#Tag
So why do alt tech at all, with projects like #Indymediaback / #OMN? The real blockages in activist tech https://hamishcampbell.com/the-real-blockages-in-activist-tech/
So why do alt tech at all, with projects like #Indymediaback / #OMN? The real blockages in activist tech https://hamishcampbell.com/the-real-blockages-in-activist-tech/
⁂ Article
Historically, #mainstreaming politics exhibited a tendency to shift to the right during times of crisis
The intersection of #climatechange, #mainstreaming politics, and fear is complex but they do influence social attitudes and policies. Historically, mainstream politics exhibits a shift to the right during times of crisis, and the looming mess of #climatechaos is following this trend. In this context, it is essential to recognize the pivotal role that fear plays in driving right-wing politics and shaping public discourse.
Fear operates as a potent motivator of political attitudes and […]
#Indymediaback isn’t just a media project — it’s a reminder that we can still build our own networks, tell our own truths, and refuse the enclosures of fear and control. It’s composting the wreckage of #mainstreaming into fertile ground for new, open media gardens.
Because the web, and the world, needs a working example of what trust-based, open, collective media can be again.
We’ve tried the #dotcons way, and it’s killing both truth and community.
Because the web, and the world, needs a working example of what trust-based, open, collective media can be again.
We’ve tried the #dotcons way, and it’s killing both truth and community.
#Indymediaback isn’t just a media project — it’s a reminder that we can still build our own networks, tell our own truths, and refuse the enclosures of fear and control. It’s composting the wreckage of #mainstreaming into fertile ground for new, open media gardens.
The #OMN, #OGB, and the #indymediaback reboot aren’t nostalgia — they’re the next generation of the commons defending itself.
⁂ Article
Talking about grassroots media as a step away from the current #techshit
Hamish Campbell on the #openweb and rebooting indymedia
Hamish Campbell, a veteran of radical media for more than 30 years, argues that mainstream technology and culture are failing us. The rise of the #dotcon platforms has commodified our lives: closed silos like #Facebook and #Instagram harvest our attention and data, locking us into systems that serve profit, not people.
Attempts to build alternatives around an #encryptionist agenda have gone nowhere. As a result, the tech giants […]
⁂ Article
“Your Party” and the Fluffy/Spiky debate – a working path
Fluffy side: cautious, slow-moving, grounded in “keeping the peace” and managing optics. Classic problem: avoidance of conflict means bottlenecking decisions, blocking energy, and trying to centralise control, so things don’t blow up. Spiky side: impatient, direct, “get it done” energy. Spikiness pushes things forward, but often burns bridges, creating splits and mistrust. Neither path alone works – one stalls out, the other fragments. Their clash in the UK “Your Party”, just […]
⁂ Article
“Your Party” and the Fluffy/Spiky debate – a working path
Fluffy side: cautious, slow-moving, grounded in “keeping the peace” and managing optics. Classic problem: avoidance of conflict means bottlenecking decisions, blocking energy, and trying to centralise control, so things don’t blow up. Spiky side: impatient, direct, “get it done” energy. Spikiness pushes things forward, but often burns bridges, creating splits and mistrust. Neither path alone works – one stalls out, the other fragments. Their clash in the UK “Your Party”, just […]
Should we apply again?
Yes, not because they’ll suddenly “get it,” but because persistence itself is part of the composting, a record, a point of pressure.
Apply and simultaneously build a parallel path of community support, donations, partnerships, volunteer time. That way, the inevitable #NLnet rejection doesn’t kill all the momentum.
Shifting the blocking? Maybe translate native ideas into their language. Bureaucracies like “deliverables,” “impact metrics,” “alignment with EU digital policy.” Wrap your radical #4opens core in a frame they can recognise: resilience, digital sovereignty, anti-disinformation, democratic participation. That’s harder for them to ignore and strengthens the “native” path.
Expose the bias. Not in a bitter way, but in a constructive one: point out the repeated rejection of grassroots-native projects while funding flows to #geekproblem/NGOs. This pressure helps them re-balance (and others will maybe notice).
