At Commonshub, we’re building infrastructure that allows communities to create and operate their own independent micro-communities on the social web, rather than depending entirely on a large centralized platform.
We believe that these smaller "human-scale" communities have many advantages as digital neighborhoods within a larger global ecosystem. Like real-world neighborhoods in a large city people can take pride in participating in a place with shared-values, where it's easier to recognize one another and, ultimately, build healthier participation.
However more and more we are hearing about how this or that protocol does or doesn't support "digital sovereignty." That has forced us to wrestle with a bigger question:
What does it actually mean to be digitally sovereign?
Is it enough that an individual can move from one provider to another?
What about the community itself? Who owns its identity? Can it change infrastructure providers? What happens to its members, history and relationships if it does?
These aren’t just technical questions. They determine who ultimately has control over the digital places where increasingly large parts of our lives take place.
Over the next week, we’re going to explore what digital sovereignty might mean for individuals, communities, and the people who operate the infrastructure behind them.
We’d love to hear how others think about it too.
