feeds.social is a journal and catalogue of work about … you guessed it … social news feeds, with a particular emphasis on open protocols and algorithms.
Dave Winer asks why I believe in “The writer’s web”. Well, if you believe in the web at all, and of course I do, I’d say you believe in the writer’s web. But I get his point that the silos of the last two decades have severely handicapped some basic and universal web functionality.
What purpose does limiting the format of the content have when simple ways to accomodate all the web offers are available? It’s hard to come up with a legitimate answer to that question.
But if I were to pick one item where this attack is most egregious, it would be (for me) the hyperlink..
Whether it’s Apple trying to get rid of URLs in their browser and apps, or Facebook and Instagram making content inaccessible, or Google masking search results, it’s all simply an attack on democracy. It’s an attack on freedom. Without the link, there is no digital freedom.
The link is the web., literally. Once the link goes away, we’ve regressed back to cable tv and newspapers.
Now, while I support some of the newer social networks, including Mastodon, the Fediverse and Bluesky, I do share some of the concerns. One can certainly understand being skeptical about Bluesky. Where there is venture capital, there is danger, and they should clearly state how they might avoid that danger in the years to come. But capital can bring some benefits as well, despite the usual “enshittification” that follows.
And a more decentralized network like the Fediverse isn’t safe just because there is less money and more distribution. Powerful people and coalitions can control our discourse in other ways, some subtle and some not so.
Some might call that the culture of the network, and yes it is. And culture can be good or bad.
Technology is neither good nor bad, but a tool that can be used for such.
And the most powerful tool in digital technology history is the link.