#mainstreaming — Public Fediverse posts

The #KISS #OMN path is about building practical, commons-based media tools now, not waiting for the perfect future.

Much of the mess - and endless #blocking - comes from ownership and control. We can sidestep some of this by putting media infrastructure firmly in the commons under the #4opens.

It won't fix #mainstreaming overnight, but it gives us space to build alternatives before the old systems catch up.

If you have resources, fund development. If you're technical, code. If you know UX, design. If you make media, tell the story.

This isn't theory. It's practical work for better social outcomes. Keep it simple. Keep it open. Build and use it.

#OMN #openweb #4opens #makinghistory

The #KISS #OMN path is about building practical, commons-based media tools now, not waiting for the perfect future.

Much of the mess - and endless #blocking - comes from ownership and control. We can sidestep some of this by putting media infrastructure firmly in the commons under the #4opens.

It won't fix #mainstreaming overnight, but it gives us space to build alternatives before the old systems catch up.

If you have resources, fund development. If you're technical, code. If you know UX, design. If you make media, tell the story.

This isn't theory. It's practical work for better social outcomes. Keep it simple. Keep it open. Build and use it.

#OMN #openweb #4opens #makinghistory

Public conversation about public problems

https://hamishcampbell.com/public-conversation-about-public-problems/

Public conversation about public problems

https://hamishcampbell.com/public-conversation-about-public-problems/

This summer #climatechaos

https://hamishcampbell.com/this-summer-climatechaos-is-mainstream/

This summer the https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=climatechaos we all have to face is coming into #mainstreaming view.

The link about is pactional things we do to maybe live through this mess we created.

This summer the https://hamishcampbell.com/?s=climatechaos we all have to face is coming into #mainstreaming view.

The link about is pactional things we do to maybe live through this mess we created.

The #OGB matters because the #openweb needs better ways to have trust-based conversations and trust-based governance.

The project comes from years of grassroots organising: voluntary cooperation, collaboration and human-scale decision-making.

Alternative tech has often copied governance assumptions from the #mainstreaming. The #4opens offers a simpler starting point for building governance structures native to the #Fediverse.

The #OGB is a path to move beyond #mainstreaming: governance that fits the culture of federated, open, grassroots networks rather than forcing them into centralised models.

#OGB #openweb #Fediverse #4opens #OMN #DIY #FOSS

The #OGB matters because the #openweb needs better ways to have trust-based conversations and trust-based governance.

The project comes from years of grassroots organising: voluntary cooperation, collaboration and human-scale decision-making.

Alternative tech has often copied governance assumptions from the #mainstreaming. The #4opens offers a simpler starting point for building governance structures native to the #Fediverse.

The #OGB is a path to move beyond #mainstreaming: governance that fits the culture of federated, open, grassroots networks rather than forcing them into centralised models.

#OGB #openweb #Fediverse #4opens #OMN #DIY #FOSS

Living through twenty years of #dotcons addiction

https://hamishcampbell.com/living-through-twenty-years-of-dotcons-addiction/

Living through twenty years of #dotcons addiction

https://hamishcampbell.com/living-through-twenty-years-of-dotcons-addiction/

#climatechaos has arrived I see it everywhere, on the river, online but not so much in traditional media which lags holding onto a #mainstreaming #deathcult worshipping.

#climatechaos has arrived I see it everywhere, on the river, online but not so much in traditional media which lags holding onto a #mainstreaming #deathcult worshipping.

Feelings/facts, stupidindividualism is about peoples role in systems

https://hamishcampbell.com/feelings-facts-stupidindividualism-is-about-peoples-role-in-systems/

Media, the deathcult and climatechaos

https://hamishcampbell.com/media-the-deathcult-and-climatechaos/

Media, the deathcult and climatechaos

https://hamishcampbell.com/media-the-deathcult-and-climatechaos/

The Fediverse is fun and growing, but it seems to kinda be on autopilot at the moment

https://hamishcampbell.com/the-fediverse-is-fun-and-growing-but-it-seems-to-kinda-be-on-autopilot-at-the-moment/

In #mainstreaming politics, the political spectrum has shifted so far to the right that the choices have narrowed dramatically.

In the USA, mainstream politics feels like a choice between the extreme right and fascism. In the UK, it's a choice between the extreme right and the centre-right.