If you want to help, share the 3 projects ( #MakingHistory, #IndymediaBack, #OGB) in #Fediverse channels. Frame this positively: “If we want a living #openweb, we need to fund and support native projects, not just corporate/NGO clones.” make it harder for them to keep sidelining.
Should we apply again?
Yes, not because they’ll suddenly “get it,” but because persistence itself is part of the composting, a record, a point of pressure.
Apply and simultaneously build a parallel path of community support, donations, partnerships, volunteer time. That way, the inevitable #NLnet rejection doesn’t kill all the momentum.
Shifting the blocking? Maybe translate native ideas into their language. Bureaucracies like “deliverables,” “impact metrics,” “alignment with EU digital policy.” Wrap your radical #4opens core in a frame they can recognise: resilience, digital sovereignty, anti-disinformation, democratic participation. That’s harder for them to ignore and strengthens the “native” path.
Expose the bias. Not in a bitter way, but in a constructive one: point out the repeated rejection of grassroots-native projects while funding flows to #geekproblem/NGOs. This pressure helps them re-balance (and others will maybe notice).
If you want to help, share the 3 projects ( #MakingHistory, #IndymediaBack, #OGB) in #Fediverse channels. Frame this positively: “If we want a living #openweb, we need to fund and support native projects, not just corporate/NGO clones.” make it harder for them to keep sidelining.
If you would like and example of what real #DIY activist grassroots media looks like https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2006/climatecamp/
We need to reboot this project #indymediaback#OMN#Fediverse
⁂ Article
The stubborn few who show up with shovels, laptops, and trust
In the tech world of social change and challenge, we’re living with a strange imbalance. Too often, the spaces we use and try and build are crowded with useless, self-destructive prats – people more interested in ego, control, and clout than in making anything grow from the roots. And when they do very rearly act, their “help” is often poison: it blocks, slows, and derails.
At the same time, the number of people doing truly useful, collective, grounded work feels small. You can see […]
⁂ Article
The stubborn few who show up with shovels, laptops, and trust
In the tech world of social change and challenge, we’re living with a strange imbalance. Too often, the spaces we use and try and build are crowded with useless, self-destructive prats – people more interested in ego, control, and clout than in making anything grow from the roots. And when they do very rearly act, their “help” is often poison: it blocks, slows, and derails.
At the same time, the number of people doing truly useful, collective, grounded work feels small. You can see […]
⁂ Article
In tech, it is really important, to see the unit of measure
Most software today = individualist. Even “collective” tools (Fediverse servers, enterprise SaaS, etc.) are just abstractions that aggregate individuals. The default assumption is the liberal subject: the sovereign individual. The infrastructure is built for self-expression, personal feeds, private chats, me, me, me. That’s why for example, when you step into libertarian codebases like #nostr, the smell of #stupidindividualism is everywhere.Communities are treated as “groups of […]
⁂ Article
Looking at working with legacy media thinking – silo vs flow
Every so often I answer the out reach calls from more traditional alt/progressive media orgs, let’s look at some of the very illustrative “common sense” knock backs. The recent examples are Freedom’s reaction and Good Internet’s submission call – As their reaction is useful to illustrate the fault line of “radical publishing” in a federated media path.
Here’s a sketch of how it can (and arguably should) work if we’re serious about, #openweb, and soft-communing […]
⁂ Article
Looking at working with legacy media thinking – silo vs flow
Every so often I answer the out reach calls from more traditional alt/progressive media orgs, let’s look at some of the very illustrative “common sense” knock backs. The recent examples are Freedom’s reaction and Good Internet’s submission call – As their reaction is useful to illustrate the fault line of “radical publishing” in a federated media path.
Here’s a sketch of how it can (and arguably should) work if we’re serious about, #openweb, and soft-communing […]
⁂ Article
In tech, it is really important, to see the unit of measure
Most software today = individualist. Even “collective” tools (Fediverse servers, enterprise SaaS, etc.) are just abstractions that aggregate individuals. The default assumption is the liberal subject: the sovereign individual. The infrastructure is built for self-expression, personal feeds, private chats, me, me, me. That’s why for example, when you step into libertarian codebases like #nostr, the smell of #stupidindividualism is everywhere.Communities are treated as “groups of […]
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