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32C3 preroll music
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Herald: I’m happy to introduce[br]Katharina Nocun. She is a…
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applause
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She’s a privacy activist and
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she worked for the Federation of[br]German consumer organisations;
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and also for the German working[br]group on Data Retention.
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She was on the board of[br]the German Pirate Party
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and nowadays she’s working for Campact
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as a campaigner for digital rights.
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Campact is an online petition[br]platform here in Germany.
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But also she’s an economist.
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And she did some research[br]on why it is so difficult
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for decentralized social networks
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to compete with Facebook.[br]So it’s the perfect talk
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for the mission statement of this[br]Congress – Katharina Nocun!
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applause
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Katharina Nocun: Yeah, thank you very[br]much for this awesome introduction.
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And first of all I need to excuse[br]myself: I catched a cold, so
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just imagine that I’m shouting at[br]you all the time. Because I can’t.
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Yeah, why did I do some research on[br]the topic of Facebook and Diaspora?
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You know I really hate[br]Facebook. During my time
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at the Federal consumer[br]organization of Germany
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we sued Facebook a lot.[br]We also sued Google a lot.
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And when I studied economics[br]friends of me asked me:
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“Yeah, let’s found a Facebook Group[br]and there we can exchange exams and…
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that’s so cool, that’s so awesome”[br]and I said: “Yeah, well, no,
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I don’t have a Facebook[br]account and I don’t want to”.
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applause
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And then I asked…[br]I mean it worked out fine,
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we opened a group on weriseup.net,
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so we exchanged our exams[br]there. But still I asked myself
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why can’t I convince more people to[br]join Diaspora or other networks.
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And that’s why I did[br]this research project.
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So let’s talk about gated[br]communities and the internet.
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The internet is based at large[br]parts on free protocols,
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so everything is okay, isn’t it?
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Okay, everything is okay?
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mumble and laughter from audience
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Yeah, in the beginning of the internet[br]there were many many nodes
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and they were connected to one[br]another as equals. And today
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the internet is a giant web[br]which is interconnected
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with more and more aspects[br]of all-eyes (?). But what started
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as a playground for nerds and[br]scientists is not only today
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a powerful economic driving force[br]but changes a lot of aspects of
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how economics work, how politics[br]work and how public debates work.
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But it also changed in[br]a way I really dislike.
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The main topic of this Congress[br]is ‘Gated Communities’
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and I think it’s a very[br]important issue to address
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that above this open layer of the[br]Internet, above this open protocol
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gated, closed islands of[br]gated communities emerged
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and we see clear that those[br]are trends for concentration
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in the hands of just[br]a few platform owners.
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So what can we do about it? I think[br]social networks are an important benchmark
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for these trends and, as an economist,[br]I have a clear word for what is happening
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right now on many areas on the web:
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it’s market failure. Because[br]there is no real competition
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possible with Facebook. There[br]is no real competition possible
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with other large platforms.[br]And that’s why this talk
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will try to explain why we should[br]care that Facebook has become
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the de facto social network provider[br]for large parts of the world
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and how this came about.[br]And, most importantly,
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what lessons we can draw from[br]certain dynamics on the market,
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for market entry options for[br]decentralized social networks.
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So, first of all, why should we care?
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Some numbers:[br]if Facebook was a state,
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it would have more inhabitants than[br]Europe, China or the Americas.
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And every fifth human being on this planet
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logs in on Facebook[br]at least once per month.
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That’s an incredible number.[br]And the reason for the success
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of social networks as an[br]idea is because it connects
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to a very basic human need for us.[br]Because we are social creatures.
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So, I think, addressing this human need,
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that we are social, that we want to[br]exchange, to share with one another,
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is an incredible, cool, powerful idea. And
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social networks most importantly[br]add context to content.
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It makes a difference if a friend of mine[br]shares an article about Star Wars,
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how stupid the new Star Wars movie[br]is than some journalist just writes
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an article about it. And social[br]networks are so important for us
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because the web is filled with[br]information about everything.
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And social networks allow us to filter[br]this information through social ties.
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And it’s not only the place where[br]we can spread birthday messages,
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“Happy Birthday, I thought about you[br]because Facebook reminded me
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I should do so”.[br]But Facebook is also the place
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where we can found groups, where we[br]can not only exchange maybe exams
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for economics classes, but where we[br]can call for action and organize protest.
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And, back then, when I studied in Hamburg,
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there was a point where[br]I registered on Facebook
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under a fake name.[br]I was called ‘Maria Musterfrau’.
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And this Maria Musterfrau[br]founded different events
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on Facebook, for demonstration[br]against the ACTA treaty.
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ACTA, it was a treaty…
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it had a lot to do with copyrights, and
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also in some areas with privacy[br]issues. And we called for action
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on the web, and 15,000 people came[br]to our demonstration in Hamburg.
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So basically I think social networks[br]are a very, very powerful idea
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to enhance democracy, freedom of speech.