When these are the only options presented, imagining real alternatives becomes much harder.

#OMN #deathcult #openweb #4opens

In #mainstreaming politics, the political spectrum has shifted so far to the right that the choices have narrowed dramatically.

In the USA, mainstream politics feels like a choice between the extreme right and fascism. In the UK, it's a choice between the extreme right and the centre-right.

When these are the only options presented, imagining real alternatives becomes much harder.

#OMN #deathcult #openweb #4opens

When dealing with #mainstreaming people, I get "management speak" dressed up as praise. It's often patronising and used to steer or deflect rather than engage.

My response is simple: ignore the fluff, give a brief look that says "you're not helping", then push the conversation back to the actual task.

Less manipulation. More honesty. It's basic #KISS.

When dealing with #mainstreaming people, I get "management speak" dressed up as praise. It's often patronising and used to steer or deflect rather than engage.

My response is simple: ignore the fluff, give a brief look that says "you're not helping", then push the conversation back to the actual task.

Less manipulation. More honesty. It's basic #KISS.

A simple definition of the #geekproblem - the habit of treating the social side of technology as if it's outside technology.

You can build perfect code, but if you ignore people, governance and trust, you've only built half a system.

This creates strong #mainstreaming and acts as a #blocking force against working alternatives. It's time we started talking about the #geekproblem.

A simple definition of the #geekproblem - the habit of treating the social side of technology as if it's outside technology.

You can build perfect code, but if you ignore people, governance and trust, you've only built half a system.

This creates strong #mainstreaming and acts as a #blocking force against working alternatives. It's time we started talking about the #geekproblem.

The answer isn’t to run away, it’s to root ourselves somewhere that can’t be shut down. The #dotcons, #mainstreaming, and Build to Walk Away https://hamishcampbell.com/the-dotcons-mainstreaming-and-build-and-walk-away/

The answer isn’t to run away, it’s to root ourselves somewhere that can’t be shut down. The #dotcons, #mainstreaming, and Build to Walk Away https://hamishcampbell.com/the-dotcons-mainstreaming-and-build-and-walk-away/

One of the biggest problems we face is that we've forgotten how to talk about society.

Outside the #mainstreaming agenda, conversations quickly collapse into individual opinions and personal choices. We struggle to think in terms of communities, the #commons and collective action.

That's one of the deepest effects of #deathcult thinking. It trains us to see everything through the lens of individualism, making even simple #KISS ideas about cooperation and shared responsibility seem strange.

We need to get back on our feet.

#OMN #openweb #4opens

One of the biggest problems we face is that we've forgotten how to talk about society.

Outside the #mainstreaming agenda, conversations quickly collapse into individual opinions and personal choices. We struggle to think in terms of communities, the #commons and collective action.

That's one of the deepest effects of #deathcult thinking. It trains us to see everything through the lens of individualism, making even simple #KISS ideas about cooperation and shared responsibility seem strange.

We need to get back on our feet.

#OMN #openweb #4opens

How liberal media tries to “fix” liberal media

https://hamishcampbell.com/lets-look-at-how-liberal-media-tries-to-fix-liberal-media/

To escape the #geekproblem, we need to let go of the fantasy of perfect solutions. The path forward is to mediate problems into better, messier outcomes - then repeat. We don't know exactly where we'll end up, and giving up the need for control is the first step.

The second step is using the #4opens to compost #techchurn and redirect the energy of the #fashionistas toward projects that can actually challenge #mainstreaming.

Step by step. That's how change grows. #OMN #openweb #KISS

To escape the #geekproblem, we need to let go of the fantasy of perfect solutions. The path forward is to mediate problems into better, messier outcomes - then repeat. We don't know exactly where we'll end up, and giving up the need for control is the first step.

The second step is using the #4opens to compost #techchurn and redirect the energy of the #fashionistas toward projects that can actually challenge #mainstreaming.

Step by step. That's how change grows. #OMN #openweb #KISS

Four years ago I said: the #deathcult was becoming #mainstreaming.

Today it's much harder to deny. The cracks are visible, in politics, economics, culture and #climatechaos.

That's the bad news.

The good news? Once you recognise the mess, you can step away from it. That's where change begins.

