Protocols not Platforms
Protocols not Platforms is a tech philosophy that brings us back to the old days of the Internet. Back in the days the internet was run on top of many different protocols, such as
The move to platforms over the last decades happened for a variety of reasons. Companies where incentivized to do so as a single entity being in control can of course profit off of it and they were also able to roll out updates and bug fixes much faster than the decentralized counter part.
Indeed, some of the platforms today are leveraging existing open protocols but have built up walls around them, locking users in, rather than merely providing an interface. This actually highlights that there is not an either/or choice here between platforms and protocols but rather a spectrum
The quote above highlights how for example BlueSky can be a platform on top of the AT Protocol. The goal isn't to completely get rid of all platforms but rather to make them interoperable.
Rather than relying on a few giant platforms to police speech online, there could be widespread competition, in which anyone could design their own interfaces, filters, and additional services, allowing whichever ones work best to succeed, without having to resort to outright censorship for certain voices.
The main problem that I had with the major platforms like Instagram was that I wasn't in control of what I see. The premise of this platform was that it would be a way to stay connected with your friends and exchange memories but nowadays you open Instagram and most likely a video from someone that you don't know will start playing at you immediately, designed to get you hooked and watch more videos that have zero relevance to you.
Instagram does have the "Following" feed that only shows you the people you are actually connected with but choosing this option resets every time you open the app again.
On the other hand with something like BlueSky I am able to choose to just see the content from people that I follow or I can even create my own algorithm or use as algorithm created by someone that I trust, the choice is mine.
Historically, the internet moved more and more to a world of centralized platforms over decentralized protocols due, in part, to the incentive structure under the old internet. Protocols were difficult to monetize. Because of that, it was difficult to keep them updated and to provide new features in a compelling way.