feels strange that the further down you scroll the more recent the webmention? Is this something to do with how difficult replies are to figure out?</p>",
        "text": "Question for #indieweb people - why do most people seem to render webmentions on their blog post oldest first? It feels strange that the further down you scroll the more recent the webmention? Is this something to do with how difficult replies are to figure out?"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T21:11:33+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42466788",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#webmentions",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/webmentions",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@lloydjatkinson/113261816901801896",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Trying to implement <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/webmentions\">#<span>webmentions</span></a> is surprisingly much more work than you'd expect! Reading <span class=\"h-card\"><a class=\"u-url\" href=\"https://social.lol/@janmon\">@<span>janmon</span></a></span>'s post this has been helpful <a href=\"https://janmonschke.com/adding-webmentions-to-your-static-blog/\"><span>https://</span><span>janmonschke.com/adding-webment</span><span>ions-to-your-static-blog/</span></a></p>\n<a class=\"u-mention\" href=\"https://social.lol/@janmon\"></a>",
        "text": "Trying to implement #webmentions is surprisingly much more work than you'd expect! Reading @janmon's post this has been helpful https://janmonschke.com/adding-webmentions-to-your-static-blog/"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T18:09:32+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42465508",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://fosstodon.org/@KevinGimbel/113261222497361301",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Updated my <a href=\"https://fosstodon.org/tags/nownownow\">#<span>nownownow</span></a> page! </p><p>- updated \u201eCurrently playing\u201c since I started Dragon's Dogma 2 a few days ago \ud83c\udfae<br />- added a fresh selfie \ud83e\udd33 </p><p><a href=\"https://kevingimbel.de/now/\"><span>https://</span><span>kevingimbel.de/now/</span><span></span></a> </p><p><a href=\"https://fosstodon.org/tags/notabrand\">#<span>notabrand</span></a> <a href=\"https://fosstodon.org/tags/personalweb\">#<span>personalweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://fosstodon.org/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://fosstodon.org/tags/blog\">#<span>blog</span></a></p>",
        "text": "Updated my #nownownow page! \n\n- updated \u201eCurrently playing\u201c since I started Dragon's Dogma 2 a few days ago \ud83c\udfae\n- added a fresh selfie \ud83e\udd33 \n\nhttps://kevingimbel.de/now/ \n\n#notabrand #personalweb #indieweb #blog"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T15:38:23+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42464381",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

You Can’t Own The Social Web

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2024-10-06T12:46:06+00:00",
    "url": "https://werd.io/2024/you-cant-own-the-social-web",
    "category": [
        "Technology"
    ],
    "bookmark-of": [
        "https://bix.blog/posts/you-cant-own-the-social-web"
    ],
    "name": "You Can\u2019t Own The Social Web",
    "content": {
        "text": "[Bix Frankonis]\n\nBix Frankonis does not agree with my analysis of the Fediverse and the Social Web Foundation. For him, much of the issue relates to appropriation of the \"social web\" name:\"Like many trade groups, this one is named and self-described in a manner deliberately meant to capture and colonize an entire area. To become, in effect, synonymous with what its name names. It shits on twenty-five years of the web.\"He's obviously entitled to his opinion, but I personally think it's a stretch to say that it shits on 25 years of the web. Of course there was a social web before the Fediverse - I'm a long-term indieweb participant and an even more long-term blogger. But I don't think that precludes this name, which is more of a bet on one embodiment of the future of the social web.\n\nBut here's what I really love: this conversation is playing out across platforms, across blogs, and across sites. In many ways, it's an illustration in itself of what the web is, and why blogging remains wonderful.\n#Technology\n[Link]",
        "html": "<p>[<a href=\"https://bix.blog/posts/you-cant-own-the-social-web\">Bix Frankonis</a>]</p><p>Bix Frankonis does not agree <a href=\"https://werd.io/2024/the-two-fediverses\">with my analysis of the Fediverse and the Social Web Foundation</a>. For him, much of the issue relates to appropriation of the \"social web\" name:</p><blockquote><p>\"Like many trade groups, this one is named and self-described in a manner deliberately meant to capture and colonize an entire area. To become, in effect, synonymous with what its name names. It shits on twenty-five years of the web.\"</p></blockquote><p>He's obviously entitled to his opinion, but I personally think it's a stretch to say that it shits on 25 years of the web. Of <em>course</em> there was a social web before the Fediverse - I'm a long-term <a href=\"https://indieweb.org\">indieweb</a> participant and an even more long-term blogger. But I don't think that precludes this name, which is more of a bet on one embodiment of the <em>future</em> of the social web.</p><p>But here's what I really love: this conversation is playing out across platforms, across blogs, and across sites. In many ways, it's an illustration in itself of what the web is, and why blogging remains wonderful.</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://werd.io/tag/Technology\" class=\"p-category\">#Technology</a></p>\n<p>[<a href=\"https://bix.blog/posts/you-cant-own-the-social-web\">Link</a>]</p>"
    },
    "author": {
        "type": "card",
        "name": "Ben Werdmuller",
        "url": "https://werd.io/profile/benwerd",
        "photo": "https://werd.io/file/5d388c5fb16ea14aac640912/thumb.jpg"
    },
    "post-type": "bookmark",
    "_id": "42463525",