#OMN #openweb #4opens #KISS

Four years ago I said: the #deathcult was becoming #mainstreaming.

Today it's much harder to deny. The cracks are visible, in politics, economics, culture and #climatechaos.

That's the bad news.

The good news? Once you recognise the mess, you can step away from it. That's where change begins.

#OMN #openweb #4opens #KISS

If you use #mainstreaming tools, you'll get #deathcult outcomes. That's not surprising, it's how systems reproduce themselves.

The same is true of process. Using the same "common sense" approaches to create change simply reinforces the status quo. I call this #blocking.

In tech, it becomes #techchurn. In culture, it's often amplified by the #fashionistas.

If we want different outcomes, we need different tools and different processes. That's the path of #OMN and the #4opens. #openweb #KISS

If you use #mainstreaming tools, you'll get #deathcult outcomes. That's not surprising, it's how systems reproduce themselves.

The same is true of process. Using the same "common sense" approaches to create change simply reinforces the status quo. I call this #blocking.

In tech, it becomes #techchurn. In culture, it's often amplified by the #fashionistas.

If we want different outcomes, we need different tools and different processes. That's the path of #OMN and the #4opens. #openweb #KISS

Your viral lefty memes might feel like resistance, but #mainstreaming their part of the problem.

Comedy and sarcasm drive engagement, clicks, data collection and on the #dotcons ad revenue. Mocking the system while feeding its algorithms doesn't weaken it - it strengthens it.

Real resistance isn't better content for their platforms. It's building and moving to the #openweb.

#StepAway, and bring your community with you.

#OMN #4opens #Fediverse #SocialChange

Your viral lefty memes might feel like resistance, but #mainstreaming their part of the problem.

Comedy and sarcasm drive engagement, clicks, data collection and on the #dotcons ad revenue. Mocking the system while feeding its algorithms doesn't weaken it - it strengthens it.

Real resistance isn't better content for their platforms. It's building and moving to the #openweb.

#StepAway, and bring your community with you.

#OMN #4opens #Fediverse #SocialChange

Make the #4opens fashionable

https://hamishcampbell.com/make-the-4opens-fashionable/

Europe’s digital sovereignty needs challenges

https://hamishcampbell.com/europes-digital-sovereignty-needs-challenges/

One of our mistakes is treating every #fashionista project as if it were native #openweb.

Too often, grassroots ideas are picked up, systematised, and reshaped into something acceptable to #mainstreaming institutions. The tools may remain "open", but the social process and governance shift.

The #Fediverse shows both sides of this. It has revived the #openweb, but it also carries the assumptions of the wider culture. Without care, we reproduce the same hierarchies, gatekeeping, and #geekproblem we were trying to escape.

The answer isn't rejection, it's composting, use the #4opens to ask simple questions:

Is the data open? Is the code open? Are the standards open? Most importantly, is the process open?

If not, we're probably looking at another layer of #mainstreaming rather than genuine commons. Let's balance the repeating inherited agendas and start building native grassroots alternatives please.

#OMN #OGB #indymediaback #KISS #DIY #Fediverse

One of our mistakes is treating every #fashionista project as if it were native #openweb.

Too often, grassroots ideas are picked up, systematised, and reshaped into something acceptable to #mainstreaming institutions. The tools may remain "open", but the social process and governance shift.

The #Fediverse shows both sides of this. It has revived the #openweb, but it also carries the assumptions of the wider culture. Without care, we reproduce the same hierarchies, gatekeeping, and #geekproblem we were trying to escape.

The answer isn't rejection, it's composting, use the #4opens to ask simple questions:

Is the data open? Is the code open? Are the standards open? Most importantly, is the process open?

If not, we're probably looking at another layer of #mainstreaming rather than genuine commons. Let's balance the repeating inherited agendas and start building native grassroots alternatives please.

#OMN #OGB #indymediaback #KISS #DIY #Fediverse

@murdoc

Add this to the last article: hy Stories Matter on the #OMN

Facts matter, technology matters, governance matters. But people rarely change because they read theory, a specification or a list of features. People change because of stories, this is why storytelling is central to the #OMN path. A story gives people somewhere to stand, it connects ideas to lived experience.

