Usenet was what the Web is missing nowadays: a genuinely public space, with unclear ownership
New_ Public Invests in Local Online Spaces as Digital Civic Infrastru…
archived 11 Apr 2025 17:34:52 UTC
Long Live the Web: A Call for Continued Open Standards and Neutrality
The Web is critical not merely to the digital revolution but to our continued prosperity—and even our liberty. Like democracy itself, it needs defending
Rethink: Web - Open Space
When we struggle to explain the inherent qualities of a medium, we tend to defer to analogies and metaphors. This is especially true of the internet. Clouds, highways, streams, and real estate are just a few examples of the concepts employed to represent this intangible invention. Staring into a screen, it’s easy to imagine an […]
Framing to Grow the Open Social Web and Serve Democratic Freedoms – Position Paper / Richard Reisman
Framing to Grow the Open Social Web and Serve Democratic Freedoms – Position Paper Richard Reisman (Discussion Draft 2/13/26) For FediForum Un-Workshop March 2, 2026 Growing the usage and functionality of the social web to meet the needs of humanity requires a broadened framing of the task and ...
Digital Spaces Directory | New_ Public
As the social media landscape changes and a new wave of digital spaces emerges, this Directory is meant to be a resource for our field — a jumping-off-point for further exploration and research for anyone who’s interested in studying, building, stewarding, or simply using digital social platforms. We hope this will inspire creative exploration, spark new collaborations, and highlight important progress.
The Internet is a Global Public Resource | The Mozilla Blog
One of the things that first drew me to Mozilla was this sentence from our manifesto: “The Internet is a global public resource that must remain open and
It's time to rebuild the web
The web was never supposed to be a few walled gardens of concentrated content owned by a few major publishers; it was supposed to be a cacophony of different sites and voices.
Introducing Ringspace: A Proposal for the Human Web
For months, I've been working on a project to demonstrate how we can preserve humanity on the web. It's finally ready for testing.
Usenet
Usenet, short for User's Network, is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was established in 1980. Users read and post messages to one or more topic categories, known as newsgroups. Usenet resembles a bulletin board system (BBS) in many respects and is the precursor to the Internet forums that were developed after the introduction of the World Wide Web. Discussions are threaded, as with web forums and BBSes, though posts are stored on the server sequentially.
New_ Public
We are researchers, engineers, designers, and community leaders working together to create digital public spaces where people can thrive and connect.
Federating friendly spaces - Roomy
hearkening back to the cozy vibes of old-web neighborhoods
Computational Public Space
Chapters — Intro, Communal computing, This presentation, Physicality — Globalization, Centrally-planned, Isolating, Private property, Surveillance, Consumption, Hidden — Summary, Outline
Creating a Flourishing Digital Public Space for Your Local Area | Notion
A how-to guide for admins and moderators of inclusive, uplifting, and public-spirited local Facebook groups, Discord servers, subreddits, and more...
The Paradox of Open
Numerous organisations and initiatives have been launched with a belief in openness and free knowledge. Their proponents placed their bets on the combined power of networked information services and new governance models for the production and sharing of content and data. We – as members of this broad movement – were among those who believed it possible to leverage this combination of power and opportunity to build a more democratic society, unleashing the power of the internet to create universal access to knowledge and culture. For us, such openness meant not only freedom, but also presented a path to justice and equality.
European Commission (@EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu)
Attached: 1 image A strong Europe needs independent digital spaces. We believe true digital sovereignty thrives on a competitive, contestable, open ecosystem where diverse platforms co-exist. Today, we’re expanding our presence to W, the new social media. By being on W, we want to boost alternatives and support all efforts toward a decentralised web. And we continue to invest into our presence on the Fediverse!
Break up the Browsers. A Proposal to Save the Open Web. - Movement For An Open Web
The Open Web is one of the world’s modern wonders. Based on core, universally recognised technical standards and owned and controlled by no one body, it is a unique structureRead More
