
Decentralized Social Media and The Fragmentation of Control
The architecture of a social network doesn’t just affect a bunch of invisible server-whirrings and documentation jargon. It’s directly responsible for how the network’s users interact โ what they’re allowed to say, what they’re likely to see, and who controls these factors.
A good example to start my examination into centralized/decentralized social networks is Twitter.
The name โTwitterโ and the platformโs relentless bird imagery isnโt an arbitrary choice โ it actually makes a lot of sense with regard to how the network works.
Starlings, for example, flock in groups of 10,000 or more, unified and communicating as a network. Birds learn to sing by listening and imitating, which often means that groups of co-existing birds learn the same patterns, inflections, and memes.… [continue reading]