We need to talk about #metadata and the “freemarkit” ideology.

People say “metadata isn’t real data” — but it's more, It maps movements, moods, relationships. That’s why #governments and #dotcons want it.

If you think this doesn't matter, that we’re just individuals in a marketplace, not a society, congrats, you’ve joined the #deathcult.

We can change course. But only if we name the poison. Loudly #OMN

The path I walk, and advocate for, is rooted in a few simple but powerful #KISS principles: a return to grassroots governance, a focus on community-driven technology, and the composting of failed ideas to nurture new growth. To enable this shift, we must develop tools and frameworks that uphold transparency, empower collective action, and center sustainable, open alternatives. This means pushing back against the dominant #mainstreaming narrative and embracing practical, grounded methods of building from the bottom up. You can see some of this in action at unite.openworlds.info.

I remain deeply critical of the role of #NGOs and the broader mainstreaming strategies that dilute radical potential. Too often, projects that begin with genuine grassroots energy are co-opted through institutional funding and pressure to conform. This turns them into vehicles for maintaining the status quo rather than challenging it. To reclaim our agency and resist this corruption, we need to re-center on the #4opens, prioritize collective and direct action, and build resilient alternatives to the #deathcult of neoliberalism. My critique comes from long experience with radical media and open tech — from #Indymedia and #OMN to the #Fediverse and ActivityPub. Learn more at hamishcampbell.com.

My #boatingeurope life reflects a more sustainable, #DIY lifestyle — an attempt to live "native" to the rhythms of nature rather than the chaos of the #deathcult. A decade ago, after 20 years campaigning on climate and ecological collapse, I sailed away in a literal lifeboat, escaping burnout and disillusionment. But the world is round — and I’ve since returned to re-engage with tech activism and grassroots media, because retreat alone won’t solve systemic issues. Bridging the divide between alternative cultures and the mainstream remains vital. Yet this is often blocked by both sides — the mainstream demands conformity, while alt-paths refuse to compromise. Without building bridges, we risk further stagnation. It's time to find common ground without losing our roots.

#hamishcampbell
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Boating Europe on YouTube

We’re refocusing from:

Individuals → To Groups

Silos → To Flows

Control → To Co-creation

This is not fundamentalism, rather balance. And yes, that sounds hippy. But the alternative is the #deathcult of neoliberal tech: #stupidindividualism, constant surveillance, coercive control.

The #OMN project is a step toward rebalancing that mess — with whatever floats your boat: protest, gardening, mutual aid, permaculture, peer education. We need many paths. The current path isn’t working.

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Talking to the Bureaucratic Co-op Crew – Governance, Culture, and the Fediverse

Let’s take a step back. In an old thread about online governance, I found it revealing – and a bit frustrating – that almost nobody actually engaged with what the thread was about: building a lightweight, federated, working governance layer.

The project in question is the OpenWeb Governance Body (#OGB):https://unite.openworlds.info/Open-Media-Network/openwebgovernancebody/

We were writing a funding proposal to take a simple, well-tested social workflow (which we already know doesn’t […]

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Power Politics and the Race/Gender Card – A Contemporary Reflection

If we want to build meaningful alternatives, we must deal with difficult issues head-on. Sweeping things under the carpet – especially in radical spaces – always comes at a cost.

One of the more complex, and often misused, areas is around identity politics, particularly the playing of the race/gender card in ways that obscure rather than clarify the real issues at stake.

Let’s be clear: systemic racism and sexism are real. We all live with the deep, painful legacies of colonialism, […]

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What does mainstreaming do?

#mainstreaming narrows the field of imagination and excludes non-conforming ideas that could offer real solutions to systemic crises. Mainstreaming smooths the rough edges of society. It normalizes hierarchy, filters dissent, and packages politics into manageable narratives. It’s how radical demands are turned into reforms, then paperwork, then slogans, then forgotten.

Absorbing opposition into bureaucracy (e.g., NGOs, consultancy)

Rewarding compromise and incrementalism

Silencing or […]

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The Open Media Network: More Than Just a Tech Project

At first glance, the #OMN (Open Media Network) might look like a technical project, a collection of code, standards, and protocols. But to think of it only this way is to miss the point entirely.

What we’re building is a social and technological fabric for the #openweb, woven together by shared values and practical needs. Yes, there’s tech, but the tools and standards we develop are not neutral. They lean, by design, toward openness, transparency, collaboration, and grassroots control, […]

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The #Hashtags Tell a Story: Building Trust in a Messy World

We live in a time of crisis. Climate, community, communication, all are breaking down. Our tools and platforms no longer serve us. To make sense of this, we need to tell stories. And in the digital world, hashtags are one of the most powerful ways we do this. But our hashtags don’t just tag, they trace the roots of our problems, and signpost paths out. Each one is a seed. Together, they are a map.#dotcons – From #openweb to walled gardens. Once, the internet was a place of openness, […]

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Criticisms of Capitalism — and Its Digital Children, the #dotcons

Capitalism, especially in its late-stage #neoliberal form, has always had significant structural problems. In recent decades, these problems have been amplified and globalized through digital platforms, what we call the #dotcons. These companies are not a break from capitalism, they are its most refined, efficient, and extractive version to date.

Income Inequality

Traditional critique: Capitalism concentrates wealth in the hands of those who own capital (factories, land, assets), while […]

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Hopelessness is a conservative reaction to social change/challenge

Hopelessness is a deeply conservative reaction to social change/challenge. Sarcasm and “meme” culture can be conservative with its strong focus on reaction, in this pushing reactionary/conservative rather than hope/progression. In a globalising world, strong “inward” looking tribalism is about conforming a narrow “consumerist” change/challenge to individuals with NO power for wider social outlooks. In the era of #climatechaos all of these dominant “invisible” movements are […]

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Building Alt/Grassroots Media Networks to Challenge and Widen Traditional Media

The current ecosystem of alternative and grassroots media is too narrow in its imagination of what media could, and should, be. There’s a persistent naivety or, in some cases, a self-serving dishonesty. Many of the most “successful” progressive media groups continue to mimic #traditionalmedia without understanding, or addressing, the fact that they do not control their distribution. In effect, they’re renting space in someone else’s empire.

This is not just a mistake. It’s the […]