iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

TIL that it's apparently remarkable that I don't own a TV. (Somebody put that side comment of mine into the notes of a FediForum session followed by four (!!!!) exclamation points.)

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

It implies that there are other technologies that aren't for oligarchs. Technologies for the rest of us, that empower us and not oligarchs. Of course many of us have been saying this for decades. But has been a fringe movement. I wonder whether it is about to get moved into the mainstream. 2/2

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 22/09/2026

One 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

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 02/09/2026

So 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@bsky.brid.gy's Blacksky in some fashion. www.threads.com/search?q=Black%20Th… […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026

Another set of large companies get extra rules and scrutiny by the EU. www.engadget.com/2247513/chatgpt-re…

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 31/08/2026

The first real exception to the seemingly unstoppable march of age verification laws. At least that I have seen […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 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." www.platformer.news/meta-child-safe…

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 26/08/2026

$18 billion! Some of this money should go to fund better alternatives. www.cnn.com/2026/08/26/tech/meta-st…

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 20/08/2026

So 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/atproto-spaces-alp…. "You can think of an atproto space as a miniature […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2026

Rabble 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.video/blog/divine-app-…

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

Well, 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

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

We 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

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

With 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

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

If 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

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

The 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

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 17/08/2026

It 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 […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 10/08/2026

Mark Zuckerberg writes: "Historically, hoping that an absolute power will benevolently provide for humanity if sufficiently enlightened has not led to safe or positive outcomes." Count me speechless. www.meta.com/thefutureisforeveryone

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 23/07/2026

I'm attempting to figure out what exactly France is banning for minors. Facebook etc? Mastodon? Bluesky? Forums? ...? I found the legal text www.assemblee-nationale.fr/dyn/17/t… but it references a bunch of definitions in other places which I've […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 22/07/2026

Made a slide. Collected some thoughts. Have handouts. Seems I’m ready to talk to the policy people at the San Francisco office of the European Commission tonight about all the marvelous things the community is building that address the needs and wants of what people want from social media, but […]

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

"...and adjust its recommendation algorithm to make it “less engagement oriented,”". ie they ordered them to not optimize for revenue. I'm sure that will work. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/business…

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

If you aren’t enraging people enough yourself … don’t fret, there is a software platform! www.irishtimes.com/world/europe/202…

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

This is really interesting because it is a clearly better form of "social media" (in the wider sense) than what the commercial platforms do. And what we've been copying in our communities. Of course it only supports a very narrow use case, but 300,000 users!! […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 07/07/2026

I'll be on a panel discussing the future of social media from a European policy angle on the 22nd at the European Union's San Francisco office, with some distinguished other panelists […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 07/07/2026

Say Hi if you happen to be in the Bay Area!

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 01/07/2026

This is kind of terrifying. If you are a politician on social media, this is two desserts with one easy setup: save time, and be more appealing. What's not to like? If you are the public, ... you basically end up voting for a chatbot because that's all you ever heard from? […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026

Oh right, as a side effect of a recent US supreme court ruling, the bilateral data agreements seem to be impossible going forward. And cannot be fixed because the ruling is on a constitutional level. What next? […]

threads.com

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026

That is quite a hurdle. Yes, I have attended a technical talk on the privacy architecture they are implementing, do I understand about their firewalls they say they have set up etc. But just to check out an app? And post about what I had for breakfast? Methinks that hurdle is too high. 2/2

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 30/06/2026

To be able to post from my new account at @j12t.wsocial.eu, I need to go through W Social/W Identity verification. That apparently requires me to: * Agree that either my legal name, or my birth year and nationality are publicly displayed. * Provide them with photo of my passport and myself. 1/2

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 27/06/2026

Apropos nothing, remember that: Nothing is as practical as a good theory.

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 24/06/2026

What if this is the time to re-invent the internet? Get rid of dead ends (say surveillance advertising) and build in missing features (like digital identities that make us both more secure and have more privacy)?

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 23/06/2026

This is a …large number! And going to grow, dare I say, exponentially! www.who.int/europe/news/item/11-06-…

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 20/06/2026

Just like we don't know how to feed the planet without the Haber-Bosch process and its dependence on oil and gas? 3/3

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 20/06/2026

Indeed: social media. Why is it that none of us -- Fediverse, ATmosphere... -- have come up with a viable economic model that's sustainable over the long term, can serve most of humanity, pay good wages and does not degenerate into surveillance/manipulation capitalism? Maybe there is none? 2/3

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 20/06/2026

In the old tradition of posting something online that is half-baked, tell me how I'm wrong? :-) Thesis: many activities that humanity does a lot of in the 21st century have no viable economic model, if negative externalities are accounted for. Eg Industrial farming. Fossil fuels. Social media. 1/3

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 18/06/2026

W Social seems to have been quite successful in getting a big part of the EU establishment to sign up. Congratulations! One wonders though if the step from US social media companies to a EU social media company was big enough. Wouldn't a move to *your own instance* in the fediverse been better?

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 16/06/2026

Meta says they now have half a billion monthly active users on Threads. This is about 100x that of #Bluesky, and about 500x that of #Mastodon, at only about 3 years old. How do *you* explain this? about.fb.com/news/2026/06/meta-laun…

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 12/06/2026

If you were in charge of social media industrial policy in the European Union, and you had complete freedom to decide, what would it be? Or what would your advice be to them? EU #SocialMedia #Policy #FediForum #FediForumFriday

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Johannes Ernst @johannes.ernst.threads.net.ap.brid.gy · 02/06/2026

Newsmast has a really good and intriguing post out today describing where they see the Open Social Web going in the next 12-18 months. "Connected community spaces" -- I so very much agree that's the right direction. IMHO the "global townsquare" was always somewhere between a bad idea and a […]

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