Thanks for this. I just wrote something similar in my newsletter -- albeit a bit more pessimistic. I think your point about multiple commons and public spaces is spot on!
This is a really helpful lineage for me to read. It leads me wondering, what are other ways of languaging "the commons" and other frameworks? I noticed that every one of the experts cited, as far as I can tell is, White. No doubt there are plenty of POC who also have done work on "the commons" (please include some of them next time?!), but also, what if we talk about community instead of commons? Or ecosystem? Or common good? I'm curious what we gain or lose from focusing on the "commons," as our starting point.
@debs here: The focus on the commons is just one angle. I thought it resonated at this moment as we are talking about shared public vs private spaces. All worthy terms to use ins different contexts - all a bit messy at the moment. As an early online community person, I sometimes worry the term has been bastardized a bit too much and does not always differentiate on the community space ownership. Tho, agree that in the end we are really talking about creating shared community for each other.
Re POC. Mea culpa. Thank you for pointing that out. Was hard to be comprehensive on a very deep topic. There are tons of great examples across all sorts of religions, cultures and tribes. Highly recommend the All We Share field guide for more.
Ah sorry for quick response - "community" does not necessarily mean a public community - could be a private one or an invitation only or owned by a company. It has been used more and more as a role by brands aka "community management"
I have said this on the comments here several time, the best place for decentralized public space is above the webpage. The is unlimited space above the webpage - the Metaweb I call it - that we should claim as public space. If there are any readers who want to help shape the governance of the space above the webpage, we're building and would love your input.
Thanks for sharing - not sure it needs to be an either or. The idea of sharing the space above a webpage as Metaweb - is indeed interesting - it is more static and asynchronous than other spaces tho, no?
P..s., we are finishing up the book, "The Metaweb: The Next Level of the Internet" this month. It's looking great. If New_ Public has a position on decentralized public space above the webpage, we would be interested in interviewing and featuring the org in the book. We already have a piece in the book about Eli's filter bubbles :)
Paul Mendoza: Congrats! Wondering if New Public has a position on decentralized public space above the webpage? If so, we would be happy to mention New_ Public's position in my forthcoming book "The Metaweb: The Next Level of the Internet" (finalizing this month).
I agree 100%. We need both and ideally they are connected. E.g., I post in the meta layer and it could also post to the appropriate places on the web and vice versa. I tend to focus on talking up the meta layer because only about 100 people are in the conversation and they're mostly builders. It's hard to believe, but none of the recognized Internet futurists have spoken about decentralized public space above the webpage.
Re: it is more static... than other spaces tho, no?
Actually it is more dynamic that other spaces, because the webpage becomes the contextual footprint for worlds of information and interactions that emanate from pieces of content on the page. Today's web pages are completely static, unchangeable except but he author. With the Metaweb, the webpage is the base of what can become towers of information, knowledge, and interactions that overlay webpage content.
Beyond community-based moderation, the main limitation is the ideas of startups, product managers, and developers that can be turned into smart tags to be used on applicable webpages. E.g., notes, conversations, polls, content classifications for filtering and AI, meetings, lists are being developed now. But the code will be open source and there will be a Metaweb equivalent of the app store for overlay apps (that are available over every page) and smart tags.
Re: it is more asynchronous than other spaces tho, no?
The Metaweb Is both synchronous and asynchronous. We support real-time chat above any webpage now; video and audio are on the road map.
I would be happy to give you all a demo and have further conversation. I am conversation with about ten different groups about forming digital nations that have their own sovereign space above the webpage.
great work, thank you! gonna pass to my students.
Honored. Let us know what they say!
Thanks for this. I just wrote something similar in my newsletter -- albeit a bit more pessimistic. I think your point about multiple commons and public spaces is spot on!
Keep the hope alive! Off to read yours!!
