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   Matt Baer (matt@writing.exchange)'s status on Saturday, 28-Sep-2024 13:00:56 JST Matt Baer

   • Write.as

   The fediverse is a strange place to be sometimes. It's an open network where progress happens in fits and starts in random, often hidden, pockets. And the rest don't often hear what's really going on. In the 6 years I've built on #ActivityPub, we've all had to fight for some kind of coordination.

   Especially re: the new #SocialWebFoundation (which I've backed as an outside supporter via my tiny company @write_as), you can see something new is happening.

   • BeAware repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 28-Sep-2024 13:00:54 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Write.as

     @matt @write_as thanks for the support, Matt. It was important to have you involved.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 28-Sep-2024 13:31:29 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     @matt as far as transparency, we're launching early as we start doing this work. It's great having supporters who can keep us pointed in the right direction.

   • Embed this notice
     Matt Baer (matt@writing.exchange)'s status on Saturday, 28-Sep-2024 13:31:30 JST Matt Baer

     in reply to

     And there should probably be some more transparency. And it can absolutely be alienating, especially to long-time fedizens.

     But it doesn't exclude similar efforts from *everyone* building this space. It doesn't crush those fighting for what has made this place great in the first place.

     The fediverse is everyone's, and we should all recognize that. Don't lose hope. Keep on building the web we all want to see.

     Evan Prodromou and BeAware repeated this.
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     Matt Baer (matt@writing.exchange)'s status on Saturday, 28-Sep-2024 13:31:31 JST Matt Baer

     in reply to

     E.g. the days of every fedi platform needing to be open source (as you'd get dogpiled for back in 2018) are gone. Proprietary platforms and major corps like Meta are joining, and they're collaborating with other major fedi platforms behind the scenes to take this all mainstream.

     But that's what's happening right now, just so everyone knows.

     BeAware repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Mike McCue (mike@flipboard.social)'s status on Saturday, 28-Sep-2024 14:51:46 JST Mike McCue

     in reply to

     @matt very well said. This thing is bigger than all of us, including meta.

     I was once a lone engineer building software in the world of the walled gardens of AOL and Microsoft and it sucked. It was a super constrained world where success meant having to convince a few people at Egghead to distribute your software or you were relegated to oblivion.

     Then the web happened. AOL tried to bring the web into their walled garden and died. Microsoft fully embraced the web and thrived. But the web was an unstoppable force and even with the big players fighting for position, legions of independent developers built and shipped great things reaching hundreds of millions of people.

     For too long, building anything that connects people in new and interesting ways has seemed futile because of the dominance of today’s walled gardens. That is all changing before our eyes because of the creativity, labor and persistence of lone engineers like you and Evan and Eugen and Dan.

     Human connection is finally becoming an integral part of the open web during a time when those connections are more important than ever. This is bigger than all of us, including meta, and the future is bright for the developers building here.

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     Matt Baer (matt@writing.exchange)'s status on Sunday, 29-Sep-2024 05:34:19 JST Matt Baer

     in reply to

     n.b. this was a "dispelling the illusions" post, not a "welcoming our new Meta overlords" post, btw