November 9, 2020 -- noon
Hi folks,
I am new to this forum, and I am also relatively new to any kind of chat since I primarily write longer articles and so forth, rather than quick back-and forth, as I often need time to think--and to reply in a way that addresses multiple points at a time.
It is quite encouraging to me that activists are engaged in the work to create alternate social media platforms, as this has been the main focus on my work since long before the term "social media" was coined.
My work is aimed primarily at addressing the need for a universal and democratic public arena where the most important questions related to the revolutionary movement of the working class and oppressed can be discussed and debated in productive way--with a high signal-to-noise ratio.
Such a public arena would make use of democratic algorithms and would make it possible for activists of all anti-capitalist trends (excluding only fascists and racists, etc) to participate in a democratic way and fight for their views on a level and democratic playing field.
I view the Komrade/Comrad projects as useful and I want to encourage continued work on them, as I believe that our movement has a need for safe and secure communication.
At the same time, I will give my view that the greatest need of our movement is for a public and democratic forum, that cannot be controlled by any corporation, government, cargo cult or group of opportunists.
The emphasis of the Komrade/Comrad projects appears to be largely to address the need for safe and secure communication. My view is that such a safe and secure system would (among other things) provide a safe and secure portal to the kind of public arena that is my focus.
I look forward to discussion with any activists who would like to share their opinions with me or who are interested in my views on any of these topics. I have given links (below) to some of my recent writing on these topics.
And I need help (primarily in the form of thoughtful comments and encouragement) related to the need to create a democratic public forum (at http://communism.org ) which is open to anti-capitalist activists from all trends.
I am posting this note of mine (together with graphics of what I call the "solar model" of an information war machine) at: http://communism.org/node/4012 and at Reddit (the Reddit link will be found at node 4012).
I will check back at this chat location at least once or twice in the next week, although Reddit is easier for me to use and I prefer it because of the many advantages of public and transparent discussion with long-term archives.
Please add a "#public" tag to your comment if you want to give me permission to copy/paste it to the public reddit post with this thread.
All the best,
Ben Seattle
All power to the public domain
Links
==================================================== (1) Links related to the Comrad project: ==================================================== https://komrade.app https://github.com/ComradOrg/Comrad/wiki/Comparison-of-alternative-social-networks ==================================================== (2) Links to Ben Seattle's writing on these topics: ==================================================== Link to Reddit discussion thread for this node. Democratic Algorithms for the Proletarian Mind (June 2020) What principles must guide the democratic social media platform in our future ? http://communism.org/node/4002 Red and Green projects -- work and play (September 2020) http://communism.org/node/4005 Spartacus Ex Machina (November 2017) In the middle of this century, a new kind of public and democratic information machine will emerge as an invincible weapon in the struggle of the proletariat to break free from the rule of capital and fulfill all the dreams of humankind. This machine will connect every part of the proletarian mind. This machine will allow the proletariat to make itself conscious, and create a world of peace, abundance, and genuine community for all. https://warforquadranttwo.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/sex_machina.pdf
November 9 (later in the day)
Hi xxxx,
Congratulations, xxxx, you appear to be the first person (in the 3 years since I wrote it) who has asked a question that proves that you have read the "post-it note machine" section of "Spartacus Ex Machina".
> Even if jane says x,y,and z are jerks, what happens when jane reads > too much decolonial theory and bans all settlers from her feed?
Then her subscribers eventually find out they are missing good posts (via a variety of methods) and unsub to her filter.
> it relies on people basically putting in lots of time/work to read > and filter shit daily
Well, it does not have to be daily. The point is that if someone acts like a jerk--they will receive a "jerk ticket" and 2 or 3 such tickets will cut their audience quite a bit. So they will need to learn to treat people with respect or only be able to talk to themselves or other jerks. It is a largely automatic process. It is called "creating a community".
If someone writes a bad jerk ticket--they will get ticketed for that--quickly. It is called "reputation".
