Why the open social web matters now
15 hours ago
- #decentralization
- #activism
- #social_media
- The open social web is crucial in countering authoritarianism and surveillance by providing decentralized, secure platforms for vulnerable communities.
- Social media's centralization under corporate control aligns with authoritarian states, limiting free speech and enabling surveillance.
- Journalism's decline exacerbates the lack of checks on power, with fewer independent news sources leading to increased corruption.
- Decentralized social networking can support secure, private communication for activism and community organizing, contrasting with public social media's vulnerabilities.
- Building effective open social web solutions requires focusing on specific community needs, not ideological purity, to ensure adoption and sustainability.
- Three key questions for developers: Who specifically are we helping? Why are we the right team? How does our solution meet their needs better than existing options?
- Historical examples like TXTmob show how specific use cases can evolve into widely used platforms, emphasizing the importance of starting small and focused.
- The threats to democracy and free speech are immediate and growing, making the development of secure, decentralized platforms an urgent necessity.