It's our social web

I started using the term "social web" on my blog a few months ago. I liked it because it was broad, and it inherited the qualities of the web, most important that no one owned it, so that it could be a space for independent developers who worked for the benefit of users.

Of course I should have known someone would try to own it, and so it has come to be. It's not a trademark owned by anyone. And the people doing it, as a way of raising millions of dollars, are only representing one part of the social web, the sites that use ActivityPub, leaving the others that exist now and may exist in the future, out in the cold.

See also: Making the social web work.

So now we need to reserve a space for a social web of users, and developers who won't get much respect from the corporations. I know because I've been through this a few times.

You don't have to give it any money or come to any meetings. Just know that someone else believes in users and developers. And let's work together to make it great, as soon as we can, without waiting for the big companies. Thanks!

Dave Winer, Sept 2024