    "_source": "191",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.art/@jsstaedtler/113260741872020426",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I know *I* never expected to be blogging about cooking, but it turns out I can publish *whatever the heck I want* on my own dang website <img alt=\":blobfoxdealwithitfingerguns:\" height=\"16\" src=\"https://files.mastodon.social/cache/custom_emojis/images/000/550/080/original/5dc46001b78e3e78.png\" title=\":blobfoxdealwithitfingerguns:\" width=\"16\" /></p><p><a href=\"https://bigraccoon.ca/articles/20241006-a-slightly-lazier-way-to-hard-boil-eggs\"><span>https://</span><span>bigraccoon.ca/articles/2024100</span><span>6-a-slightly-lazier-way-to-hard-boil-eggs</span></a></p><p><a href=\"https://mastodon.art/tags/IndieWeb\">#<span>IndieWeb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.art/tags/PersonalSites\">#<span>PersonalSites</span></a></p>",
        "text": "I know *I* never expected to be blogging about cooking, but it turns out I can publish *whatever the heck I want* on my own dang website \n\nhttps://bigraccoon.ca/articles/20241006-a-slightly-lazier-way-to-hard-boil-eggs\n\n#IndieWeb #PersonalSites"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T13:36:09+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42463469",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://swduncan.com/2024/10/06/why-do-i-want-to-get-a-server-again/",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p><strong>Why do I want to get a server again?</strong></p><p>This morning, really a few times over the last few days, I\u2019ve had this rush of nostalgia for the days when I was leasing a Rackspace server.  </p><p>For some reason it\u2019s really attractive\u2026the [\u2026]</p><p><a class=\"u-tag u-category\" href=\"https://swduncan.com/tag/blogging/\">#Blogging</a> <a class=\"u-tag u-category\" href=\"https://swduncan.com/tag/fun-on-the-web/\">#FunOnTheWeb</a> <a class=\"u-tag u-category\" href=\"https://swduncan.com/tag/indieweb/\">#IndieWeb</a> <a class=\"u-tag u-category\" href=\"https://swduncan.com/tag/web-development/\">#WebDevelopment</a></p><p><a href=\"https://wp.me/pd9t4M-5L\"><span>https://</span><span>wp.me/pd9t4M-5L</span><span></span></a></p>",
        "text": "Why do I want to get a server again?\n\nThis morning, really a few times over the last few days, I\u2019ve had this rush of nostalgia for the days when I was leasing a Rackspace server.  \n\nFor some reason it\u2019s really attractive\u2026the [\u2026]\n\n#Blogging #FunOnTheWeb #IndieWeb #WebDevelopment\n\nhttps://wp.me/pd9t4M-5L"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T13:26:05+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42463470",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@lloydjatkinson/113260690980025898",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Hello <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/openweb\">#<span>openweb</span></a> enthusiasts! Why does brid.gy and webmentions.io appear to not be in sync with \"like-of\" yet \"in-reply-to\" works?</p><p>Consider the JSON here: <a href=\"https://webmention.io/api/mentions.jf2?target=https://www.lloydatkinson.net/posts/2024/stupid-problems-require-stupid-solutions-cloudflare-is-breaking-my-svgs/\"><span>https://</span><span>webmention.io/api/mentions.jf2</span><span>?target=https://www.lloydatkinson.net/posts/2024/stupid-problems-require-stupid-solutions-cloudflare-is-breaking-my-svgs/</span></a></p><p>It ONLY shows \"in-reply-to\" yet doesn't show any of the likes brid.gy finds?</p><p>Yet, other pages it DOES find \"like-of\"!</p>",
        "text": "Hello #indieweb #openweb enthusiasts! Why does brid.gy and webmentions.io appear to not be in sync with \"like-of\" yet \"in-reply-to\" works?\n\nConsider the JSON here: https://webmention.io/api/mentions.jf2?target=https://www.lloydatkinson.net/posts/2024/stupid-problems-require-stupid-solutions-cloudflare-is-breaking-my-svgs/\n\nIt ONLY shows \"in-reply-to\" yet doesn't show any of the likes brid.gy finds?\n\nYet, other pages it DOES find \"like-of\"!"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T13:23:12+00:00",
    "photo": [
        "https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/260/688/395/215/689/original/d4fc22b7e7ad3267.png"
    ],
    "post-type": "photo",
    "_id": "42463471",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@borsos_ilo/113259983896930309",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Weekends are for <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/digitalgardening\">#<span>digitalgardening</span></a> - just built my /now page (albeit in Polish): <a href=\"https://ilonaborsos.com/teraz\"><span>https://</span><span>ilonaborsos.com/teraz</span><span></span></a></p><p><a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/digitalgarden\">#<span>digitalgarden</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a></p>",
        "text": "Weekends are for #digitalgardening - just built my /now page (albeit in Polish): https://ilonaborsos.com/teraz\n\n#digitalgarden #indieweb"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T10:23:23+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42462335",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@xavierhayesmuth/113258293502531144",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>Is there a reason to check out <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/BlueSky\">#<span>BlueSky</span></a> ? I feel like <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/Mastodon\">#<span>Mastodon</span></a> is a more robust Twitter clone with added elements. Going to BlueSky feels redundant. Though I hear it's more normie coded <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/openweb\">#<span>openweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/fediverse\">#<span>fediverse</span></a></p>",
        "text": "Is there a reason to check out #BlueSky ? I feel like #Mastodon is a more robust Twitter clone with added elements. Going to BlueSky feels redundant. Though I hear it's more normie coded #indieweb #openweb #fediverse"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T03:13:30+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42460375",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@lloydjatkinson/113257826883254397",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>I'm trying to understand <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a>  <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/webmentions\">#<span>webmentions</span></a> and see if it's worth adding to my site. I think I've set it up correctly, but can someone help me test it? Here's a URL I guess? <a href=\"https://www.lloydatkinson.net/posts/2024/stupid-problems-require-stupid-solutions-cloudflare-is-breaking-my-svgs/\"><span>https://www.</span><span>lloydatkinson.net/posts/2024/s</span><span>tupid-problems-require-stupid-solutions-cloudflare-is-breaking-my-svgs/</span></a></p>",
