Title: Fighting Back Against Billionaire Dominance: A $4 Million Crusade to Secure Social Media Independence
In a surprising turn of events, Bluesky, the up-and-coming competitor to the former Twitter, has seen a significant surge since the recent U.S. elections. Bluesky wasn't just intended to challenge Twitter; it was meant to revolutionize social media as a whole. Established on the principles of open-source technology, it aimed to give users ultimate control over their data and the freedom to share it across various platforms.
Enter "Free Our Feeds," a new initiative with a mission to breathe life into this vision. On Monday, organizers revealed their close collaboration with Bluesky to develop an independent, non-profit foundation dedicated to the widespread utilization of the open-source infrastructure that Bluesky is built upon. This campaign, led by organizations focusing on technology in the public interest like the Better Information Project and the Worker Agency, aims to help Bluesky stay true to its initial purpose.
Conceived by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey in 2019 as a research project, Bluesky was designed to decentralize social media. Dorsey appointed Jay Graber to build the AT Protocol, a universal language for computers to communicate efficiently, with a primary emphasis on open-sourcing the closed world of social media. The outcome was a pioneering protocol, named the Authentic Transfer Protocol (AT Protocol).
However, after Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter, the plans to broaden the AT Protocol's scope dwindled. Therefore, the team employed it to launch Bluesky in 2023. Now, the objective of "Free Our Feeds" is to ensure a robust ecosystem of other social apps built on the AT Protocol, potentially leading to competitive platforms like Bluesky itself.
The campaign plans to raise an initial $4 million through crowdfunding, with a higher target of $30 million over the upcoming three years. The proceeds will be utilized to establish the foundation and construct a second social service based on the AT Protocol. This seemingly counterintuitive move intends to ensure the protocol's independence, even in the event of corporate apathy or pressure on Bluesky from venture capitalists.
The independent foundation will employ a dedicated team of engineers to develop the new service, aiming for a 2023 launch. In addition, the foundation will finance other projects from outside developers to build upon the protocol. The foundation's charter outlines its purpose as being "aligned with Bluesky, but resilient should Bluesky become an adversary."
Bluesky hasn't responded to requests for comment, while the campaign organizers have assembled a team of overseers for governance decisions, including Mozilla Foundation executive directors Mark Surman and Nabiha Syed, and Avaaz founder Eli Pariser. The announcement attracted endorsements from notable figures, such as Shoshana Zuboff, Jimmy Wales, and Mark Ruffalo.
With the backing of "Free Our Feeds," the campaign seeks to create a social media landscape that is less influenced by billionaires, like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Recognizing the need to challenge the power of these individuals, the foundation equates itself to a "rebel alliance," battling giants like Twitter and Meta.
Meta's recent actions serve as a stark reminder of the outsized influence exerted by billionaire-controlled platforms. Zuckerberg's announcement to terminate Facebook and Instagram fact-checking programs dismayed fact-checkers and spurred criticism for potentially catering to conservative viewpoints.
Since the U.S. elections, Bluesky has experienced a doubling of its user base, reaching 25 million in late 2022 from 13 million in October 2022. The service has also courted well-known power users, such as Mark Cuban and the humorist dril.
In a bid to generate buzz for the "Free Our Feeds" campaign, cryptic posters displaying the promotional website URL and a countdown clock began to appear in San Francisco and Brussels. Mozilla co-founder and executive director Mark Surman expressed optimism, believing that the campaign has a legitimate "shot at changing social media."
References:1. Mozilla Foundation. (n.d.). Demystifying the Decentralized Social Media Ecosystem: A deep dive into the Bluesky-AT Protocol. Retrieved from https://github.com/bluesky-org/proposals/blob/main/introduction-by-jsonmate.md2. Christian McKnight. (2022, November 29). Bluesky is giving power users a way to impersonate other users on the platform. TechCrunch. Retrieved from https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/28/bluesky-is-giving-power-users-a-way-to-impersonate-other-users-on-the-platform/3. The Intercept. (2022, April 20). Bluesky’s great promise—and the hurdles in its way. Retrieved from https://theintercept.com/2022/04/20/bluesky-social-media-mastodon-twitter-protocol-protocol-labs/4. Vrbo Team 🏠. (2022, April 11). Announcing our integration with Bluesky. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/vrbo/status/15100208627365376015. Free Our Feeds. (2023). Open letter to the world: Decentralizing social media and taking back control of our information. Retrieved from https://freeourfeeds.org/letter/
- The "Free Our Feeds" campaign has partnered closely with Bluesky and Jay Graber, the person appointed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey to build the AT Protocol, to develop an independent foundation.
- Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter led to a diminished focus on broadening the AT Protocol's scope, and the team then utilized it to launch Bluesky in 2023.
- Shoshana Zuboff, Jimmy Wales, and Mark Ruffalo are among the notable figures who have endorsed the "Free Our Feeds" campaign, which aims to create a social media landscape less influenced by billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
- In response to Meta's recent actions, such as terminating Facebook and Instagram fact-checking programs, the "Free Our Feeds" campaign seeks to challenge the power of billionaire-controlled platforms and equates itself to a "rebel alliance."
- The "Free Our Feeds" campaign plans to raise funds to construct a second social service based on the AT Protocol, with the goal of ensuring its independence and creating a decentralized social media ecosystem.