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But, unfortunately, I don’t think[br]that the structure of Facebook
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as the de facto social network[br]provider of the world
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is the best way to provide[br]this idea to the people.
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So we heard a lot on TV,[br]on the newspapers,
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about the Facebook revolution; how[br]the Facebook revolution would
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empower democracy etc.,[br]and freedom of speech.
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And, in fact, for generations,[br]media institutions such as
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TV channels or newspapers were[br]the gatekeepers for public debates.
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If you wanted to influence public debates
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you needed to get past these[br]gatekeepers. And it is true
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that the internet or social media allowed
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to implement setting[br]a topic from bottom-up.
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And that is a very powerful idea. But[br]this tale of the power of Facebook
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as an enabler or catalyst[br]for freedom of speech,
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I think it’s really a tale, it’s a[br]very simplified story. Because
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the inconvenient truth[br]is that today, if you
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want to influence public debates,[br]you have new gatekeepers.
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And Facebook is one of the most[br]important gatekeepers of our time.
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Take e.g. secret algorithms,[br]which filter information
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that is revealed to us, not on the basis[br]which information we want to see,
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but on assumed click-and-interaction[br]rates. Based on economic incentives,
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because they want to make[br]money out of this interaction.
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Facebook thereby creates virtual[br]filter bubbles around us.
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It’s not only that we can filter[br]information through our social ties,
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but Facebook sits in the middle,[br]as bottleneck for information
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and control. Whether or not[br]this is really provided to us.
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And, most importantly, Facebook[br]decides which content is allowed
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on its network and which content is[br]banned. Take e.g. the case of nudity;
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or the example of violence.
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Facebook is much, much more liberal[br]to depict violence on its network
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than nudity. E.g. when you[br]have a mother feeding a child,
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Facebook is more likely [for you][br]to be banned than someone
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beating someone else up.[br]And if you ask Kurdish activists
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on the topic of what they think about[br]freedom of speech on Facebook
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they will tell you a pretty different[br]tale than we see on the media
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when they talk about the[br]Facebook revolution.
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Because during the last years there were[br]several cases where president Erdoğan,
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the Turkish Prime Minister,[br]addressed Facebook,
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because he wanted to have some[br]profiles of activists or parties banned.
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And Facebook complied.
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And talking about social network is[br]not only about freedom of speech.
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One of the most important topics,[br]I think, is also the issue of privacy.
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And for me, the decisive privacy[br]struggles are not whether or not
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someone sees our selfies on Facebook.[br]Because I guess most people want
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that other people see their selfies on[br]Facebook. For me the decisive struggles
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are rather about our browser history that[br]Facebook collects through Like buttons.
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It’s about connection information.[br]It’s about our Search queries and
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the right to register under a fake name.[br]Because what I did back then,
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when I organized demonstration in[br]Hamburg, that was clearly illegal.
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You are not allowed to register under[br]a fake name. And what would have happened
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if Facebook decided one day, or 2 days[br]before the demonstration was launched,
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or maybe before that: “let’s delete[br]this account, let’s delete this event”.
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We would have a problem.
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And based on the information[br]on which profiles we click
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our provider knows with whom we are in[br]love and whether or not we moved on
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after a break-up. That are pretty[br]important information about us;
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and we should never forget that[br]the information that is stored
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in order to sell us cars, and[br]diamonds and fancy stuff
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can also be used in order to target[br]activists. And in the wrong hands
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this data on activists[br]is pretty dangerous.
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So as we see there is a clear[br]conflict between shareholder value
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and public interest. And I do not[br]have a problem with social network.
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As I told you, I love the idea. But I do[br]have a problem when we put corporations
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in a position to exploit this very[br]sensitive part of our lives.
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But fortunately there is an alternative.
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In 2010 four young students from the US
0:12:48.080,0:12:52.279
launched a crowdfunding project[br]on kickstarter. And they asked
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for 10,000 US$ in order to change[br]their internships and summer jobs
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for the opportunity to work full time[br]on a decentralized open source
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alternative social network. And[br]the reaction was really stunning.
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Because they asked for 10,000 $[br]and what they got in the end,
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after 39 days, was 20 times[br]more than they asked for.
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It was 200,000 $. And what[br]was the goal of Diaspora?
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The founders wanted to give the users[br]first of all a better bargaining position
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against the dominant[br]social network provider.
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They wanted to give users[br]more control over their data
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and they wanted to implement[br]a structure for social networks
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that provides a better[br]control against censorship
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and control of governments.
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So what does it mean,[br]‘a decentralized social network’?
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To talk about the issue of centralization[br]or decentralization is important because
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a lot of the power structure between users[br]and the platform owners can be foreseen
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somehow through the technical[br]infrastructure that is implemented. And
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you can say that there are 3 basic[br]kinds of different network structures,
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which be ‘centralized’,[br]‘decentralized’ and ‘distributed’.
