The era of the platform is coming to a close. Instead of developing new versions of Twitter and Facebook, we can establish a more effective stuff-posting system that benefits everyone😃
 |
| Social media networking |
For the past twenty years, our social networking and social media platforms have existed as self-contained ecosystems. They each possess their own distinct social graphs, documenting those whom you follow and those who follow you. Furthermore, they boast their own individual feeds, algorithms, applications, and user interfaces (although they have converged upon similar aesthetics as time has passed). Additionally, each platform possesses its own unique publishing tools, character limitations, and image filters. Navigating the online space necessitates continuously transitioning between these platforms and adapting to their constantly evolving regulations and standards.
Now, however, we may find ourselves at the onset of a new era. In contrast to the previous scenario of numerous platforms vying to dominate every aspect of your life, emerging applications such as Mastodon, Bluesky, Pixelfed, Lemmy, and others are constructing a more interconnected social ecosystem. If this transformative shift, powered by ActivityPub, gains significant traction, it will fragment every social network into innumerable fragments. Consequently, all types of posts will be disassociated from their respective platforms. Our access to novel tools for crafting, consuming, organizing, moderating, sharing, and remixing these posts, among other functionalities, will be greatly expanded.
All that change brings about tremendous excitement, yet it gives rise to a complex inquiry. For individuals who engage in posting, encompassing everything from frivolous online content to professional creations such as tweets and TikToks, a crucial question emerges - what actions must be taken at this moment? For the past twenty years, the response has been relatively uncomplicated: if you wish to contribute content, you simply log in to the corresponding platform, utilize its tools, and click the publish button. However, looking ahead into a future characterized by greater openness and decentralization, a pressing question arises: how can content creators proceed with their postings in this new landscape?
The answer, in my opinion, can be found in a concept that has been around for a decade, proposing a method to structure the internet. This concept is known as POSSE: Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Everywhere. It suggests that individuals should publish their content on their own websites rather than relying on apps or platforms that may disappear or implement unpredictable rules and algorithms. By owning your website, your posts can be accessed by readers, viewers, listeners, or viewers almost anywhere due to the syndication of your content across multiple platforms.
 |
| Women writing a blog post |
Over the years, there have been discussions surrounding POSSE, with some individuals actively implementing it on their own websites. An excellent example of how POSSE works can be seen on Tantek Celik's blog. Celik, a pioneer in the IndieWeb community, demonstrates the practical application of this concept on his website. However, the rise of centralized platforms with increasing barriers has overshadowed the open web. Nevertheless, in recent times, the notion of POSSE has regained traction, especially since Elon Musk's Twitter acquisition highlighted the potential volatility and uncertainties associated with platforms. Alongside other open ideas like ActivityPub, POSSE has gained prominence once again.
In a POSSE world, each individual possesses their own domain name and maintains a blog. Here, the term "blog" is defined broadly as a space on the internet where one can publish content for others to consume. Whenever there is a desire to share something, it is uploaded to one's personal blog. Lengthy blog posts may be divided into sections and published as threads on X, Mastodon, and Threads. Furthermore, the complete post might also be shared on one's medium page, Tumblr account, and LinkedIn profile. If a photo is to be posted, it is commonly directed to Instagram, while a vertical video swiftly finds its way to TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. Each piece of content appears natively on all these platforms and often includes a link back to the original blog, which serves as the central point for all of one's online activities.
When executed effectively, POSSE represents the epitome of sharing content across various platforms. Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automatic and a key contributor to WordPress (which also happens to own Tumblr, another prominent posting platform on the internet), states, "As someone who publishes content, I strive for maximum interaction. Why force me to choose which network to share it on? Ideally, I should share it once on my domain, and it automatically disseminates to X, Threads, Tumblr, and all the other networks. Each of these platforms can have their own unique interfaces and network effects, but my thoughts should be accessible through all of them."
Posse, from a philosophical standpoint, aligns with the notion of owning and maintaining centralized content on the internet. Logistically, it also offers several advantages, primarily in alleviating the burden of managing multiple identities across various platforms.
However, there are significant challenges associated with this concept. Firstly, the social aspect of social media presents a conundrum: what should be done with the numerous likes, replies, comments, and other forms of engagement generated by one's posts? While POSSE serves as an effective tool for posting, it fragments engagement, leading to confusion and fragmentation. Additionally, posting the same content across several platforms raises questions regarding its relevance and effectiveness. Each platform possesses its own set of norms, audiences, and languages. How frequently does one truly desire to share identical content on both LinkedIn and Tumblr? Furthermore, when does such duplication border on resembling spam?