Instead of explaining the #4opens as an abstract framework, tell the story of a community escaping a #dotcons platform by building trust on the #openweb. Instead of arguing about governance, tell the story of how a group solved a conflict through #OpenProcess. Instead of listing technical features, tell the story of someone who regained control of their community tech after years of platform lock-in.

Stories carry values, the last forty years of #mainstreaming have been held together by stories about competition, consumption and individual success. These stories have normalised the #deathcult, making extraction and enclosure feel like "common sense." We now need better stories about cooperation instead of competition, commons balancing ownership, about trust instead of surveillance. Stories about building rather than consuming.

The #Fediverse itself is a story, an accidental reboot of the #openweb that proves another internet is possible. It isn't perfect, but it demonstrates that people can build social infrastructure without billionaires directing the conversation.

The challenge is that the academics or the #geekproblem tell stories only to other, academics or geeks, technical and academic paths are important, but they don't inspire people to act, so we need stories that people can understand:

A neighbourhood rebuilding local media.

Boaters organising to defend the waterways as a commons.

Communities escaping the #dotcons.

Volunteers composting #techchurn into useful tools.

Ordinary people discovering that they can build infrastructure together.

These stories become shared memory, shared memory becomes culture, culture shapes "common sense." and changing common sense is how lasting social change happens. So don't just build software or academic theory, tell stories that help people imagine themselves as part of a healthier #openweb.

#OMN #FOSS #openweb #4opens #ActivityPub #Fediverse #commons #DIY #makinghistory

https://hamishcampbell.com/why-foss-matters-socially/

@murdoc

Add this to the last article: hy Stories Matter on the #OMN

Facts matter, technology matters, governance matters. But people rarely change because they read theory, a specification or a list of features. People change because of stories, this is why storytelling is central to the #OMN path. A story gives people somewhere to stand, it connects ideas to lived experience.

Instead of explaining the #4opens as an abstract framework, tell the story of a community escaping a #dotcons platform by building trust on the #openweb. Instead of arguing about governance, tell the story of how a group solved a conflict through #OpenProcess. Instead of listing technical features, tell the story of someone who regained control of their community tech after years of platform lock-in.

Stories carry values, the last forty years of #mainstreaming have been held together by stories about competition, consumption and individual success. These stories have normalised the #deathcult, making extraction and enclosure feel like "common sense." We now need better stories about cooperation instead of competition, commons balancing ownership, about trust instead of surveillance. Stories about building rather than consuming.

The #Fediverse itself is a story, an accidental reboot of the #openweb that proves another internet is possible. It isn't perfect, but it demonstrates that people can build social infrastructure without billionaires directing the conversation.

The challenge is that the academics or the #geekproblem tell stories only to other, academics or geeks, technical and academic paths are important, but they don't inspire people to act, so we need stories that people can understand:

A neighbourhood rebuilding local media.

Boaters organising to defend the waterways as a commons.

Communities escaping the #dotcons.

Volunteers composting #techchurn into useful tools.

Ordinary people discovering that they can build infrastructure together.

These stories become shared memory, shared memory becomes culture, culture shapes "common sense." and changing common sense is how lasting social change happens. So don't just build software or academic theory, tell stories that help people imagine themselves as part of a healthier #openweb.

#OMN #FOSS #openweb #4opens #ActivityPub #Fediverse #commons #DIY #makinghistory

https://hamishcampbell.com/why-foss-matters-socially/

This was my thinking on the Fediverse a few years ago – building commons

https://hamishcampbell.com/this-was-my-thinking-on-the-fediverse-a-few-years-ago-building-commons/

Dealing with #mainstreaming people is exhausting - not because most have bad intentions, but because decades of life inside a #deathcult system leave us carrying habits of fear, distrust and learned helplessness.

We need better social ways to mediate this mess: compassion, yes, but also clarity, boundaries and collective care.

That's part of the work of #OMN, the #openweb and the #4opens. #NothingNew #SocialChange

Dealing with #mainstreaming people is exhausting - not because most have bad intentions, but because decades of life inside a #deathcult system leave us carrying habits of fear, distrust and learned helplessness.

We need better social ways to mediate this mess: compassion, yes, but also clarity, boundaries and collective care.

