It was a good Thanksgiving break. A week ago I had a cold. I thought it was COVID. It was not. Yeah! 😊
It was just a cold with a great mix of burnout. But, it gave me time to just lay there. And laying around just thinking can be fun.
I thought about how the tech industry is having a readjustment. I thought about how I have been lucky to have been witness to the Internet’s many transformations.
I thought about how in each one of these periods of big change there was always a big winner based on use case was dominating that industry at the moment. AOL, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok. And now, the Fediverse? Will ActivityPub be the next key to re-invent the industry? Only time will tell.
In each of these moments, the one that re-invented the industry defined the new normal. They were the new leaders. They were the trendsetters. And the old guard was disrupted.
The question is, can the Fediverse do the same? Can it re-invent the industry? And if so, how?
Here are some thoughts:
Standards and open build on Internet protocols have been key to the evolution of the web.
Users are becoming more sophisticated about living / sharing part of their lives in digital spaces.
The business model of the Internet is evolving.
The platforms that have been built on the backs of user data are being called into question. And, the data that is being collected is becoming a liability.
The pandemic, the creator economy, digital communities, even crypto are making users aware of their digital value.
The Fediverse could be a viable alternative to the current platform model. It could provide a way for users to finally own their digital data. Take part in the business of their personal data.
ActivityPub could provide a way for users to connect with each other in a more sustainable way. Where the platform is not the only one benefiting from the user’s engagement.
Here we go again.