Eyes on the Future: FediForum September 2024

FediForum Sep 24 saw some of the biggest names in the open social web come together.

Imagine walking into a room and seeing people from Threads, Flipboard, Bluesky, WordPress, Mastodon and Ghost. Then imagine those people aren't just the outreach team sent to a conference, but the people calling the shots. All sat together in a room ready to listen and learn more about the online space we call the Fediverse or Social Web.

Now, for a sprinkle of reality - this room is (of course) virtual. But that does mean you get to see more pets!

Whilst the many many projects on show at FediForum were really really exciting (I cannot state enough how exciting) - the thing that struck me the most was this room of people.

If we want to take the Social Web seriously, if we want to build it into the thing we all know it can be, then we need rooms of people like this. Online, in-person, a bit of both - whatever!

The hobbyist developers and bedroom projects which made this space so lucrative will never be replaced, don't get me wrong, but to have a viable future we need the connections and weight some of these companies can bring.

It sucks to say it, but we also need the money. The social web is tragically underfunded with only a handful of grants and donors going out to (often) the same few projects.

Big names can pull in eyes, eyes see an opportunity, opportunities bring money.

Out of context, that sounds like the capitalist nightmare so many people in this space are trying to escape. But lets reframe it.

These people, the organisations they represent, were at FediForum to learn. To develop. To grow together.

FediForum isn't a huge conference (or unconference, as it prefers to be known). It pulls in just over a hundred attendees. Yet, these 'big names' still show up.

To me, this is proof that these people (and in some cases, the organisations they represent) aren't in it for the publicity but because they genuinely believe in this future. They believe it's the right thing to do or they believe it's inevitable.

I'm not sure who first coined the saying, but I always think of Elena Rossini's blog when I hear it:

The future is federated.