That's part of the work of #OMN, the #openweb and the #4opens. #NothingNew #SocialChange

Why #FOSS matters socially

https://hamishcampbell.com/why-foss-matters-socially/

Why #FOSS matters socially

https://hamishcampbell.com/why-foss-matters-socially/

The centrist #mainstreaming agenda is looking hopeless, and that's genuinely sad. The question is: what do we do with the people who keep pushing it instead of supporting #openweb alternatives?

Neither pity nor hate is much use. We need a practical path out of this "common sense" trap, one that helps people step away from it rather than dig in deeper.

That's what #OMN and the #4opens are about. #KISS

The centrist #mainstreaming agenda is looking hopeless, and that's genuinely sad. The question is: what do we do with the people who keep pushing it instead of supporting #openweb alternatives?

Neither pity nor hate is much use. We need a practical path out of this "common sense" trap, one that helps people step away from it rather than dig in deeper.

That's what #OMN and the #4opens are about. #KISS

Our failure to mediate the mess

https://hamishcampbell.com/our-failure-to-mediate-the-mess/

Why we use the #deathcult hashtag

https://hamishcampbell.com/why-we-use-the-deathcult-hashtag/

"Thus for art to be 'unpolitical' means only to ally itself with the 'ruling' group."
Bertolt Brecht

This applies far beyond art. Media, technology and even silence are political. Claiming to be "neutral" means accepting the existing distribution of power.

The question isn't whether we take sides - it's whether we side with the #mainstreaming #deathcult, or help build commons through the #openweb and projects like #OMN.

One thing has shifted over the last few years: it's becoming #mainstreaming to recognise that #neoliberalism is a #deathcult.

Endless growth on a finite planet.

Privatised wealth, socialised costs.

Extraction dressed up as "common sense."

Recognising the problem is a start. The harder step is building practical alternatives based on the commons, community and the #openweb.

That's the path of #OMN.

Four years ago I said:

"Hey #fashernistas and #chatteringclasses, stop obsessing over #Musk."

Since then, Musk has bought #Twitter, renamed it X, lurched through one controversy after another, to become a central path in the culture wars, and turned himself into the story. Millions have spent years reacting to him.

Meanwhile, the real issue hasn't changed. The problem was never one billionaire. In tech, it was always our dependence on centralised #dotcons and the #mainstreaming attention economy.

Don't let personalities distract you from building alternatives. #indymediaback #OMN and #OGB are all #KISS grassroots projects focused on growing the #openweb and the commons.

Get off your knees, step away from the #mainstreaming news cycle, and build a future instead.

#KISS

The #4opens is a simple, practical tool to evaluate and guide grassroots, alternative tech projects. It judges how "open" and trustworthy a project is, helping to distinguish native #openweb efforts from #closedweb or captured ones (e.g., #dotcons like corporate social media).

The Four Opens

* Open Data - The basic truth of the project. Data (content, metadata, etc.) should be openly accessible and exportable/portable. This prevents lock-in and enables sharing, archiving, and reuse by communities.

* Open Source - The code (or equivalent for non-software projects) is publicly available under a free/open license. This allows inspection, modification, and forking, embodying #FOSS principles but integrated into a wider social context.

* Open Standards - The project uses (and contributes to) interoperable, non-proprietary standards. This supports federation, compatibility across tools/instances, and avoids silos (e.g., #ActivityPub in the #Fediverse).

Open Process (the critical addition) - Transparent, participatory decision-making and governance. This is not just technical openness but social openness: how the project is run, how power is handled, how feedback shapes direction, and how it avoids hidden hierarchies or #NGO-style capture. It emphasizes trust-building, commons-oriented culture, and composting conflicts through visible, inclusive processes.

How this works in practice
Badging system (simple and motivational):
* 2 opens: Bronze badge (basic alt/grassroots alignment).
* 3 opens: Silver badge.
* 4 opens: Gold badge (full native #openweb project).

Projects self-assess and are evaluated by the community using these criteria. It's designed to be #KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) - easy to apply without bureaucracy.

It acts as a compass for #openweb vs. #closedweb. Use it to judge value, compost #techcrap/#techchurn, resist enclosure, and build trust-based digital commons. It's explicitly a social restating/extension of #FOSS paths, adding the missing social layer (#openprocess) that pure technical openness often lacks.

