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Fediverse @lemmy.world
blue_berry @lemmy.world

The Fediverse needs its own transformative narrative

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?

14 comments

  • Less profit oriented corporations, that's the obvious one.

    Unfortunately, not a lot of people care

  • What would be the goal?

    • You cannot win people solely through rational arguments. Stories can help here especially if the Fediverse is still small. It could also motivate people already in the Fediverse to keep supporting it

  • 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?

  • For climate change we made SolarPunk for the fediverse we have FediPunk

  • 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.

14 comments