Introducing the Open Web

The social web is long overdue for democratisation, taking out of the hands of those who thrive on money, misery. and manipulation. In this post I'll talk about using free (as in speech and beer) open platforms as an alternative to and continuation of the Social Web.

Why?

I could talk about Meta's new content moderation policies, TikTok's potential ties to the Trump administration, or Musk's antics with X. Social media as ran by the tech bros in Silicon Valley is a cesspit, and everyone knows it.

Cory Doctorow has talked at length about the enshittification of traditional social media, where companies make the pain of using their service a little lower than the pain of leaving it, profiting from data harvesting, advertising and targeted engagement while they do so. The question that I often hear is "what choice do we have?". Fortunately, there is an answer in the shape of the Fediverse.

What?

The Fediverse (or Fedi) is a decentralised network of social media services that can all interact with each other: Imagine following someone's Instagram feed from X, or replying to a YouTube comment from Facebook. Without getting too technical, most Fedi services use the ActivityPub protocol to talk to each other, just like different providers use standard protocols for email. Much like Gmail and Outlook talk to each other, different Fedi servers can connect with each other, allowing users to interact together across different sites.

Mastodon, for example, is a microblogging platform that is a decentralised alternative to Twitter. The user experience is very similar, with users short posts (called toots) which can then be favourited, replied to or boosted (like a retweet). Different Mastodon servers (or "instances") cater for different interests. Alongside the official server, which acts as a more general discussion instance, several instances exist for specific interests such as cyber security, heavy metal, and fantasy football. The best part is, if you don't like server's vibe you can easily export your data and migrate to a different one.

Pros of the Fediverse

• Your data is private, and isn't being siphoned off and sold to advertisers.
• For every type of social media platform, there's usually a Fediverse alternative.
• News feeds are chronological, with no shady algorithms deciding what content you should see.
• You can move your data freely across the Fediverse without losing your connections.
• There's often an instance or community that aligns with your interests and values, with it's own moderation policies not dictated from a larger entity.

Cons of the Fediverse

• Lack of algorithms can mean finding content and accounts is a more manual process.
• Lack of ad revenue could mean that smaller volunteer-run instances shut down.
• There is a learning curve, as different apps and even different instances of the same platform offer different functionality.
• Private messages are likely not End to End Encrypted, and could be viewed by a server administrator. For secure messaging, use Signal.
• Social media is where the people are. It can be challenging to convince friends and family to migrate away from the traditional social media experience, and user numbers on Fedi platforms are usually lower.