Revolution.Social

In books like The Web We Weave and podcasts such as Intelligent Machines, journalist and educator Jeff Jarvis — formerly the director of the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism at the City University of New York — has traced the history of media from the Gutenberg press to AI. And he says that today’s attempts to clamp down on the internet are nothing new. "Whenever there's an explosion of speech, those who controlled speech resent it," Jeff explains. "They try to fight it, they try to control it, they launch into a moral panic about it." Today on Revolution.Social, Jeff and Rabble talk about the pivotal battle between Twitter and third-party apps like UberMedia; how Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects free expression; and why Medium's human curation works better than Substack's anything-goes approach. They also discuss the problems with age verification laws, why the "commons resistance" in AI might succeed, and what Black Twitter's migration to Blacksky teaches us about reclaiming platforms. Follow Rabble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Flock Marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://revolution.social/

2389 Research CEO Harper Reed was previously the CTO of President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, where he helped redefine modern political technology. Before that, he was CTO of Threadless, the crowdsourced T-shirt company that accidentally invented crowdsourcing. Harper has spent his career building systems that bring people together online—but also exploring why technology often produces unintended consequences. He recently published a paper on creating a social media ecosystem for AI agents, raising urgent questions about how humans and machines will interact in decentralized environments, and asks deep questions about the future of work in an AI world. Today on Revolution.Social, Harper and Rabble talk about what he learned from “juggling against homophobia”; why the Obama campaign taught him that technology isn't always the solution; and why the future of software is building interfaces for agents, not agents using human tools. They also discuss what type of engineers are most likely to be displaced by AI-assisted coding. Read more: We Built Social Media for Agents and They Won't Stop Posting Follow Rabble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Flock Marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://revolution.social/

When a community wants to organize itself, it might decide between private ownership and state control. David Bollier has spent decades arguing that that’s a false binary, and that there is a better way: The commons. "The commons is as old as humanity," David says. "It's kind of the default setting for coordination and governance. It's just in the past 200 years or so, we've tricked ourselves into thinking that we're isolated individuals and that the social context and the Earth is irrelevant." Today on Revolution.Social, David and Rabble talk about why a platform being “open” isn’t enough to keep it safe from corporate takeover; the success of podcasting as a type of commons; and why we need to build parallel institutions rather than just protest existing ones. They also talk about the lessons from Bitcoin's governance conflicts, the vulnerability of shareholder value to collective action, and how the internet can “get back to the garden.” Read David's books Follow Rabble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Flock Marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://revolution.social/

Adam Aleksic, known to his social media followers as the “Etymology Nerd,” has built a massive audience by decoding the origins of words, accents, and memes. In his new book Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language, he talks about the ways our social media algorithms have accelerated the “context collapse” that changes the words we use. “You perceive this creator using a word like, I dunno, rizz, ate, slay, served,” Adam says. “These are all from the ballroom scene in the 1980s, this gay, Black, Latino space. But these words are now just being used by white girls. It's because you see this being used by somebody online … It's on your For You page. It feels like it's personalized.” Today on Revolution.Social, Adam and Rabble talk about the rise of words like “unalive” and “lowkey,” the shift away from human gatekeepers, and why the popularity of video and podcasts threatens the cultural power of writing. They also discuss the dangers of banning cell phones in schools and how social media algorithms can encourage racist AI slop. Read Algospeak: How Social Media is Transforming the Future of Language Follow Rabble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Flock Marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://revolution.social/

In this discussion, Rudy Fraser, founder of Blacksky and a dedicated organizer, shares his vision for a community-driven social media platform. He emphasizes the importance of mutual aid and community accountability in shaping algorithms and moderation. Rudy highlights lessons learned from the George Floyd uprisings and the need for democratic tools in financial systems. He also envisions an internet of autonomous communities that prioritize usability and collective governance, empowering users to shape their own social spaces.

Mike Masnick, a pioneering tech journalist and founder of Techdirt, dives into the future of decentralized social media and his vision from 'Protocols, Not Platforms.' He discusses Bluesky’s innovative AT Protocol, emphasizing user control and the challenges of heavy regulations like age verification. Masnick shares insights on aligning economic incentives with user freedom and reflects on how AI could enhance decentralized systems. With a mix of history and optimism, he paints a vibrant picture of a more user-empowered internet.

We had more to talk about with Cory Doctorow than we could fit in this week’s episode. In this bonus ep, the science fiction author and internet rights activist talks to Rabble about being raised by science fiction in Toronto, and his one objection to the social media bill of rights: the right to “own” your connections to other people. “I think ownership's a really bad model for it because property frameworks don't work well on things that are not rivalrous,” he says. “Who owns the relationship that you and I know each other and met on an airplane? Is it me or is it you?” Don’t miss the full interview with Cory from earlier this week where they talk about escaping from Big Tech and fighting for a better future for the web. Available wherever you’re seeing this. Follow Rabble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Flock Marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://revolution.social/

Sci-fi isn’t about hypothetical technologies, but rather about challenging the social impact of that tech, says author and activist Cory Doctorow. And in the real world, we must be just as conscious of the societal impact of the tech products we use. “Apologists for Big Tech would like you to think that all of the properties of their platforms are ... inevitably coterminal,” he says. “You cannot have a conversation with your friends without someone like Mark Zuckerberg spying on you from asshole to appetite, and imagining that you could is like imagining that you could make water that isn't wet … Resistance is futile.” Today on Revolution.Social, Cory and Rabble talk about how we can, in fact, chart a freer & fairer path for the internet. Real freedom online means not just building better platforms but making it easy to leave broken ones. They also discuss the concept of “adversarial interoperability,” the history of digital surveillance, and the future of more open platforms like Bluesky. Follow Rabble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Flock Marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://revolution.social/

Journalist and Power User host Taylor Lorenz has reported on the fall of Vine, influencers who accept "dark money," and the proliferation of far-right content on Substack, just to name a few. Today on Revolution.Social, she joins Rabble to talk about why governments, including the U.S., are advancing laws to restrict free speech online; the misleading moral panics that have led to apps being banned; and the challenges of monetizing online communities as platforms become gatekeepers. They also discuss the rise of tech founders who are more than happy to be seen as villains, the history of new technologies being blamed for social problems, and why conservative voices have been better than progressive ones at manipulating the internet for their own means. Follow Rabble: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ This episode was produced and edited by Eric Johnson from ⁠⁠⁠⁠LightningPod.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠, and executive produced by Alice Chan from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Flock Marketing⁠⁠⁠⁠. To learn more about Rabble’s social media bill of rights, and sign up for our newsletter, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://revolution.social/

Chris Messina, a tech innovator and the mind behind the hashtag, dives deep into the evolution of social media. He reflects on the failure of Google+, citing its focus on Google's needs over user experience. The conversation highlights how algorithms compromise authenticity, while hashtags, initially a tool for connection, often incentivize manipulation. Chris also warns of the challenges posed by AI and advocates for authentic human connections, urging the next generation to prioritize meaningful engagement in a rapidly changing digital landscape.