Rising water floods more homes, so let the tides turn
No shadows in the eye, no flowers in the air;
Rising waters lifts up boats, more clay makes for a bigger statue;
Don't come to ask, for I have no answer,
Understood?
Waves lap at the edge of the shoreline, an endless rhythm of back and forth, back and forth.
It feels much too familiar, like a song I know all too well.
Is it some pattern of escapism? An echo of how my last occupation went?
That YOLO attitude of severing connections and seeing what follows? Back to a near isolate lifestyle, that I occasionally brush past?
Even as the lyrics rhyme, and the chorus repeats non-stop in my head. My mind can't help but wonder, isn't it different this time? Or is it the same?
No, it can't be right?
Does it ever end?
Let's begin with the extinct elephant-cousin in the room - Mastodon.
To be frank, I joined the social platform when I noticed the #mappymeme creator started an account there, because - entertainment. Before that, a lecturer I knew also had an account there for a few months already, but I wasn't paying much attention back then.
- Sure, maybe I saw some news in passing on how some billionaire was going to buy the birdsite, but all my 'followers' were there!
- Sure, I did get super annoyed that some of my chat history was lost at some other proprietary messaging platform, but all my 'contacts' are there!
- Sure, some part of me did worry about the move towards the oligopolistic 'cloud' and how it affects those not connected to it, but all the data is flowing there!
Really, I don't know where I'm going with this. Once upon a time, I was a big fan of decentralized networks like Diaspora* (which is still alive, who knew?). Not that I was very active on it, but there was something about having the power to own your social data. The network effect was always an issue though. Most of my friends were using some other book, and it's hard to convince the masses to move.
It was the same with messaging platforms like MSN. No matter how nice protocols like XMPP and IRC were to talk to different clients, if not many of my friends use it, it was as good as useless. Same thing with stuff on mobile, a different green app for the various regional groups I associate with.
Then there's cloud computing, which I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, if you're 'in' the ecosystem, which typically means people of a particular geographic locality, then it's increasingly the default. Having been 'outside' for the past few years though, it is nothing short of frustrating to be left with the crumbs after the cake has been eaten.
But let's go back to just social media for the moment.
It does feel nothing short of liberating, to just leave and see that the grass is indeed greener on the other side.
Why? Because the 'new' social Fediverse is deliberate, it gives you that extra sense of control, you feel that you have the power.
And with great power, comes great responsibility. Many people forget that, some resist reminders of their privilege, even outright ignore it.
Others use their power to elevate the unheard voices. Channeling the energy to right wrongs, bring justice to those harmed, or just providing solidarity.
Cycles, it is all but still cyclic.
As the floodwater rises, there are only so many lives you can rescue.
Do you pull them into you boat? Letting them be forever indebted to you?
Do you teach them how to build boats? Hope they survive and carry on with their lives?
Did they know you were the one pumping up the sea level? Will they turn the tide against your boat?
One thing I'm constantly working on reframing in my mind, is the concept of a binary 'us' vs 'them'. Communication exists to bridge the space between people, so let's use it properly for the purpose of connection.
In fact, even a decentralized platform like Mastodon (which is organized as separate server instances) knows that echo chambers are an issue. Hence, the lack of quoting messages and related design decisions that reduce algorithmic amplification. The nudge towards having conversations directly with the person instead of your own filter bubble is a welcome one. Sure, it might not be a perfect system, but it is purposefully worse for the better.
The contrast was something I experienced first hand when testing three different social platforms (Mastodon, Twitter and Instagram) at once for the COP27 PolarImpact takeover! Discounting a bit the level of engagement I got (since the audiences were vastly different), here are my thoughts:
- Instagram stories were surprisingly fun, once I got the hang of the interface. Like, I could see the appeal (read: addictiveness), and this was definitely the most interactive platform (like you could reply in animated videos!).