This is a really helpful lineage for me to read. It leads me wondering, what are other ways of languaging "the commons" and other frameworks? I noticed that every one of the experts cited, as far as I can tell is, White. No doubt there are plenty of POC who also have done work on "the commons" (please include some of them next time?!), but also, what if we talk about community instead of commons? Or ecosystem? Or common good? I'm curious what we gain or lose from focusing on the "commons," as our starting point.
@debs here: The focus on the commons is just one angle. I thought it resonated at this moment as we are talking about shared public vs private spaces. All worthy terms to use ins different contexts - all a bit messy at the moment. As an early online community person, I sometimes worry the term has been bastardized a bit too much and does not always differentiate on the community space ownership. Tho, agree that in the end we are really talking about creating shared community for each other.
Re POC. Mea culpa. Thank you for pointing that out. Was hard to be comprehensive on a very deep topic. There are tons of great examples across all sorts of religions, cultures and tribes. Highly recommend the All We Share field guide for more.
https://thenewpress.com/books/all-that-we-share
Say more about this? "does not always differentiate on the community space ownership." I'd love to learn from you on it.
Ah sorry for quick response - "community" does not necessarily mean a public community - could be a private one or an invitation only or owned by a company. It has been used more and more as a role by brands aka "community management"
Great article! Just a quick note - the link to Signals research has a typo https://newpublic.or/signals instead of https://newpublic.org/signals
Oh my! Thank you for pointing out!! And glad you enjoyed the article!
I understand the importance of digital town squares, but frankly I think much more attention needs to be paid to the digital town library. Here is an article on this: https://bridgitnow.medium.com/the-digital-town-square-needs-a-library-ad7ac15f3e14?postPublishedType=repub
I have said this on the comments here several time, the best place for decentralized public space is above the webpage. The is unlimited space above the webpage - the Metaweb I call it - that we should claim as public space. If there are any readers who want to help shape the governance of the space above the webpage, we're building and would love your input.
Thanks for sharing - not sure it needs to be an either or. The idea of sharing the space above a webpage as Metaweb - is indeed interesting - it is more static and asynchronous than other spaces tho, no?
P..s., we are finishing up the book, "The Metaweb: The Next Level of the Internet" this month. It's looking great. If New_ Public has a position on decentralized public space above the webpage, we would be interested in interviewing and featuring the org in the book. We already have a piece in the book about Eli's filter bubbles :)
Paul Mendoza: Congrats! Wondering if New Public has a position on decentralized public space above the webpage? If so, we would be happy to mention New_ Public's position in my forthcoming book "The Metaweb: The Next Level of the Internet" (finalizing this month).
Thanks for your reply.
Re: not sure it needs to be an either or.
I agree 100%. We need both and ideally they are connected. E.g., I post in the meta layer and it could also post to the appropriate places on the web and vice versa. I tend to focus on talking up the meta layer because only about 100 people are in the conversation and they're mostly builders. It's hard to believe, but none of the recognized Internet futurists have spoken about decentralized public space above the webpage.
Re: it is more static... than other spaces tho, no?
Actually it is more dynamic that other spaces, because the webpage becomes the contextual footprint for worlds of information and interactions that emanate from pieces of content on the page. Today's web pages are completely static, unchangeable except but he author. With the Metaweb, the webpage is the base of what can become towers of information, knowledge, and interactions that overlay webpage content.
Beyond community-based moderation, the main limitation is the ideas of startups, product managers, and developers that can be turned into smart tags to be used on applicable webpages. E.g., notes, conversations, polls, content classifications for filtering and AI, meetings, lists are being developed now. But the code will be open source and there will be a Metaweb equivalent of the app store for overlay apps (that are available over every page) and smart tags.
Re: it is more asynchronous than other spaces tho, no?
The Metaweb Is both synchronous and asynchronous. We support real-time chat above any webpage now; video and audio are on the road map.
I would be happy to give you all a demo and have further conversation. I am conversation with about ten different groups about forming digital nations that have their own sovereign space above the webpage.