Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 10hAlways nice to see your code working, even if it is a trivial gimmick: the hourglass countdown to next week's FediForum now has most of the sand in the bottom glass. Live: fediforum.org 021
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 29/09/2026Invest in us, invest in us, so we have the money we need to further increase the risk to wipe out humanity!cnn.comAnthropic says its AI models pose ‘existential risk to humanity’ in leaked IPO filing: report | CNN BusinessAnthropic says its AI models could pose a “catastrophic or existential risk to humanity” and can “resist shutdown,” according to an initial public offering prospectus obtained by Reuters. 010
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 28/09/2026And we thought Meta was a social media company.about.fb.comLaunching Meta Enterprise PlatformToday we are starting Meta Enterprise Platform to help businesses use AI to grow, and Chirantan "CJ" Desai will join Meta as Chief Enterprise Platform Officer 000
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 28/09/2026... it's really important for the (un-?)organizers of an un-conference to not define too much of the agenda, otherwise sooner or later it becomes a regular "everybody listen to me" conference and we have too many of those already. Maybe I can run 2 sessions? 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 28/09/2026It's the time before #FediForum when I wish I was merely an attendee, not an organizer. As an attendee, I would run soo many sessions, because there are soo many things I want to discuss and brainstorm with you all, and make progress on. But... 130
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 22/09/2026One of these days a major company is going to go under because the amount of vibe-coded code they have is so unsurmountable and unmaintainable, business comes to a full stop. Who is with me on this? #AI #vibecoding 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 20/09/2026Well, the propaganda seems to have been a major cause — but in very different directions. 010
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 20/09/2026And then Die Linke is down 33% in one state (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) and up 100% in another (Berlin) not too far away. How? 100
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 20/09/2026Looking at election results in Germany, I’m quite bewildered. First, the magnitude of changes in party support. 50%+ increase and decrease for some parties in one election cycle? Does this ever happen, anywhere? How? And today is the second time in which that happened recently. 221
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 16/09/2026People always look at me funny when I say this: if you decentralize one layer, you need to centralize some others otherwise it won't work. Example: if you have lots of decentralized nodes, the definition of the communication protocol needs to be centralized, otherwise they cannot communicate! 010
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 16/09/2026Having interesting opinions is the whole point of a good keynote speaker! 010
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 15/09/2026Amazon is giving up on their data center that was attacked in the Middle East. health.aws.amazon.co... 010
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 13/09/2026NoKings is back October 17. On a public street near you. See you then? www.nokings.org #NoKingsnokings.orgNo KingsFor more than a year, millions of people have come together to send a clear message: in America, we have no kings. Power doesn't belong to billionaires, strongmen, or politicians who think they're above accountability — it belongs to the people, but only if we use it. 131
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 12/09/2026The threat landscape appears to have fundamentally changed.united24media.comRussia Weaponized Claude AI to Spy on Ukraine and EuropeRussian hackers, linked to Midnight Blizzard, used Anthropic Claude AI for cyberespionage targeting over 20 Ukrainian organizations and defense firms. 010
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 09/09/2026Detailed, thought out and very scary. www.4hunger.org/p/hunger-for...4hunger.orgHunger Foretold: The Coming 2027 Hunger and the Free Public Maps, Research and Reports That Are Predicting ItEvery impact of the coming hunger and prediction of where El Niño will do the most harm is already being reported by government scientists, in public, on a schedule that you can follow. 000
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 02/09/2026This is deeply disturbing, on so many levels. www.dwarkesh.com/p/o... #openai #huggingfacedwarkesh.comThe Rise and Fall of Agent CivilizationsThe whole OpenAI/Hugging Face story in plain English 130
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 02/09/2026So Meta's Threads apparently has a feature called "Black Threads" now. I'll eat my hat if that wasn't "inspired" by @rude1.blacksky.team's Blacksky in some fashion. www.threads.com/sear... 2399
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 31/08/2026Another set of large companies get extra rules and scrutiny by the EU.engadget.comChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox to face the EU's strictest platform rules - EngadgetChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox to face the EU's strictest platform rules. 000
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 31/08/2026Lawyers and legislators are just as fallible as engineers. I once was supposed to sign expensive legal documents that had the wrong company name in them. And not just in one place. 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 31/08/2026The first real exception to the seemingly unstoppable march of age verification laws. At least that I have seen.tomshardware.comCalifornia lawmakers unanimously pass Linux exemption from age-verification law — software distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses are exemptAB 1856 excludes open-source operating systems from the upcoming Digital Age Assurance Act. 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 27/08/2026"... alleged that Meta estimated hiding like counts [for teens] would reduce its advertising revenue by 1 percent and then declined to make the setting the default."platformer.newsMeta settles with the states over child safety failuresWill significant changes to Facebook and Instagram be enough to beat back a global wave of bans? 000
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 26/08/2026$18 billion! Some of this money should go to fund better alternatives.cnn.comMeta settles landmark state child harm claims for $18 billion and promises changes to its platforms | CNN BusinessMeta said Wednesday it has agreed to pay about $18 billion as part of a settlement to resolve a multistate lawsuit claiming that it intentionally designed addictive platforms that harmed young people’s mental health. 000