        "text": "I'm trying to understand #indieweb  #webmentions and see if it's worth adding to my site. I think I've set it up correctly, but can someone help me test it? Here's a URL I guess? https://www.lloydatkinson.net/posts/2024/stupid-problems-require-stupid-solutions-cloudflare-is-breaking-my-svgs/"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T01:14:50+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42459898",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

{
    "type": "entry",
    "author": {
        "name": "#indieweb",
        "url": "https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb",
        "photo": null
    },
    "url": "https://mastodon.social/@indieaisle/113257733650948031",
    "content": {
        "html": "<p>The original idea two years ago for what would become the Pages theme, intended to allow having your own social network via your website.</p><p><a href=\"https://ovidem.com/blog/decentralized-twitter/\"><span>https://</span><span>ovidem.com/blog/decentralized-</span><span>twitter/</span></a><br /><a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/socialmedia\">#<span>socialmedia</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/indieweb\">#<span>indieweb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/SmallWeb\">#<span>SmallWeb</span></a> <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/tags/smolweb\">#<span>smolweb</span></a></p>",
        "text": "The original idea two years ago for what would become the Pages theme, intended to allow having your own social network via your website.\n\nhttps://ovidem.com/blog/decentralized-twitter/\n#socialmedia #indieweb #SmallWeb #smolweb"
    },
    "published": "2024-10-06T00:51:07+00:00",
    "post-type": "note",
    "_id": "42459779",
    "_source": "8007",
    "_is_read": false
}

The two Fediverses

{
    "type": "entry",
    "published": "2024-10-05T20:25:31+00:00",
    "url": "https://werd.io/2024/the-two-fediverses",
    "name": "The two Fediverses",
    "content": {
        "text": "I was tagged in\u00a0a fairly critical SocialHub post about the Social Web Foundation launch announcement. I wasn\u2019t in a position to add to the conversation then, but I\u2019ve been thinking about it all week.\n\nBefore I dive further, a reminder: I am not an employee or founder of the Social Web Foundation. I am in touch with the founders and have been an unpaid advisor, but I can\u2019t and don\u2019t speak for it. This post is mine alone, and doesn\u2019t necessarily reflect anyone else\u2019s opinions or ideas. I also haven\u2019t vetted or previewed it with anyone.\n\nThere are three main criticisms I\u2019ve seen of the Social Web Foundation:Meta is a partner\nIt\u2019s called The Social Web Foundation but is focused on ActivityPub, ignoring AT Protocol, Nostr, and other decentralized social web protocols that are emerging elsewhere\nIt\u2019s focused on substantially growing the Fediverse, which is not something everyone wants\nI believe they\u2019re interrelated, and that these differences can be overcome.Meta enters the chatPerhaps the biggest red flag to critics is Meta\u2019s presence as one of the SWF\u2019s thirteen launch partners. Many consider it to be an extremely negative force on the web. Its presence is certainly divisive. I\u2019ve been a critic of its Facebook product in particular since its inception: a company that imposes its centralized view of the world on the communications of its billions of users, and in the process has caused real harms.\n\nThose harms include potential mental health and social media addiction effects in teenagers, failing to protect LGBTQ users, and more \u2014 up to and including enabling a genocide.\n\nThe last claim might seem outlandish, but it\u2019s real. As Harvard Law School\u2019s Systemic Justice Project pointed out:Scholars, reporters, and United Nations investigators agree that the social media giant played a role in an explosion of ethnic conflict in 2017 that led to the death and displacement of hundreds of thousands Rohingya Muslims in Northern Myanmar.Given this, the argument goes, why would anyone \u2014 particularly an organization trying to build the future of the social web \u2014 even consider working with Meta? Doesn\u2019t its presence as a partner taint the work of the Foundation?\n\nAs the writer, researcher, and community lead Erin Kissane has pointed out:I think it\u2019s unwise to assume that an organization that has demonstrably and continuously made antisocial and sometimes deadly choices on behalf of billions of human beings and allowed its products to be weaponized by covert state-level operations behind multiple genocides and hundreds (thousands? tens of thousands?) of smaller persecutions, all while ducking meaningful oversight, lying about what they do and know, and treating their core extraction machines as fait-accompli inevitabilities that mustn\u2019t be governed except in patently ineffective ways will be a good citizen after adopting a new, interoperable technical structure.These profoundly negative impacts are possible because it is one of the most prominent \u2014 potentially the most prominent \u2014 platform owner on the internet. Around four billion users use one of Meta\u2019s products every month; that\u2019s half all the humans on earth, or around 75% of all the people in the world aged 15 or older. Arguably no platform should ever be allowed to become this big or influential (can any government claim to have this level of reach or insight into this many people?). Still, at least for now, here it is.\n\nFor many people, Meta is the internet. This clearly doesn\u2019t absolve aiding a genocide, throwing an election, or thwarting academic research, but it also makes Meta a platform owner that\u2019s hard to ignore.\n\nMeta sits in a position of influence over the social web. Threads, its fairly recent Twitter-like platform, is rolling out support for the ActivityPub standard that underlies the Fediverse, so it is poised to also be influential there. Once Threads supports the Fediverse bidirectionally, it will easily be the largest social platform on the network. It will consequently have an enormous amount of influence on how the network evolves, regardless of its participation in the Social Web Foundation.What is a successful Fediverse?Meta\u2019s involvement and potential dominance inevitably raises the question: What kind of future do we want for the Fediverse? Whether we focus on technical interoperability or grassroots social activism, the answer to this question will shape how we approach growth, inclusivity, and the role of large corporations in the decentralized web.