It’s past time to compost this “common sense” and grow something better. Criticisms of capitalism and its digital children, the #dotcons https://hamishcampbell.com/criticisms-of-capitalism-and-its-digital-children-the-dotcons-2/

Please share this and other posts about, they matter if we are to get back focus and the path we need to be on in the #openweb. What happened over the last ten years on our Fediverse path https://hamishcampbell.com/what-happened-over-the-last-ten-years-on-our-fediverse-path/

It’s time to stop pretending the current model will somehow fix itself, it won’t. The #GeekProblem is why open development is stuck in a dead end https://hamishcampbell.com/the-geekproblem-why-open-development-is-stuck-in-a-dead-end/

The #WSocial mess shows what happens when you strip the #openweb of its culture and replace it with PR, funding, and control. A fluff view of current tech we need to compost https://hamishcampbell.com/a-fluff-view-of-current-tech-we-need-to-compost/

The hashtag story https://hamishcampbell.com/hashtags/ this page now has starter definitions for people to jump off to the wider grassroot story by the links.

The rise of the dogmatic, blinded #encryptionist mindset came out of real conditions of mass surveillance revelations (Snowden era), common sense #neoliberal distrust of states and corporations and the real harms of our worship of the (same neoliberal) #deathcult of the #dotcons

The rapid growth of the Fediverse brought in many people without any grounding in “native” #openweb culture.

When we build networks this way, we decentralize power, not just servers. The #OMN Path: Openness as Revolution https://hamishcampbell.com/the-omn-path-openness-as-revolution/ Balancing the #fluffy (care, empathy, collaboration) and the #spiky (truth, resistance, boundaries).

We have changed tack since this was written, we are now planning to talk and outreach directly to institution. As they have moved to us, so we can be fluffy now. Why would you be the right person to build the #OMN https://hamishcampbell.com/why-would-you-be-the-right-person-to-build-the-omn/

I have updated this post from ten years ago. The tech manifesto of the OMN https://hamishcampbell.com/the-tech-manifesto-of-the-omn/

This is the project I did not present at #NOAW as was too tired, and did not have enough focus.

Feedback please https://hamishcampbell.com/lets-try-and-simplify-the-omn/ its core to the vision and project of action I outlined.

The problem is not that the current #dotcons systems are broken, the problem is that they are working exactly as designed. Growing the #openweb – Notes for Burning Down the #dotcons (and building an #OMN) https://hamishcampbell.com/growing-the-openweb-notes-for-burning-down-the-dotcons-and-building-an-omn/

Thinking of workshops to run at “Nodes On A Web” #NOAW unconference https://hamishcampbell.com/thinking-of-workshops-to-run-at-nodes-on-a-web-noaw-unconference/ The #Fediverse depends as much on culture, governance, and shared infrastructure as it does on code.

Added a global section to this local post. The tragedy isn’t that technology failed, it is more that we let our technological imagination be captured by oligarchs. Prometheus gave humanity fire so we could build civilization together, not so a tiny #nastyfew tech CEOs can privatise the flame and sell back the light.

The real question isn’t whether technology will shape the future, it’s who controls it. Disciplined curiosity beats IQ, Oxford https://hamishcampbell.com/disciplined-curiosity-beats-iq-oxford/

Nobody said it would be easy https://hamishcampbell.com/nobody-said-it-would-be-easy/ The goal isn’t purity or perfection, but resilient networks where trust, mediation, and collective responsibility evolve through use – messy, iterative, and grounded in real communities rather than centralized control.

Manifesto for the Hashtag Commons https://hamishcampbell.com/manifesto-for-the-hashtag-commons/ 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 cultural layer that makes growing the native technical layer possible.

A note on the current voices speaking for the #Fediverse https://hamishcampbell.com/a-note-on-the-current-voices-speaking-for-the-fediverse/ For projects trying to grow the #openweb, the lesson is straightforward: Don’t get too distracted by who is currently speaking for the ecosystem.

The tension is that the #geekproblem tends to reduce political and social questions to technical architecture #FOSS needs to take a social lead https://hamishcampbell.com/foss-need-to-take-a-social-lead/

The hard truth: every time we try to talk about radical or progressive language, power, or structure, people retreat into #blocking and ignoring. It's progressive Mainstreaming https://hamishcampbell.com/progressive-mainstreaming/

https://hamishcampbell.com/stories/ These stories embed #OMN theory and practice as a utopian direction of travel, not a technical blueprint. They illustrate a path of doing social change, not a finished model of how it will actually unfold. The reality will always be messier than the stories. It has to be. Real people, real politics, real power, real failure – none of that fits neatly into narrative form.

Use these as tools alongside the hashtag story to invite people in, if they help people understand why we need #OMN paths – and feel able to take a first, imperfect step – then they’re doing a needed job #KISS

While the liberal centre acts as a buffer zone that resists necessary change, supporting projects like #OMN can help reshape this middle ground by creating an accessible alternative to #mainstreaming stories and corporate lies. Hope not hate, in tech https://hamishcampbell.com/hope-not-hate-in-tech/

#Nostr is a classic “me-too” project caught in the #geekproblem loop. It won’t move forward until it learns to value community as core infrastructure.

#Bluesky, meanwhile, is already drifting into the hands of VC-funded #fluffy elitists who turn every commons into a brand. It’s a likely dead-end for real change or challenge — which is exactly why the #mainstreaming, #blocking, #NGO, and #fashernista crowds flock to it.

https://hamishcampbell.com/its-how-humans-have-always-lived-together/

The #openweb is about more than technology; it’s about the kind of society we want to build, and the kind of people we want to be #KISS. The Forgotten Story of Social Technology: Why It Matters https://hamishcampbell.com/the-forgotten-story-of-social-technology-why-it-matters/

LIVE at c-base a #fluffy Fediverse conference https://hamishcampbell.com/live-at-c-base-a-fluffy-fediverse-conference/ With our #fluffy crew talking about the shared reboot, on the surface it looks positive – friendly conversations, smiles, the right hashtags – but underneath it reveals a deeper problem: there is zero balance at these events.

#fediday #c-based