Moreover, the primary concern lies in constructing a functional POSSE system. From the outset, POSSE necessitates the ownership of a personal website, entailing the acquisition of a domain, concerns surrounding DNS records, and making decisions regarding web hosting. Consequently, the vast majority of individuals, who prefer the simplicity of entering a username and password on a user-friendly Meta platform, may be deterred from pursuing the POSSE approach.
Even individuals who possess the willingness and ability to engage in the technical aspects of the POSSE (Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere) method may encounter difficulties. Cory Doctorow, a long-standing activist and author with years of experience in blogging, recently established a new POSSE-enabled blog called Pluralistic.
Doctorow recounts, "When I first started, I had a basic HTML template in the default Linux editor. Utilizing Emacs key bindings, I would open the template file and save it under a different name, appending the current date. Subsequently, I would proceed to compose numerous blog posts within this template. Then, individually editing as I went, I would copy and paste these posts into Twitter's threading tool, Mastodon, Tumblr, and Medium. Furthermore, I would transform it into a text file to include in an email, sending it to a Mailman instance, where I hosted a newsletter. Additionally, I employed full-text RSS and Discourse, the latter of which possesses its own syndication for followers."
In an ideal post-platform era, there would exist a comprehensive range of tools for managing the cross-posting of content throughout the web. However, given that we continue to rely on platforms and will likely do so for the foreseeable future, Micro.blog offers a valuable solution. With six years of experience, Micro.blog serves as a platform for cross-posters. Upon registering for Micro.blog, users gain access to their own blog, which the platform integrates with their personal domain, enabling automatic cross-posting to Mastodon, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Medium, Pixelfed, Nostr, and Flickr.
Manton Reece, the creator of Micro. blog perceives POSSE as "a pragmatic approach" to the functioning of social networks. Reece states, "Rather than waiting for an ideal world where all social networks seamlessly communicate with one another, enabling users to follow someone across Threads, Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms, let us accept the current reality and concentrate on posting to a site that we have control over. From there, we can disseminate the content to friends on various networks. Do not adhere so strictly to principles that isolate your content from the rest of the world."
The micro. blog has yet to fully address the aspect of the engagement. Reece expresses his desire to develop tools that can gather and analyze replies, likes, comments, and other related data, but acknowledges the considerable challenges associated with this endeavor. Nevertheless, there is potential for this to become an industry in its own right. Reece mentions a tool called Bridgy, which offers cross-posting capabilities while also aggregating social media reactions and linking them to posts on your website. However, it will always be a struggle to compete with existing platforms that lack the motivation or mechanisms to share engagement data with the wider web. Despite the obstacles, certain individuals remain confident in their ability to find a solution.
When it comes to the management of multiple networks, Mullenweg believes that the key issue lies in the user interface (UI). He is confident that this issue can be resolved. "I have given a great deal of thought to identifying the right UI for this," he explains. "I believe that it may involve a two-step process, where the first step is posting to my blog, and the second step is customizing it for each individual network." Mullenweg believes that the mistake made by POSSE thus far is trying to fully automate everything. "To address this, I am particularly interested in implementing a publishing process that involves two or three steps," he adds.
However, POSSE is only one aspect of the larger social media landscape. In the future, we can expect a variety of new tools for reading, each with unique ideas for presenting and organizing posts. Additionally, there may be new systems for content moderation and an entire industry built around algorithms that compete to showcase posts in the most captivating order. Modern social networks are not singular entities, but rather multifaceted collections of features, and the next generation of tools may focus on the process of unbundling these features.
When asked why he believes in POSSE, Doctorow highlights the tension faced by individuals who post on the internet today. "I wanted to create a platform that could stand independently in this era, where the majority of news consumption and reading occurs within silos that hold you hostage," he explains. "I aimed to utilize these silos to attract readers and cultivate an engaged audience while avoiding becoming reliant on them." Currently, achieving the best of both worlds requires substantial effort. However, the realization of a poster's paradise may not be too far off.
Read More: Mastering On-Page SEO: An Extensive Guide to Enhance Your Website's Visibility