Manifesto for the Hashtag Commons hamishcampbell.com/manifesto-for-the-hashta... This story is now done enough to act as a tool: a framework that connects the projects, the struggles, the seeds of the #openweb still alive beneath the concrete of the #dotcons. It is a useful […]

The #blocking wall, the #dotcons built to dam this flow, just might be crumbling, but I don’t think people realize just how much defeatist noise we had and still have to break through The #fashionistas poisoned the well of alt-media […]

techbro

From Open Media Network:

"One of the quiet assumptions built into almost every #dotcons platform is that the user secretly wants to become a #techbro. Not literally, of course, but culturally. You are expected to optimise yourself by building your “personal brand” to track your metrics."

This quote from @hamishcampbell will get you thinking: "Like the #dotcons before it, this was never really about copyright or efficiency. It is about whether knowledge is governed by openness or corporate capture, and therefore who knowledge is for." […]

We use hashtags as scaffolding for the needed social truth, not as slogans, but as scaffolding, lightweight markers that point to recurring structural issues: #geekproblem #fashernista #dotcons #blocking are not insults. They are shorthand for patterns that otherwise take pages to explain. But […]

Blaming “the internet” hides the real problem. it’s not “the internet” doing this. The internet — the actual internet — is a set of mostly #4opens protocols, neutral, simple, robust, built for sharing and connecting. What’s keeping people hooked is the #dotcons: the corporate silos, the […]

Building Networks (Ecosystems)

Balance means prioritising the roots - not exclusively, but deliberately - to counter the dominance of traditional and #NGO media.

The corporate #dotcons, the “social media” mess — we KISS use and abuse what's left as compost.

The #openweb, foundation of […]

Let’s be honest, much of the so-called “alternative” tech scene is still stuck. Yes, we fled the #dotcons for something better, but ended up with to meany copies of the same broken models. Dig, Plant, Grow. Compost the #Techshit. Repeat […]

Right now, the same forces that buried our earlier waves — the #NGOs the “professionalisers,” the #dotcons — are at it again, turning commons into brands, movements into products. The #OMN is our refusal of that — a collective act of remembering and re-rooting, bringing back working practices […]

#OMN and its projects represent one of the few remaining native paths to rebuild a free, trustworthy, and cooperative grassroots #openweb — from the ground up, not from the boardroom down. In a time when every #dotcons platform, #NGO, and state initiative wants to manage people into compliance […]

The #dotcons are digital drugs: infinite scroll, dopamine loops, algorithmic junk food. #Mainstreaming social media: Digital drugs, not social connection hamishcampbell.com/mainstreamin...

The current state of the web, especially on the path of the #dotcons, is colonized communication. News, the signal-to-noise mess hamishcampbell.com/news-the-sig... Even the current #openweb reboot, for all its potential, reproduces these patterns, because we carry them within us.

This is obviously a form of social control, with the dominating of the #dotcons platforms in most peoples lives.

The #dotcons algorithm as started to show me right-wing propaganda on #YouTube which means normal people have been seeing this crap for the last few years. This is likely why we are such a mess, we need to get people to step away from this back to the #openweb. To make this happen, the is lots […]

The fight for the #openweb is not only about resisting #dotcons but creating alternatives people can and will use. What software do social justice activists need? hamishcampbell.com/what-softwar...

The act of linking is how we build shared infrastructure. When we block thinking, it’s pratish #dotcons behaviour hamishcampbell.com/when-we-bloc...

As a first very basic step, let’s build tech that reflects our #KISS values, not just our fears. Criticisms of capitalism and its digital children, the #dotcons hamishcampbell.com/criticisms-o...

An older post on how we worshipped the #deathcult in tech for 20 years. Why do I call Facebook a #dotcons hamishcampbell.com/why-do-i-cal...

The problem with fragmentation hamishcampbell.com/the-problem-... While the intention might be well-meaning, it introduces confusion and fragmentation, by unthinking mirroring #dotcons thinking.

The #dotcons drained the VC swamp and now guzzle from the mainstream trough of corporate socialism hamishcampbell.com/57208-2/ n the USA #techshit mess, #OpenAI is busy wrapping itself in the stars and stripes, pushing the fantasy of “democratic AI” while the democracy fig leaf is collapsing.

hamishcampbell.com/from-unstopp... We need to remember the old one. Compost the current slop. Rebuild from the roots. Base it on native #4opens, community, and the culture that carried us before this #dotcons mess took over.

AI slop, to #enshittification, the #FT writing on the internet is adding to the mess hamishcampbell.com/from-unstoppable-slop-to... We need to remember the old one. Compost the current slop. Rebuild from the roots. Base it on native #4opens […]

The #dotcons are designed for greed and selfishness. Everything about them feeds this and, in turn, feeds off it. The mess we made with the #dotcons hamishcampbell.com/the-mess-we-...