\n\nIf you see the Fediverse as a way to interoperate between social networks, such that a user on one platform can communicate with a user on another, you might welcome a large tech company supporting the standard (a bit like one might have welcomed a company to standards-based HTML a generation ago). If, on the other hand, you see the Fediverse as an antidote to technology corporations or a movement that is more about a collaborative grassroots movement than pure technical interoperability \u2014 a sort of work of activism \u2014 you might be quite alarmed.\n\nThese mindsets are analogous to Evan Prodromou\u2019s Big Fedi / Small Fedi dichotomy, but I\u2019d like to apply a slightly different lens.If your model of the Fediverse is an interoperable standard that underpins all social networks:All parties should focus on a single technical standard in order ensure everyone can interoperate and the network can grow.\nThe focus should be on onboarding, education, and developer experience.\nGrowth is paramount. The goal is to bring the whole world in.\nHaving the creator of the biggest social network join is an opportunity.\nThe end state is likely a handful of very large social networks, followed by a significant long tail of small ones.\nFor ease of reference, let\u2019s call this the growth Fediverse.If your model of the Fediverse is a social movement intentionally set apart from corporate social media:A plurality of underlying protocols is allowable and maybe even desirable: the important thing is the support of grassroots communities outside the usual bounds of the tech industry.\nThe focus should be on equity, community dynamics, relationships, and movement-building in service of community.\nPreserving the values of the existing community is paramount. The rest of the world can stay away; there\u2019s no need for growth.\nThe presence of the largest corporate social media vendor is inherently a threat.\nThe end state is likely a collection of small, interoperable communities united by their desire for an alternative to \u201cbig tech\u201d.\nLet\u2019s call this one the movement Fediverse.\n\nBoth models of the Fediverse clearly exist. I\u2019m hardly the first to have discussed them, but the Social Web Foundation announcement has re-ignited the conversation.\n\nVery clearly, the Foundation is closer to the first model than the second. As such, people who don\u2019t care for that model have accused it of being an agent of oligarchy; of doing harm by partnering with Meta; of using the term \u201csocial web\u201d while focusing solely on ActivityPub.A false binaryThe thing is, the lines between these two paths are blurry. It\u2019s not necessarily an either-or. The priority for the first is growth of the network and a large, interoperable social web; the priority of the second is small, pro-social communities that exist outside of usual tech industry dynamics. Someone might well feel that the way to get to small, pro-social communities is as a by-product of interoperability, just as not everything on the web itself is corporate even though partners to the W3C body that defines web standards include Google and Amazon.\n\nSome of the things that the movement Fediverse wants are intrinsically important to the growth Fediverse. You can\u2019t grow a giant social network without caring about community safety, for example; over the two years since he acquired Twitter, Elon Musk has ably demonstrated that most users don\u2019t want to stick around on a platform where they don\u2019t feel safe. Community standards are therefore very important to any network that seeks to grow and retain users. Usability and accessibility are similarly vital: what use is a movement that is exclusionary to less-technical people, or, say, the visually-impaired? Any healthy network needs to support diverse voices and ensure that those authors are welcome. The list of shared values goes on.\n\nBut there are also undeniable differences. Hanging the needs of an anti-corporate social movement on a technology is a big ask. I\u2019m not critical of the values of the people who do \u2014 I largely share them \u2014 but I don\u2019t think you can reasonably expect everybody involved in a technology to have the same ideals.\n\nLike any community, the movement Fediverse also has areas where it, too, could benefit from introspection and growth in order to live up to its own values. Some parts of the community have struggled with inclusivity, particularly when onboarding marginalized users who wished to discuss systemic injustice openly. As Marcia X recounted in Logic(s):What took me aback regarding the fediverse is that my networks were mostly \u201cleftists\u201d and self-proclaimed radical thinkers regarding race, ableism, gender, patriarchy, sexuality, et cetera, and yet what I was being exposed to was a lot of naivet\u00e9 or hostility for questioning whiteness as a basis for many people\u2019s takes or approaches to these subject matters. And if I were to question or push back on their whiteness, I was often accused of being biased myself.While many people in the movement are already working hard to address these issues, more can be done to ensure that all users feel safe, heard, and respected. In some cases, the movement Fediverse has fallen short when it comes to fully supporting the lived experiences of new users, especially those from marginalized groups. However, there is clear potential \u2014 and growing momentum \u2014 to improve this. By continuing to evolve and actively listen to new voices, the movement Fediverse can better embody the values of inclusivity and social justice that it stands for. But there is work to do.\n\nIn other words, it\u2019s important to recognize that both groups have challenges to address. Each needs to continue working to ensure decisions are made inclusively, with an eye on the safety of users and the accessibility of communities. By recognizing these shared goals, there\u2019s a real opportunity for mutual learning and growth.