Decentered

S2E3 – Rabble from Nos.Social

Jul 31, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Evan Henshaw-Plath, an Internet pioneer and founder of Nos.Social, shares his journey through social media activism since the 1990s. He delves into the evolution of decentralized platforms like Nostr and the need for user control in digital communication. The conversation also covers innovation in social media engagement, balancing user agency with the challenges of choice fatigue. Evan emphasizes the importance of community collaboration to empower marginalized voices and foster healthier online environments.
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ANECDOTE

Early TextMob Proto-Twitter

  • Evan Henshaw-Plath shared his experience building TextMob, a proto-Twitter text alert system for protests in 2004.
  • It allowed thousands to get ambient updates despite technical limitations, illustrating early social media innovation.
INSIGHT

OAuth Shifted Power to Platforms

  • OAuth centralized power by letting platforms decide which apps to approve, reversing user control.
  • This shift led Twitter to shut down open APIs, motivating the creation of open social media protocols.
INSIGHT

Secure Scuttlebutt's Broad Influence

  • Secure Scuttlebutt inspired many modern decentralized protocols like Blue Sky and Nostr with its signed data and gossip model.
  • Its relay servers concept influenced today's relay hosts and servers across decentralized social networks.
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