- Twitter was ok. I guess I was mostly like "Hey, there's this cool thing!", and I do feel that a more reporting-like style works for this platform.
- Mastodon was at that point, super fresh for me. The biggest plus is more space for words (500 characters) to articulate nuances, and the really DIY feel of curating your experience. More of a - watch this space.
Intrinsically, we do recognize the value of having a network effect. People are inherently social creatures, and it's not enough to have something be 'better', you need to get enough people around the idea.
As a tangent, I sat in this workshop at a symposium a few weeks ago, where medical professionals were brainstorming ideas on how to get their patients onto a plant-based diet. There were talks about what sort of information to put on a pamphlet, videos, recipes, and so on that would nudge people to make better nutritional choices. It reminded me though, of an environmental psychology lesson I took back in 2015 - that feeding people with information doesn't work as well as peer pressure.
To link it back to #COP27 (where people are debating on climate solutions) and social media network effects and filter bubbles, what should we be doing?
People need to listen to each other, on a level playing field, and coordinate action with their own hands.
The scientists have spoken. And yes, while some still have an ivory tower mentality on publishing or perishing, I am seeing many more people leaving academia to fight for the climate cause. They understand that the act of doing science and throwing it to policy makers or corporations is futile, so they are becoming the policy writers and corporations.
And forget about the designer vs user thing. Or any A - authority vs M - minion for that matter. All too often, the smarter, more senior, more 'privileged' in 'X' person likes to interject with their opinion, trivializing a matter to make themselves feel like a know-it-all. People are people, so let's humanize them and allow them their voice to speak or communicate on their own terms without being misrepresented.
We have seen the democratization of media from big players to smaller fish. Yet even as our reach as individuals expand in the internet age, not everyone is provided with the same opportunity. There are still terms like equality, equity and justice being thrown around, minorities being systematically left to defend for their rights.
On the communication side, we are witnessing an important tipping point on how social media can work. No longer do we need to spread ourselves thin to take advantage of network effects across X platforms. ActivityPub (a protocol) decouples the network effect from the interface, this means you are free to choose the way you experience the interconnected web!
Concretely, imagine if next year, I didn't have to crosspost between Twitter, Instagram and Mastodon anymore, or any other trendy social media platform. It would be one entrypoint, federated to all ActivityPub speaking instances, just as what the original Web was like - Open.
And you can be a part of it. We all can.
We've been warned against building castles in other people's kingdoms.
But we would still like to visit other people's castles, right?
Is it better to live in a bigger castle? Or to have a passport that lets you enter many kingdoms?
Something that I've been fascinated recently, is the concept of building has-a-relationships rather than is-a-relationships. On connecting the dots, rather than collecting the dots.
I actually gave a talk recently, which was a bit technical, but it touched on some design principles that I'm increasingly fond of. Fundamentally, it was about building connections, while giving them the freedom to mature. Let success come from lifting everyone up, not from mindlessly capturing everyone's market share.
It's ok to start small, it's ok to make mistakes at first. But you need to listen to people, some people appreciate quick feedback loops, and some value the ability to plug and play their own prior art. Be humble when building sustainable communities.
Yes, there might be differences in opinion, but is there some consensus we can work on? What is thy attitude, towards moving forward on something critical, versus letting it languish until the problem grows bigger and bigger? If you don't fix it, someone might take the initiative, and that is totally fine, as long as you don't block it!
Who holds the key to the lock? Is the person holding the key ok with you copying it to unlock the door? Why is there even a lock in the first place?
On a closing note, as the tide rolls out, I think back to my roots, and what I truly stand for.
There have been draining moments, patient though I usually am, some things just can't wait anymore.
What used to be out of the question, is on the way to becoming reality. Actions speak, and so do numbers. Those who don't get it, are in for a surprise.
There are those who live in a black and white world, and there are those, who understand multi-faceted societies. Each to their own.
Stop being a white savior or fragile pink.
Why don't you look in a mirror.
And reflect.