> The big problem i see is when you dont know what you're missing > out on, but if you want to see everything, then you're met with > this massive dump that you cant work through.
No--you have lots of choices for filters. As a user you will not need to use the same filter 100% of the time. You can try using one of Jim's public filters. You will see the difference.
Furthermore--say you follow someone like AAA--and note that AAA recommends a post by BBB. So you look at BBB and note that BBB is usually filtered out by Jane. So you either unsub from Jane's filter or message Jane and recommend that she clean up her act.
It is a community and it is an *ecosystem*.
Each part adjusts itself to the other parts, based on the will, motivation and actions of each user.
The decisions reflect the will and intent of the users rather than the laws of commodity production which seek to steal your attention and sell it to advertisers.
> Ive sort of come to the conclusion for myself that its not worth > the time and effort to pursue something liek this
You are free to make that choice ;-)
It is clear to me that we need something better than what we have now.
All the best,
Ben
November 11
> you don't have HTTPS and your SSL is outdated, > even more, I can't even visit your site without > disabling HHTPS Everywhere.
Yeah, sorry about that. I do what I can. I need to focus on what is decisive.
You can spin up a VM and use that to look at node 4012. That might give you at least some safety and security.
My focus is not security. There is a need for security and a place for security--but I do not make a fetish of security.
I became an activist in the mid-1970's. As I learned more, I gradually realized that in revolutions, activists are often targeted and killed. Before becoming more serious--I made a decision to study the likelyhood that I would have the ability to work for 10 years before this happened to me. After a while it became clear that I was far more likely to die of cancer, stroke or heart attack than at the hands of a death squad.
The graphics I created at node 4012 (ie: the solar model) help to illustrate the distinction between what I call "red" and "green" systems. Most of the focus here appears to be on green systems of various kinds. I am focused (mainly) on red systems. If my work proves useful--others will come along, I believe, and re-engineer the system in a less jury-rigged duct-tape-and-bailing-wire way.
> Are you an author, or do you have a degree > in something? Because you look like professional > or with some background.
I am kind of a journalist (and theoretician) who writes about the left. I was a maoist in the 1970's. That was an exciting time.
I have a degree in Engineering that is nearly 50 years old. So much of what I know is obsolete. But some principles do not change. I had an argument with Richard Feynman about the future of the internet (back when the internet was known as arpanet, and was not the internet as we know it today). I currently work (at a quite low level) in IT and am currently relearning how to write scripts because I last learned how to write html in the mid-1990's.
> Also, I don't quite understand how your > website works.
That is probably because it doesn't "work" at all. The site at http://communism.org is mainly a showcase for my essays and for design principles that reflect the philosophy of information-at-a-glance and political transparency.
Everything will ultimately revolve around transparency.
I intend to automate the site if I live long enough. Maybe you folks can give me ideas for the kinds of design that would be practical and useful?
Currently, I simply edit all of the html using notepad--but I am attempting to (experimentally) find formats that make it easy for users to follow threads and find the info they need. Having a design that I am enthusiastic about will (I am hoping) motivate me to get started on scripting.
> And, what do you think about Reddit > being a data robber and of > it stop being libre?
My attitude is that we should be robust in our efforts in the face of any kind of hardship and difficulty. It will take a while (maybe a decade or thereabouts, is my guess) before we have forums that will leave Reddit and FB in the dust.
What I need help with--from you folks--is mainly encouragement and ideas re: how a good UI will make it easy for readers to find articles and follow comment threads on a site which serves as a universal publishing platform for all anti-capitalist trends.
Also--when I have enough karma to create a reddit group--I intend to create a public reddit forum to discuss design principles. Reddit will be useful because it will be important to make discussion of these principles as accessible as possible to all activists.
Finally--if you have not looked at them yet--I recommend reading my letters at nodes 4002 and 4005, and the graphics at node 4012, and the lengthy essay "Spartacus Ex Machina".
All the best,
Ben