\n\nEach has much to gain from each other. One doesn\u2019t need to be a subscriber to the growth Fediverse to enjoy gains from user experience research, technology onboarding, and outreach conducted there. Similarly, one doesn\u2019t need to subscribe to the ideals of the movement Fediverse to feel the benefit of their community dynamics and social goals. In fact, there may be a productive tension between the two that keeps each of their worst impulses in check. One might consider the movement Fediverse to be akin to a labor movement: a way for users to organize and advocate for stronger, safer, and more progressive community design. In turn, the growth Fediverse could be a check against becoming too insular and leaving the rest of the world out in the cold.\n\nWhile the movement and growth Fediverse may have differing approaches, both share a commitment to user safety, inclusivity, and decentralization. The question is not whether these goals are shared, but how best to achieve them.Moving forwardJust as unions create productive tensions in businesses that create better working conditions and higher productivity, I think the discussion between the movement Fediverse and the growth Fediverse has the potential to push the open social web further than might otherwise have been possible.\n\nThe checks and balances produced by an open debate between the two approaches are particularly useful when considering partners like Meta. The productive tension between these two visions could ensure that while larger platforms like Meta are held accountable, the values of grassroots communities \u2014 safety, inclusivity, and equity, for example \u2014 are not sacrificed in the pursuit of growth.\n\nIt\u2019s not a foregone conclusion that Meta will dominate how the Social Web Foundation is run, but it\u2019s also not a foregone conclusion that it won\u2019t. The Social Web Foundation clearly states in its mission statement (emphasis mine):A Fediverse that is controlled only by one company isn\u2019t really a Fediverse at all. We think a productive, creative and healthy Fediverse needs multiple providers, none of whom dominate the space.The goal is a multipolar federated social web. I think a large part of the solution is not to say this, but to show it: conduct meetings and make decisions with as much transparency as possible, so as to prove that Meta (and any other partner) is not dominant. By structurally providing as much sunlight as possible, allowing feedback and comment, and repeatedly demonstrating that this feedback is being considered and acted on where appropriate, both the potential harms and concerns from the movement Fediverse community can be reduced. Just as source code that is open to scrutiny is auditable and verifiable, decision-making process that are open to sunlight can be held accountable. Public meeting notes, decision documents, and so on, all help to support accountability.\n\nIn any event, the Social Web Foundation doesn\u2019t need to be the foundation to cover all views of what the Fediverse should be. It\u2019s a foundation that is going to try and do great work to expand the Fediverse. From its mission statement:We believe that increased use of the Fediverse has the potential to make all of our online social experiences better, as well as to create lots of new opportunities for creation and self-expression. So we\u2019re committed to growing the number of people using the Fediverse.As Evan Prodromou said in that SocialHub thread abut people who don\u2019t feel the Foundation represents them:We want a united social web, using a single protocol for internetwork communication. I\u2019d compare email, where proprietary LAN email protocols like Microsoft Exchange are gatewayed into the formal standard protocol SMTP. [\u2026] The SWF is not mandatory. People who want to do other things for the Fediverse should definitely do so. But I do want to extend the invitation for people who are interested to reach out.This doesn\u2019t have to be one size fits all. It\u2019s worth considering what organizing more concretely for the movement Fediverse looks like, and how it might intersect and act as a check on the growth Fediverse.\n\nIt\u2019s understandable that some in the movement Fediverse feel uncomfortable with large corporate platforms, particularly those with a history of past harms, joining the network. However, engaging with these platforms \u2014 rather than dismissing their involvement outright \u2014 may offer a unique opportunity to influence their practices and ensure they align with the values of the community. Constructive engagement with Meta and other large platforms could offer a unique opportunity for the movement Fediverse to influence how these entities engage with the broader social web, ensuring they uphold the values of safety, inclusivity, and equity.\n\nLikewise, ignoring the concerns of the movement Fediverse is not wise: these are valid ideas rooted in real experiences. The tech industry carries real systemic inequalities that go all the way back to its origins in military funding. Addressing those inequities is a prerequisite to the web reaching its potential as a way for everyone in the world to connect and learn from each other. Companies like Meta, as I\u2019ve explained at length above, have committed real harms as a byproduct of their priorities, business models, and funding partners. Grassroots communities that practice intentionality, activism, mutual aid, and radical equity have a lot to offer, and in many ways are models for how the world should be.\n\nThe movement Fediverse\u2019s emphasis on mutual aid, radical equity, and intentionality offers invaluable lessons for how the larger Fediverse \u2014 and even corporate actors \u2014 could operate. Practices like community-driven moderation, transparent governance, and prioritizing marginalized voices could help ensure that the Fediverse grows without losing its soul.\n\nEach group is approaching the problem in good faith. In the end, it\u2019s up to all of us to ensure that the future of the web remains decentralized, inclusive, and safe. We must continue to engage, advocate, and, most importantly, listen to one another as we navigate and build this space together. The Fediverse is made of pluralities: of implementations, communities, vendors, and visions of the future. That\u2019s at the heart of its beauty and its opportunity. The software interoperates; so should we.",
