Platforms as the Preface to Community

The bricks and mortar aren't enough. For a home, you need love. Social platforms teach us a lot about community building. They are, after all, a big empty room in digital space, with fairground-esque arrows on the doors suggesting fun to be found within. Once inside, you'

Looking to 26

2026 is nearly here. Here are my hopes for the year ahead. 2025 - What. A. Year. When a certain Trump took control of the U.S. in the start of the year (on my birthday, I might add), things felt pretty dire. Since then, we've seen some

The Future of Hope on the Social Web

Things are changing on the Social Web. Now is the time to start dreaming. For a long time, many of us have understood the potential of the Social Web. But, I think it's fair to say, there are also dark times, hopeless times. Points where we've

Defining a New Kind of Social App

As we prepare to launch a world-first app we've run into a problem. What is it? Apps are similar to books or music. They have genres. Strict rules that define who they are for, helping us, the consumer, not only discover them but share them. If I say,

What's the Vibe of the Social Web?

The all-important 'vibe' shapes the message others receive when they come into contact with the Open Social Web. Vibe. What a word. What a concept. The idea that every space has its own energy which reflects the experience. It's all very witchy. If you haven'

Mastodon Defence Command: The Scam Wave

It's not a sci-fi blockbuster, it's a serious issue. The Online Safety Act was passed into UK law in October 2023. Its roll-out is a slow process which has been taking place behind the scenes for a long time. Only now are we seeing the effects

Channel Magic

Why building Channels could bring the Fediverse together. Channels, custom curated feeds built on Channel.org technology, are pretty fun. Yes, I am biased, but let me tell you why. I made a Tree Channel and I love it. No, I am not a tree loving hippie (as far as

Is Bad Behaviour Spoiling the Move from Big Tech?

Are political differences really to blame as people are pushed from alternative platforms? One of the biggest conversations to come out of Bluesky's rise was centered around the platform being a 'left' alternative. This led to accusations of the platform being an echo chamber and, in

Queer Hope on the Open Social Web

Being queer feels pretty rough right now... I decided I wanted to write this blog on Monday, my gay birthday. Yes, like the queen, I celebrate two birthdays - my actual birth and when I came out. But, this year, I struggled to celebrate - even with my partner'

Anti-Big Tech Journalism

My experience at the International Journalism Festival, 2025 When does compensation become complacency? I posed the question above to a small group discussing the intersection of technology and news media at the International Journalism Festival last week. We were discussing Big Tech companies buying compliance from news companies, across a

Spring on the Social Web

New life is blooming As a hayfever sufferer, spring isn't something I often look forward to. Even as I write this, I can smell the sickly sweet pollen from the very pretty blossoming trees across the street. I'm resisting the urge to itch my eyes. But,

Coming Together to Inspire Monumental Change on Social Media

Recarving the landscape of social media is a big ask. So, how do we do it? Together. Many of the people behind the open social web projects, whether admitted publically or not, have been struggling to stay inspired the last few months. We're all aware that, right now,

New Social: The Campaign, The Designer, & The Box

An improvise as you go classic. Once there were three adults whose names were Michael, Freddie, and Saskia. This story is about something that happened to them when they decided to do something to help raise awareness for New Social in the UK. When I started FORbetter, I never imagined

'Masculine Energy' & Social Media

Do women really control social media? After last week's announcement regarding moderation on Meta, Mark Zuckerberg has followed the trend of tech billionaires and somehow managed to make it worse. In my blog last week, I explored Meta and its relationship to decentralised social media now that it

Meta, Moderation & What it Could Mean for Open Social Media

Mark Zuckerberg's latest announcement has shaken up social media in all the wrong ways. What a start to 2025. Trump is already threatening multiple nations with invasion and Musk is acting as his court jester, using X to poke at the snarling bears of European politics. Surprisingly (or

Looking back at 2024

Mostly good stuff that happened this year. 2024 is nearly over, which means this will be the last time I post on my blog this year. So, I thought I'd take the opportunity to look back. This year has been pretty monumental, for many good and some bad

Illogical vs logical: Fighting the fear of leaving X

Many have left X, but many more have stayed. Why? We need to admit something. No one knows what happens if life after X doesn't work out. If the platforms people move to fail. Rationally, when we introduce people to New Social, we point out the logical argument:

Every new platform is liberal

The psychology of trying new things. I don't think I'm being bold when I say that liberal people are more open minded. We have that statement backed up every time we read the news. Last week, I spoke about echo chambers. This blog post is somewhat

Would you let a wolf in? Echo chamber or community on social media

The echo chamber narrative is distracting us from our online community. It seems everyone has offered their 2 pence on the idea of X alternatives being an 'echo chamber'. So, here's mine. To clarify, an 'echo chamber' is a term for a space where

Even more Bluesky Growth

Bluesky is breaking ceiling after ceiling for open social media. It's getting a bit boring now isn't it? We've all heard about the success of Bluesky. I mean, even ITV News did a segment on it. Don't get me wrong, it is

X makes you complicit, it's time for nonprofits to act

Why remain on a platform that directly opposes your organisations morals? I'll start by admitting that I am angry. The thread that weaves between the lines of this blog is red and spiteful. But I think it's time we acknowledged our emotions. A week ago, Trump

Hope & The Power of a Year

It's been one year since the Newsmast app launched publically. A lot has changed. The thing with building in a decentralised space is that it's constantly changing. That can be hard to keep up with but, personally, I love it. Instead of one omnipotent platform, multiple

Building a platform that sticks

A cool platform isn't enough to make the biggest audience stick around. As we explore social alternatives, there's a feeling of uncertainty, a question. Will this one stick? To be successful, a social media platform shouldn't just onboard users, but keep them there -

Why you'll never have a 'town square' on most social platforms

Can open social platforms offer an alternative? Is 'town square' even the right metaphor? The 'digital town square' is an idea X seems to have their claws in. It's not a bad one either. The town square analogy plays on our emotion, it suggests

Marketing in Uncharted Territory

How do we 'sell' an idea of the social media future? The social internet is changing. We're turning our backs on the established micro-blogging platforms, the places that are feeling less platform and more Big Brother day-by-day. It won't happen overnight, but it has