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 21/08/2026For those of you in Bluesky / ATProto land who would like to know what is going on with standardization around the #ActivityPub stack, you can now follow the W3C' Social Web Community Group at @socialcg.w3c.social.ap.brid.gy , thanks to #bridgyfed! 041
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 20/08/2026I'm not sure I would have made the same architectural choice. 000
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 20/08/2026So if I understand this correctly, Bluesky is essentially giving each community its own (simplified) version of an ATProto network with a simplified protocol in what they call "Atproto Spaces" atproto.com/blog/atp.... "You can think of an atproto space as a miniature atproto network"atproto.comThe Atproto Spaces Alpha is Live - AT ProtocolAtproto Spaces, formerly known as “the permissioned data protocol,” is a new extension to atproto that enables non-public data. The alpha is now officially open. Here’s how to develop with it and what to expect as we work towards the full release. 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 18/08/2026Rabble is having fun! Divine is clearly wanting to be a mainstream social media product (Taco Bell!) but still avoid the negative parts of commercial media!about.divine.videoDivine and Taco Bell bring back joyscrollingDivine isn’t the only one bringing back joyscrolling! We’ve partnered with Taco Bell for its annual Decades campaign to celebrate 2016 nostalgia with its four icon menu items to the classic Vines that defined an era. 😇 Read more about our collaboration with Taco Bell.Still not on Divine? 😇 Download our app, link in bio. 🔑 Use this code to make an account: TACO-BELL 🎥 Start creating! 130
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 17/08/2026Well, if we had a marketing department. Or enough people who are willing to step out of their comfort zone of protocols and open-source code. Do we? 5/5 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 17/08/2026We could get exposure to millions of people who have not heard of the Open Social Web at virtually no expense for promotion. And then signing them up by optimizing the onboarding experience for that exact audience that just heard about it on TV or read about it in the Washington Post. 4/5 120
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 17/08/2026With the goal that when they do the next segment on the trial -- and they will -- they will mention us. Just a sentence or two: "Fortunately, bright geeks are already building the next big thing that is not as toxic as Big Tobacco ahem Big Social". 3/5 120
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 17/08/2026If the Open Social Web had a marketing department -- ha! -- there would be very specific things we could do. For example, track media coverage of the trial, and systematically contact every writer and every news show that covers it with a fact sheet and a pitch: "There are better alternatives". 2/5 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 17/08/2026The fact that this gigantic lawsuit exists and all the attention that will be paid to it ($200 billion in damages! Maybe over a trillion if Meta is right!) represents an amazing promotion opportunity for all of us working on better forms of interacting online than closed social media platforms. 1/5 240
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 17/08/2026It would be worthwhile to go through the Meta charges in this mammoth lawsuit one charge at a time and determine where various open social web projects stand in comparison. And if we do well — which I hope — use that to promote what we do as better alternative.cnbc.comMeta faces ‘astronomical’ consequences as legal fight reaches critical moment in CaliforniaMeta faces a federal trial over child safety claims that could bring major financial penalties and changes to Facebook and Instagram. 192
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 14/08/2026hamiltonnolan.comCorporate Power Approaches Escape VelocityA failed Tesla strike in Sweden is a flashing warning light. 000
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 14/08/2026I'll be looking forward to seeing how Bluesky PBC will manage this. But "Protocol services" as a separate product and brand is a good step forward. 000
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 14/08/2026It's already been happening with feed builders. Is that something Bluesky wants to compete in with Attie etc or look for the community to build? (like Graze). Where is the line where it is safe for app developers? 100
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 14/08/2026Of course, the same company producing both a platform and applications causes other problems. Similarly to how Microsoft has both an operating system, and applications, and the problems that happened there. Developers may be wary to build apps on the infrastructure of somebody who also builds apps. 100
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 14/08/2026Ah, finally! Bluesky has two main products: 1) managing the infrastructure and the customers are developers. 2) running an app, and the customers are individuals, businesses etc who post and like and reply etc. (And maybe other apps like Attie) Nice Bluesky is now clearly communicating this. 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 13/08/2026Idk how format relates to cultural permission. But if so, then it’s easy, all we need is an appealing new format ;-) (But more seriously, even if not a new format, we aren’t differentiating enough to matter enough. Hard to take market share with a not very differentiated product) 110
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 13/08/2026I wonder how one could test this hypothesis. And also how, say, TikTok got around it. 100
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 12/08/2026If customers were to prefer "algorithmic" over "social" media now, but we don't do "algorithmic", obviously we end up in a shrinking market. But do they? Or do we need to lean in to make "social media" even much more social than it ever was? 130
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 12/08/2026Also: the entire category of "social media" is increasingly misnamed, as we are beginning to realize, as it has been turning into "algorithmic media" more so than "social media". Why -- idk, but chances are that the platforms are following customer preferences (as long as they can sell ads). 120
Johannes Ernst @j12t.org · 12/08/2026What if we documented our core assumptions, and then tested them? And discarded the ones that turned out to be wrong? 030