Only technical openness (e.g., open source + data) still leads to #geekproblem outcomes, meritocracy, fragmentation ("just fork it"), or capture by careerists/#fashionistas if process and culture are closed.

The #4opens prioritizes human-centred, trust-based infrastructure over scale, funding, or individual exit. This supports horizontal activism, mutual aid, and decentralized organizing (e.g., in #Indymedia history or current #Fediverse efforts).

Examples: Mastodon (when aligned) can score high; corporate platforms like Facebook score low across the board. It helps grow networks where communities own their storytelling, governance, and tools.

The framework is not rigid dogma but a living tool for "composting the mess" - turning failed and captured projects into fertile ground for better ones. It's central to #OMN projects, which are working on building federated, grassroots media and social infrastructure.

To sum up, it’s a powerful, low-overhead way to keep tech aligned with grassroots values rather than drifting into #mainstreaming or #deathcult logics of extraction and control.

Looking back: 15 years of working on the #openweb

Looking back through #dotcons notes and blog posts, it's striking how little the underlying issues have changed. The language has evolved, the technology has moved, but the same struggle keeps resurfacing.

Back in December 2010 - "The battle for the internet is switching from a cold war to a hot war." At the time this sounded dramatic. Today it feels almost understated. The enclosure of the web has accelerated. A handful of corporations dominate communication, control public discourse and increasingly shape #mainstreaming politics. The battle is no longer hidden, it is happening in plain sight.

Around the same time - "There is NO GOOD FUTURE in corporate social networks. FULL STOP." Fifteen years later, this feels less like a prediction than an observation. The #dotcons built business models around surveillance, advertising and behavioural manipulation. Those incentives inevitably produced outrage, misinformation, polarisation and dependency. These outcomes weren't bugs - they were features of the economic path.

In 2011, I was reflecting on experiences with #climatecamp, #indymedia and horizontal organising, I described people as: "Mannequins dancing to barely visible strings." That image has stayed with me. Much of our activism became reactive, pulled by hidden incentives, #NGO funding priorities, social media algorithms and media cycles. We believed we were acting freely while following paths laid out for us by systems we barely noticed.

By 2017, frustration with this pattern had become sharper "The #fashionistas are making lame excuses not to embrace the #reboot of the #openweb." Too many people who talked endlessly about change continued investing their time, energy and communities into the very #dotcons corporate platforms causing the problem. The excuses changed, but the outcome stayed the same: further enclosure and further dependence.

Then in 2019, the thinking behind the #OMN had become clearer *"The #OMN is a social technology held together by the #4opens that pushes into being a digital commons. What we then do with this liberated space is up to us." This remains the heart of the project.

#OMN has never been about building yet another platform. It is about creating social infrastructure. The technology matters, but only because it enables communities to organise, publish, collaborate and govern themselves.

The #4opens are not simply a development methodology; they are a way of building trust. They create the conditions for commons to grow.

Looking back, I'm pleased that the core direction hasn't really changed. The problem was never simply Facebook, Twitter or Google.The problem was always centralisation. The answer was never another app.The answer was always rebuilding the commons.

The task now is much the same as it was fifteen years ago to stop feeding the #dotcons, compost the failures, nurture the green shoots and continue the long reboot of the #openweb.

Some ideas age badly. Others simply become more urgent.

The left/liberal landscape is a wasteland of failure. Decades of compromise, managerial politics and #mainstreaming have left it exhausted.

But even in the rubble, green shoots are emerging. The task isn't to mourn what's failed - it's to nurture what can grow.

That's the path of the commons, the #openweb and #OMN.

It should surprise no one that #mainstreaming institutions like the #EU struggle to imagine paths beyond the current mess. But they do have power and resources, so even a small shift toward genuinely useful work can have real impact.

The challenge is getting them to look away from the #deathcult long enough to support alternatives, We also have our own #geekproblem to overcome. That's the harder part. Ideas matter, but so do resources.

#OMN #openweb #4opens

Which Nature Are We Growing?

https://hamishcampbell.com/which-nature-are-we-growing/

The #OMN plan, is to keep working and presume people will stop being #mainstreaming prats at some point. The #Fashionista problem: How fear blocks change https://hamishcampbell.com/the-fashionista-problem-how-fear-blocks-change/