The only way to *truly* billionaire-proof the internet is to a) abolish billionaires and b) abolish the system that allows people to become billionaires. Short of that, any levees we build will need constant tending, reinforcement, and re-evaluation.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/23/defense-in-depth/#self-marginalization
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This article lays out a great case for decentralization and explains the nuances behind creating systems that are resistant to enshitification.
The problem however with #Bluesky and #FreeOurFeeds is that it all sounds good, but success rests on developing new technology that is unproven 'vaporware' and dependent upon cooperation with a potentially adversarial entity that holds all the cards.
See this critique: https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/113873141877248672
more...
Returning to the #FreeOurFeeds (FOF) initiative discussion (for background see links below)... @[email protected] has a new piece (https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/capitalist-unrealism/) that extends his "fire exit" analogy and discusses how it is not corporate ownership, VCs or profit motive alone that causes enshitification. It also requires captive users, and FOF will make it so Bluesky users are not captive. It all sounds good, but it's not realistic because the assumptions behind it are based on vaporware marketing. more...
References
Supporting FOF:
https://freeourfeeds.com/
https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/17/1110063/we-need-to-protect-the-protocol-that-runs-bluesky/ (@elipariser)
https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/14/contesting-popularity/#everybody-samba (@pluralistic)
https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/capitalist-unrealism/ (@pluralistic)
Critique of FOF:
https://mastodon.online/@mastodonmigration/113829076223876008
https://notes.ghed.in/posts/2025/bluesky-free-our-feeds-mastodon/ (@cebedo)
https://malici.ous.computer/@shellsharks/statuses/01JHN5A9844W3SMPE2A39K0V4J (@shellsharks)
Background:
https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/ (@cwebber)
https://dustycloud.org/blog/re-re-bluesky-decentralization/ (@cwebber)
Cory Doctorow
Mastodon Migration