Introduction

It is time for communities to break free of walled gardens and take ownership of their existence online.



The Future of Online Communities

Communities are the lifeblood of the Internet. They are the places where magic happens online — where people meet others like themselves, think and talk about the same things, and laugh at the same jokes. From newsgroups and chatrooms and forums, communities have always been the centers of the Internet that draw people in.

But online communities are much more limited than their counterparts in the real world. In the real world, communities are independent entities, free to choose where and how they hang out. No one tells them what to do or where to go.

Today’s online communities are not like this. They are trapped inside apps and platforms, where they do not have independence or control anything of value. This limitation makes them second-class citizens, unable to chart their own destiny on the Internet. It is time to put communities in their rightful place as the foundation of the Internet.

It is time for them to take back ownership and control. It is time for a change.

Community Points

Community Points are the first step towards a better future for online communities. In order to be truly independent from platforms like Reddit, communities need to be owned by their members in ways that platforms cannot take away. With the advent of blockchain technology, we now have a way to establish this freedom in a decentralized and secure way.

As blockchain tokens that are owned and controlled by communities themselves — not by any app or platform — Community Points represent a way for Redditors to own a piece of their favorite communities. They are earned by making contributions to the community, like creating content and moderating. They not only represent ownership and reputation within the community, but can also be used for community governance, moderation, and unlocking premium features. They can even be used in custom tools outside of Reddit and on other platforms.

Most importantly, Community Points are a flexible tool that each community can shape to its needs. Each community has its own Points that it can customize with its own name, symbol, distribution rules, and uses. Every community has its own needs and we expect each to use Points differently and in novel ways that help take them to the next level.

We also have better snacks.

While this is a good first step, let me know when we start applying this standard to US companies.

I think we’ll all be better off if we can keep Reddit and Meta^✱, and Corporate Information out of the garden.

How to kill decentralized networks.

^✱ now with legs

It’s a good thing the disc is ringed with water, then walled with ice. And surrounded by a carbon-crystalline structure similar but stronger than diamond. And guarded by spiders.

Now imagine that chaos, but everyone is running their own server. There are already posts and replies that won’t accept my votes.

Who’s a bad actor? Liberals? Conservatives? Who gets to decide who the bad actor is?

Lemmy needs to allow Server-managers to defederate other servers due to obviously illegal material. And Lemmy needs to allow Users to block or ignore servers just due to any number of reasons. But the decision should be left to the user.

I’m 100% anti-censorship, and if a Server is going to be run that way there needs to be a way for existing users and new users to know that. And that’s the problem because a lot of new users are already stressed at picking a server.

Still not the point.

Everyone missing the point because the example is “Nazis”. It doesn’t matter what it is, I don’t want someone else deciding what I can see. Unless it causes legal problems for the server, don’t censor me.

Individual servers isn’t the quick answer everyone seems to think it is.

Everyone here says to run your own server, as if that’s the mindset that’s going to bring in users and increase the popularity of federation. A little short-sighted.

Yes, exactly like Reddit does. How does a federated system manage when everyone is required to run their own server to avoid censorship?

Nazis aren’t the point. Censorship is. Hard to see how a community that requires an individual federated server for everyone to avoid censorship is going to eventually come close to the popularity of Reddit.

“Most folks just call me Orange Joe.”

I have brown hair.

Also “Ow, my sperm”.