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The Public Interest Internet

(berjon.com)
113 points recifs | 1 comments | 18 Jun 24 05:37 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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recifs ◴[18 Jun 24 05:37 UTC] No.40714372[source]▶
Allow me to open with a wildly speculative question: What if the internet were public interest technology? I mean "internet" the way most people understand it, which is to say our whole digital sphere, and by "public interest" I don't mean tinkering at the margins to reduce harm from some bad actors or painting some glossy ethics principles atop a pile of exploitative rent-seeking — I mean through and through, warts and all, an internet that works in support of a credible, pragmatic definition of the common good.
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1. atoav ◴[18 Jun 24 18:11 UTC] No.40720543[source]▶
I mean to be honest something like the early social media platforms like myspace or even reddit up to a degree were public interest platforms.

And back then nobody really thought all that mich about financing, so these spaces weren't about extracting user data or shaping their opinions. The algorithms were simplistic as hell and the timelines still deserved that name.

The state runs libraries not just to give people access to books, but also because they are social community spaces. Why not provide something like that, just online. Something that doesn't need to make money, but provide a service that people can trust in a different way that a corporation.