        "html": "<p><img src=\"https://werd.io/file/6701a0b17545f00005051e82/thumb.jpg\" alt=\"Street art that reads: together, we create!\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" /></p><p>I was tagged in\u00a0<a href=\"https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/socialwebfoundation-what-do-people-think/4564/42\">a fairly critical SocialHub post about the Social Web Foundation launch announcement</a>. I wasn\u2019t in a position to add to the conversation then, but I\u2019ve been thinking about it all week.</p><p>Before I dive further, a reminder: I am not an employee or founder of the Social Web Foundation. I <em>am</em> in touch with the founders and have been an unpaid advisor, but I can\u2019t and don\u2019t speak for it. This post is mine alone, and doesn\u2019t necessarily reflect anyone else\u2019s opinions or ideas. I also haven\u2019t vetted or previewed it with anyone.</p><p>There are three main criticisms I\u2019ve seen of the Social Web Foundation:</p><ul><li>Meta is a partner</li>\n<li>It\u2019s called <em>The Social Web Foundation</em> but is focused on ActivityPub, ignoring AT Protocol, Nostr, and other decentralized social web protocols that are emerging elsewhere</li>\n<li>It\u2019s focused on substantially growing the Fediverse, which is not something everyone wants</li>\n</ul><p>I believe they\u2019re interrelated, and that these differences can be overcome.</p><h3>Meta enters the chat</h3><p>Perhaps the biggest red flag to critics is Meta\u2019s presence as one of the SWF\u2019s thirteen launch partners. Many consider it to be an extremely negative force on the web. Its presence is certainly divisive. I\u2019ve been <a href=\"https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-recruiter-brutal-rejection-ben-werdmuller-2018-10\">a critic of its Facebook product in particular</a> since its inception: a company that imposes its centralized view of the world on the communications of its billions of users, and in the process has caused real harms.</p><p>Those harms include <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/05/meta-lawsuit-teen-mental-health/\">potential mental health and social media addiction effects in teenagers</a>, <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/meta-oversight-board-social-media-failing-lgbtq-1234947358/\">failing to protect LGBTQ users</a>, and more \u2014 up to and including enabling a genocide.</p><p>The last claim might seem outlandish, but it\u2019s real. <a href=\"https://systemicjustice.org/article/facebook-and-genocide-how-facebook-contributed-to-genocide-in-myanmar-and-why-it-will-not-be-held-accountable/\">As Harvard Law School\u2019s Systemic Justice Project pointed out</a>:</p><blockquote><p>Scholars, reporters, and United Nations investigators agree that the social media giant played a role in an explosion of ethnic conflict in 2017 that led to the death and displacement of hundreds of thousands Rohingya Muslims in Northern Myanmar.</p></blockquote><p>Given this, the argument goes, why would anyone \u2014 particularly an organization trying to build the future of the social web \u2014 even <em>consider</em> working with Meta? Doesn\u2019t its presence as a partner taint the work of the Foundation?</p><p><a href=\"https://erinkissane.com/untangling-threads\">As the writer, researcher, and community lead Erin Kissane has pointed out</a>:</p><blockquote><p>I think it\u2019s unwise to assume that an organization that has demonstrably and continuously made antisocial and sometimes deadly choices on behalf of billions of human beings and allowed its products to be weaponized by covert state-level operations behind multiple genocides and hundreds (thousands? tens of thousands?) of smaller persecutions, all while ducking meaningful oversight, lying about what they do and know, and treating their core extraction machines as fait-accompli inevitabilities that mustn\u2019t be governed except in patently ineffective ways will be a good citizen after adopting a new, interoperable technical structure.</p></blockquote><p>These profoundly negative impacts are possible because it is one of the most prominent \u2014 potentially <em>the </em>most prominent \u2014 platform owner on the internet. <a href=\"https://www.statista.com/statistics/947869/facebook-product-mau/#:~:text=During%20the%20fourth%20quarter%20of,compared%20to%20the%20previous%20quarter.\">Around four billion users use one of Meta\u2019s products every month</a>; that\u2019s half all the humans on earth, or around 75% of all the people in the world aged 15 or older. Arguably no platform should ever be allowed to become this big or influential (can any government claim to have this level of reach or insight into this many people?). Still, at least for now, here it is.</p><p>For many people, Meta <em>is</em> the internet. This clearly doesn\u2019t absolve aiding a genocide, <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/cambridge-analytica-files\">throwing an election</a>, or <a href=\"https://independenttechresearch.org/survey-metas-shutdown-of-crowdtangle-bad-for-the-public-interest/\">thwarting academic research</a>, but it also makes Meta a platform owner that\u2019s hard to ignore.</p><p>Meta sits in a position of influence over the social web. <a href=\"https://threads.net\">Threads</a>, its fairly recent Twitter-like platform, is rolling out support for the ActivityPub standard that underlies the Fediverse, so it is poised to <em>also</em> be influential there. Once Threads supports the Fediverse bidirectionally, it will easily be the largest social platform on the network. It will consequently have an enormous amount of influence on how the network evolves, regardless of its participation in the Social Web Foundation.</p><h3>What is a successful Fediverse?</h3><p>Meta\u2019s involvement and potential dominance inevitably raises the question: What kind of future do we want for the Fediverse? Whether we focus on technical interoperability or grassroots social activism, the answer to this question will shape how we approach growth, inclusivity, and the role of large corporations in the decentralized web.</p><p>If you see the Fediverse as a way to interoperate between social networks, such that a user on one platform can communicate with a user on another, you might welcome a large tech company supporting the standard (a bit like one might have welcomed a company to standards-based HTML a generation ago). If, on the other hand, you see the Fediverse as an antidote to technology corporations or a movement that is more about a collaborative grassroots movement than pure technical interoperability \u2014 a sort of work of activism \u2014 you might be quite alarmed.