An example of this mess is the devolution of #Twitter from a neoliberal space to one with fascist tendencies under Elon Musk’s, this serves as a stark reminder of the pitfalls of unchecked corporate #dotcons power and the susceptibility of these platforms to authoritarian control. One key aspect is the complicity of #neoliberal actors in facilitating the rise of fascism. #Neoliberalism, with its emphasis on deregulation and market-driven solutions, pushes for the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few. This concentration eventually leads to the erosion of democratic norms and the rise of authoritarianism, as seen in the case of Twitter’s transformation. Thus, the intertwining of neoliberalism and fascism underscores the need for vigilance in combating both economic inequality and the erosion of “native” #openweb democratic projects. Moreover, the reaction of neoliberal peoples “common sense” to the shift towards fascism on the #dotcons like Twitter is instructive. Despite the platform’s descent into authoritarianism, many #mainstreaming users continue to engage with it, clinging to nostalgia for its earlier, more liberal incarnation. This phenomenon highlights the tendency of #mainstreaming to adapt to life under oppressive regimes, often out of a desire for self-preservation or a misguided sense of normalcy. It serves as a sobering reminder of the dangers of complacency and the importance of resisting authoritarianism, aspesherly in its early stages. In essence, the transformation of Twitter from a neoliberal to a fascist space underscores the interconnectedness of economic and political systems and the need for collective action to safeguard “native” #openweb democratic values. By recognizing the warning signs of authoritarianism and refusing to acquiesce to its normalization, people can help prevent the erosion of the #openweb The #dotcons and #closedweb of the last 20 years have been characterized by significant problems: 1. **Centralization of Power:** The dominant platforms in the #dotcons era and #closedweb are centralized, controlled by a handful of corporations. 2. **Monopolistic Practices:** The dominance of a few major players in the #dotcons led to monopolistic practices that stifled “native” #openweb culture. These monopolies limit people choice and hindered the development of alternative platforms that could offer more diverse and community-centric life. 3. **Surveillance Capitalism:** The #dotcons relies on business models built around surveillance capitalism, where data and metadata is harvested, monetized, and exploited for targeted advertising and social purposes without consent and transparency. This exploitation of user data undermined “society” and creates significant ethical concerns. 4. **Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers:** The algorithms employed by #dotcons are designed to prioritize content based on user engagement metrics, leading to the formation of filter bubbles and echo chambers. These algorithms push people to beliefs and preferences that limit exposure to diverse perspectives and contributing to polarization and disinformation. 5. **Erosion of Public Discourse:** The rise of social media platforms in the #dotcons facilitated the spread of misinformation, hate speech, and extremist ideologies. These platforms prioritized engagement and virality over the quality and accuracy of content, leading to the erosion of public discourse and trust in media. 6. **Data Concerns:** The collection and exploitation of user data by #dotcons raised significant concerns. People have limited to no control over their social data and metadata. 7. **Digital Divide:** Access to the internet and digital technologies remained unevenly distributed during the #closedweb era, exacerbating social and economic inequalities. Marginalized communities, faced barriers to access the #openweb, limiting their ability to participate in the digital economy and society. To sum up, the dominance of centralized platforms, surveillance capitalism, algorithmic biases, erosion of social norms, and inequalities have been some of the most pressing issues associated with the #dotcons and #closedweb over the last two decades. Addressing these challenges requires concerted efforts to promote decentralization, #4opens and “native” #openweb infrastructure and culture. You can help with this by working on projects like #OMN #OGB #makinghistory and #indymediaback This post is a reaction https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/112098724636424845 Please donate here is you can https://opencollective.com/open-media-network https://hamishcampbell.com/the-mess-we-made-with-the-dotcons/ #4opens #closedweb #dotcons #indymediaback #mainstreaming #Makinghistory #neoliberal #neoliberalism #OGB #OMN #openweb #twitter

The #dotcons are designed for greed and selfishness. Everything about them feeds this and, in turn, feeds off it. The mess we made with the #dotcons hamishcampbell.com/the-mess-we-made-with-th...

I am thinking if you want to build an alt, don't do it as a copy of a #dotcons we are well past that stage, and thus it's very unlikely to work and will become more #techshit to compost.

The mess we make of media when we embraced the #dotcons and #streamin media https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0-UXva0TcE

Security is not enough, survival is not victory, we can be safe and irrelevant – or vulnerable and changing the world by breaking corporate dependency, by building the infrastructure of a post-#dotcons world. Rebalance, by shifting focus from tools to cultures […]

"What we actually need is a radical shift, that builds on grassroots cooperation, trust, and open systems. Not more shiny ethical #dotcons platforms or visionary #nastyfew billionaires, but boring, solid, stubborn collective action. We need commons, not commodities. Federation, not feudalism. We […]

This post, from ten years ago, is still relevant for all your #dotcons apps on your pone. Stepping away from this, back to the #openweb is now an easy step. Why do I call Facebook a dotcon hamishcampbell.com/why-do-i-cal...

Criticisms of Capitalism — and Its Digital Children, the #dotcons hamishcampbell.com/criticisms-o... It’s past time to compost it and grow something better. As a first step, let’s build tech that reflects our values, not just our fears.