Reading list
Shortform reading
This is an incomplete list of the shortform reading (and listening and watching) I’ve been doing lately.
Bridges & The Last Network Effect
The endgame is not Mastodon, Bluesky, or Threads. The endgame is finding communities on the web and following them all on the best platform for you.
We don't have to enclose ourselves in walls of our own making or force users to understand the nuances of every platform and protocol. It's time to give people tools that empower them to make decisions that fit their needs. That is how we truly make the social web open.
#better-web · #decentralization · #fediverse · #social-media
I'm not on Bluesky and I don't have any plans to join it anytime soon. I wrote about this in 2023: I will never again devote my energies to building up an audience on a platform whose management can sever my relationship to that audience at will.
#better-web · #bluesky · #enshittification · #fediverse · #social-media
What I learned in year four of Platformer
Ever since Platformer left Substack in January, readers have been asking us how it’s been going. Today, in keeping with our annual tradition of anniversary posts (here are one, two, and three), I’ll answer that question — and share some other observations on the state of independent media over the past year.
#better-web · #fediverse · #ghost · #journalism · #newsletter · #substack
Highlighting journalism on Mastodon
To reinforce and encourage Mastodon as the go-to place for journalism, we’re launching a new feature today. You will notice that underneath some links shared on Mastodon, the author byline can be clicked to open the author’s associated fediverse account, right in the app. This highlights writers and journalists that are active on the fediverse, and makes it easier than ever to follow them and keep up with their future work—potentially across different publications. Writers often work with different publishers over the span of their careers, but Mastodon is the perfect platform to amass a loyal audience that you, as the author, truly own, and can take with you across the fediverse.
This Publishing Platform Sees the Future, with Ghost's John O'Nolan (Podcast)
I think to have journalism with integrity, you have to have technology with integrity. And in my mind, open source is the way to have technology with integrity. And I want the best journalism to win because it's the best journalism, not because they have the best platform.
#activitypub · #blogging · #fediverse · #journalism · #open-source · #open-web
This story must sound familliar, in 2024 -- it's all happening again. This time it's Facebook playing the role of Twitter, and Mastodon playing the role of RSS. And Mastodon has gotten a deserved reputation as being only for techie types. And tge solution in 2024 is the same as it was in 2002 -- working together to make subscription easy. A one-click Follow button that works. One button for site-makers to put on their pages. And users leaning back and clicking away without a care in the world (at least about the software).
Decentralized Systems Will Be Necessary To Stop Google From Putting The Web Into Managed Decline
Is Google signaling the end of the open web? That's some of the concern raised by its new embrace of AI. While most of the fears about AI may be overblown, this one could be legit.
#artificial-intelligence · #decentralization · #fediverse · #social-media
In 2024, for the first time, it finally feels like we have a critical mass of people and platforms who are interested in rewilding the internet to bring back what we lost, and create something new.
As TikTok ban threatens stability in social media ecosystem, some brands settle into the fediverse
As the TikTok ban threatens the social media ecosystem, agency execs debate investing in the fediverse.