</p><p>These mindsets are analogous to Evan Prodromou\u2019s <a href=\"https://evanp.me/2023/12/26/big-fedi-small-fedi/\">Big Fedi / Small Fedi</a> dichotomy, but I\u2019d like to apply a slightly different lens.</p><h4>If your model of the Fediverse is an interoperable standard that underpins all social networks:</h4><ul><li>All parties should focus on a single technical standard in order ensure everyone can interoperate and the network can grow.</li>\n<li>The focus should be on onboarding, education, and developer experience.</li>\n<li>Growth is paramount. The goal is to bring the whole world in.</li>\n<li>Having the creator of the biggest social network join is an opportunity.</li>\n<li>The end state is likely a handful of very large social networks, followed by a significant long tail of small ones.</li>\n</ul><p>For ease of reference, let\u2019s call this the <em>growth Fediverse</em>.</p><h4>If your model of the Fediverse is a social movement intentionally set apart from corporate social media:</h4><ul><li>A plurality of underlying protocols is allowable and maybe even desirable: the important thing is the support of grassroots communities outside the usual bounds of the tech industry.</li>\n<li>The focus should be on equity, community dynamics, relationships, and movement-building in service of community.</li>\n<li>Preserving the values of the existing community is paramount. The rest of the world can stay away; there\u2019s no need for growth.</li>\n<li>The presence of the largest corporate social media vendor is inherently a threat.</li>\n<li>The end state is likely a collection of small, interoperable communities united by their desire for an alternative to \u201cbig tech\u201d.</li>\n</ul><p>Let\u2019s call this one the <em>movement Fediverse</em>.</p><p>Both models of the Fediverse clearly exist. I\u2019m hardly the first to have discussed them, but the Social Web Foundation announcement has re-ignited the conversation.</p><p>Very clearly, the Foundation is closer to the first model than the second. As such, people who don\u2019t care for that model have accused it of being an agent of oligarchy; of doing harm by partnering with Meta; of using the term \u201csocial web\u201d while focusing solely on ActivityPub.</p><h3>A false binary</h3><p>The thing is, the lines between these two paths are blurry. It\u2019s not necessarily an either-or. The priority for the first is growth of the network and a large, interoperable social web; the priority of the second is small, pro-social communities that exist outside of usual tech industry dynamics. Someone might well feel that the way to get to small, pro-social communities is as a by-product of interoperability, just as not everything on the web itself is corporate even though partners to the W3C body that defines web standards include Google and Amazon.</p><p>Some of the things that the movement Fediverse wants are intrinsically important to the growth Fediverse. You can\u2019t grow a giant social network without caring about community safety, for example; over the two years since he acquired Twitter, Elon Musk has ably demonstrated that <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/fewer-people-using-elon-musks-x-struggles-keep-users-rcna144115\">most users don\u2019t want to stick around on a platform where they don\u2019t feel safe</a>. Community standards are therefore very important to any network that seeks to grow and retain users. Usability and accessibility are similarly vital: what use is a movement that is exclusionary to less-technical people, or, say, the visually-impaired? Any healthy network needs to support diverse voices and ensure that those authors are welcome. The list of shared values goes on.</p><p>But there are also undeniable differences. Hanging the needs of an anti-corporate social movement on a technology is a big ask. I\u2019m not critical of the values of the people who do \u2014 I largely share them \u2014 but I don\u2019t think you can reasonably expect everybody involved in a technology to have the same ideals.</p><p>Like any community, the movement Fediverse also has areas where it, too, could benefit from introspection and growth in order to live up to its own values. Some parts of the community have struggled with inclusivity, particularly when onboarding marginalized users who wished to discuss systemic injustice openly. <a href=\"https://logicmag.io/policy/blackness-in-the-fediverse-a-conversation-with-marcia-x/\">As Marcia X recounted in Logic(s)</a>:</p><blockquote><p>What took me aback regarding the fediverse is that my networks were mostly \u201cleftists\u201d and self-proclaimed radical thinkers regarding race, ableism, gender, patriarchy, sexuality, et cetera, and yet what I was being exposed to was a lot of naivet\u00e9 or hostility for questioning whiteness as a basis for many people\u2019s takes or approaches to these subject matters. And if I were to question or push back on their whiteness, I was often accused of being biased myself.</p></blockquote><p>While many people in the movement are already working hard to address these issues, more can be done to ensure that all users feel safe, heard, and respected. In some cases, the movement Fediverse has fallen short when it comes to fully supporting the lived experiences of new users, especially those from marginalized groups. However, there is clear potential \u2014 and growing momentum \u2014 to improve this. By continuing to evolve and actively listen to new voices, the movement Fediverse can better embody the values of inclusivity and social justice that it stands for. But there is work to do.</p><p>In other words, it\u2019s important to recognize that both groups have challenges to address. Each needs to continue working to ensure decisions are made inclusively, with an eye on the safety of users and the accessibility of communities. By recognizing these shared goals, there\u2019s a real opportunity for mutual learning and growth.</p><p>Each has much to gain from each other. One doesn\u2019t need to be a subscriber to the growth Fediverse to enjoy gains from user experience research, technology onboarding, and outreach conducted there. Similarly, one doesn\u2019t need to subscribe to the ideals of the movement Fediverse to feel the benefit of their community dynamics and social goals. In fact, there may be a productive tension between the two that keeps each of their worst impulses in check. One might consider the movement Fediverse to be akin to a labor movement: a way for users to organize and advocate for stronger, safer, and more progressive community design. In turn, the growth Fediverse could be a check against becoming too insular and leaving the rest of the world out in the cold.