Over the last decade, people called for a new narrative regarding climate change. One that is less doomerism and more positive. They managed to do that. The same needs to happen for the internet.
Over the last decades with series like black mirror, we are still stuck in doom-mode even though we know that for some of these problems, dezentralized social networks could be the solution. We just need more stories that fill this vision with live.
I think spekulative fiction, which plays in a world in which dezentralized networks are established (either in the future, in an alt timeline or alt universe altogether) could do the trick. I call this “fedi-fiction”.
Would you be interested in this and if yes - how could its creation be supported?
Less profit oriented corporations, that’s the obvious one.
Unfortunately, not a lot of people care
That. And supporting community-building and treating others with respect
Check out A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys. A bunch of US citizens get so fed-up with the looming collapse of the planet, they form a bunch of socialist collectives who rely on the internet to function. It’s like a cross between reddit and Next Door. Problems are discussed, solutions proposed and voted on, information readily shared. These communities just focus on taking the best care they can of their own people and their corner of the world. Also there are aliens.
Sounds interesting. But it sounds like some centralized AI is in the background managing all the dezentralized communities. I’m a bit doubtful of that - why not let each community have its own AI?
Not a bad idea! I think of works like Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilliogy, which has a pretty significant focus in the second book about what a new style of collaborative governance might look like. Narrative is always the most powerful way to convince people of ideas, so I say go for it!
Sounds like the sort of thing Cory Doctorow would write.
lets contact him, see if he would write something
I’m pretty sure most of his recent books have been Fediverse-adjacent. I don’t think he’d need to write a new one.
That’s a creative idea. I would read it. But if the goal is to reach and engage more people, then it needs to appeal to them. Like previously said, most people just don’t seem to care about privacy. So what do they care about? Getting likes/approval from others? Networking? Following popular channels? It’s kind of a catch 22, because celebrities won’t go to a platform without potential followers, and followers won’t either without someone to follow.
I can definitely relate on seeing the potential of the fediverse. I even told some of my friends, “This is the evolution of how the Internet is going to work. Isn’t that exciting??” And I’m usually met with blank stares.
I think the social media giants will slowly continue to become less relevant and there will be a natural shift toward alternatives. The more polished the alternatives become and the more the communities will prove valuable with actual human connections, the more they will slowly appeal to the masses. I think many people are sucked into the world of consumerism and cannot imagine an alternative.
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How do we get people engaged to write these stories? Should we use AI?
Well even if, I think AI isn’t ready to write engaging stories for something this niche.