</p><p>While the movement and growth Fediverse may have differing approaches, both share a commitment to user safety, inclusivity, and decentralization. The question is not whether these goals are shared, but how best to achieve them.</p><h3>Moving forward</h3><p>Just as unions create productive tensions in businesses that create better working conditions and higher productivity, I think the discussion between the movement Fediverse and the growth Fediverse has the potential to push the open social web further than might otherwise have been possible.</p><p>The checks and balances produced by an open debate between the two approaches are particularly useful when considering partners like Meta. The productive tension between these two visions could ensure that while larger platforms like Meta are held accountable, the values of grassroots communities \u2014 safety, inclusivity, and equity, for example \u2014 are not sacrificed in the pursuit of growth.</p><p>It\u2019s not a foregone conclusion that Meta will dominate how the Social Web Foundation is run, but it\u2019s also not a foregone conclusion that it <em>won\u2019t</em>. <a href=\"https://socialwebfoundation.org/mission/\">The Social Web Foundation clearly states in its mission statement</a> (emphasis mine):</p><blockquote><p>A Fediverse that is controlled only by one company isn\u2019t really a Fediverse at all. <strong>We think a productive, creative and healthy Fediverse needs multiple providers, none of whom dominate the space.</strong></p></blockquote><p>The goal is a multipolar federated social web. I think a large part of the solution is not to <em>say</em> this, but to <em>show</em> it: conduct meetings and make decisions with as much transparency as possible, so as to <em>prove</em> that Meta (and any other partner) is not dominant. By structurally providing as much sunlight as possible, allowing feedback and comment, and repeatedly demonstrating that this feedback is being considered and acted on where appropriate, both the potential harms and concerns from the movement Fediverse community can be reduced. Just as source code that is open to scrutiny is auditable and verifiable, decision-making process that are open to sunlight can be held accountable. Public meeting notes, decision documents, and so on, all help to support accountability.</p><p>In any event, the Social Web Foundation doesn\u2019t need to be <em>the</em> foundation to cover all views of what the Fediverse should be. It\u2019s <em>a</em> foundation that is going to try and do great work to expand the Fediverse. <a href=\"https://socialwebfoundation.org/mission/\">From its mission statement</a>:</p><blockquote><p>We believe that increased use of the Fediverse has the potential to make all of our online social experiences better, as well as to create lots of new opportunities for creation and self-expression. So we\u2019re committed to growing the number of people using the Fediverse.</p></blockquote><p>As Evan Prodromou <a href=\"https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/socialwebfoundation-what-do-people-think/4564/22?u=benwerd\">said in that SocialHub thread</a> abut people who don\u2019t feel the Foundation represents them:</p><blockquote><p>We want a united social web, using a single protocol for internetwork communication. I\u2019d compare email, where proprietary LAN email protocols like Microsoft Exchange are gatewayed into the formal standard protocol SMTP. [\u2026] The SWF is not mandatory. People who want to do other things for the Fediverse should definitely do so. But I do want to extend the invitation for people who are interested to reach out.</p></blockquote><p>This doesn\u2019t have to be one size fits all. It\u2019s worth considering what organizing more concretely for the movement Fediverse looks like, and how it might intersect and act as a check on the growth Fediverse.</p><p>It\u2019s understandable that some in the movement Fediverse feel uncomfortable with large corporate platforms, particularly those with a history of past harms, joining the network. However, engaging with these platforms \u2014 rather than dismissing their involvement outright \u2014 may offer a unique opportunity to influence their practices and ensure they align with the values of the community. Constructive engagement with Meta and other large platforms could offer a unique opportunity for the movement Fediverse to influence how these entities engage with the broader social web, ensuring they uphold the values of safety, inclusivity, and equity.</p><p>Likewise, ignoring the concerns of the movement Fediverse is not wise: these are valid ideas rooted in real experiences. The tech industry carries real systemic inequalities that go all the way back to its origins in military funding. Addressing those inequities is a prerequisite to the web reaching its potential as a way for everyone in the world to connect and learn from each other. Companies like Meta, as I\u2019ve explained at length above, have committed real harms as a byproduct of their priorities, business models, and funding partners. Grassroots communities that practice intentionality, activism, mutual aid, and radical equity have a lot to offer, and in many ways are models for how the world should be.</p><p>The movement Fediverse\u2019s emphasis on mutual aid, radical equity, and intentionality offers invaluable lessons for how the larger Fediverse \u2014 and even corporate actors \u2014 could operate. Practices like community-driven moderation, transparent governance, and prioritizing marginalized voices could help ensure that the Fediverse grows without losing its soul.</p><p>Each group is approaching the problem in good faith. In the end, it\u2019s up to all of us to ensure that the future of the web remains decentralized, inclusive, and safe. We must continue to engage, advocate, and, most importantly, listen to one another as we navigate and build this space together. The Fediverse is made of pluralities: of implementations, communities, vendors, and visions of the future. That\u2019s at the heart of its beauty and its opportunity. The software interoperates; so should we.</p>"
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    "author": {
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        "name": "Ben Werdmuller",
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