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In the centralized design which[br]is represented e.g. by Facebook
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there is one network platform owner[br]in the middle like a spider in the web
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collecting all the data. He’s the[br]bottleneck. You can’t go besides
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this bottleneck in order to communicate[br]with other members of the platform.
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In contrast to that a fully[br]distributed system would be like…
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or is a peer-to-peer system where[br]every user is at the same time
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a node of the network.[br]So, again, it’s a network of equals.
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But unfortunately it’s a bit tricky to[br]provide a distributed social network
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on large scale because as you can[br]imagine you would need encryption,
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on a large scale because otherwise every[br]other member of the network would have
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the potential to access your private[br]data. And there are some projects
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researching on that. But in 2010[br]when Diaspora was founded
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the idea was to start with[br]a decentralized structure.
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And the most important feature[br]of such a decentralized structure
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is that you don’t have[br]one server where every…
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like every interaction is going through[br]but you have different servers.
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And because it’s open source everyone[br]is free to set up their own server;
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or you as a user can maybe[br]chose “I trust person X,
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and she’s running a Diaspora pod,[br]and I join”; or I don’t trust anyone
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and I set up my own pod.
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And talking about freedom of[br]speech or government pressure:
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One interesting feature is that[br]it’s much, much more difficult
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to censor or to control data[br]flows from government level
0:16:16.570,0:16:21.819
in a decentralized or distributed[br]system because if there is a server
0:16:21.819,0:16:32.149
under pressure you just[br]can move to another server.
0:16:32.149,0:16:36.519
This slide shows what’s[br]the state of Diaspora
0:16:36.519,0:16:42.560
right now. We have now… well we live[br]in the year 2015. Some years passed
0:16:42.560,0:16:47.470
since this idea was announced. And
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here you see the Top 10 active Diaspora[br]servers. Or they’re also called pods.
0:16:53.190,0:16:56.449
And first of all we see[br]that in the last years
0:16:56.449,0:17:03.139
there was a development or a trend[br]that more and more servers
0:17:03.139,0:17:07.860
are located in Germany. The biggest[br]server once… or the most active server
0:17:07.860,0:17:13.420
once was joindiaspora.com[br]which was the first server
0:17:13.420,0:17:16.510
that called for like[br]registration for anyone.
0:17:16.510,0:17:21.020
And today most servers are in Germany.
0:17:21.020,0:17:24.510
And looking at the number[br]of registered users
0:17:24.510,0:17:28.480
you see that the Top 10[br]Diaspora pods together
0:17:28.480,0:17:33.150
have roundabout half a Million users.
0:17:33.150,0:17:37.460
So anyone who’s telling you[br]“Diaspora is dead!”, you can tell:
0:17:37.460,0:17:42.390
“Diaspora is not dead!”.[br]It’s pretty alive. And
0:17:42.390,0:17:46.980
there are roundabout between[br]20.000 and 30.000 people
0:17:46.980,0:17:52.090
who log in to the Diaspora[br]network, or connected networks
0:17:52.090,0:17:58.040
at least once per month. And[br]this number is rather increasing…
0:17:58.040,0:18:02.790
…over the last years. So we see[br]that Diaspora has a relatively small
0:18:02.790,0:18:08.260
but stable user base. But in[br]the end when we look at the…
0:18:08.260,0:18:12.640
what was announced we see[br]that it’s clearly failed its goal
0:18:12.640,0:18:18.020
to overcome Facebook or to overthrow[br]Facebook as the de facto social network
0:18:18.020,0:18:23.060
of the world. So we need to ask ourselves:
0:18:23.060,0:18:28.630
“Why didn’t this happen?”
0:18:28.630,0:18:33.230
And in IT it’s said that ‘Code is[br]Law’. And in economics it’s said
0:18:33.230,0:18:38.880
that the market structures[br]are telling you a lot
0:18:38.880,0:18:46.130
about which outcome is most likely[br]to come out of a situation on the market.
0:18:46.130,0:18:49.340
That means that market structure are[br]a powerful tool that can provide
0:18:49.340,0:18:54.260
some explanations why we live in[br]such a decade of gated communities
0:18:54.260,0:18:59.170
and why decentralized alternatives[br]struggle so hard to overcome Facebook
0:18:59.170,0:19:06.400
and others. And talking about
0:19:06.400,0:19:10.690
market structures or[br]features of certain markets:
0:19:10.690,0:19:15.820
the most important feature on[br]the market for social networks
0:19:15.820,0:19:20.990
is of course the ‘network effect’.[br]So: what’s the network effect?
0:19:20.990,0:19:25.870
Imagine you get a very tempting[br]offer for a mobile contract.
0:19:25.870,0:19:30.090
And it offers really everything you[br]were craving for: different features,
0:19:30.090,0:19:36.520
a new mobile for free, and[br]very very low, competitive prize.
0:19:36.520,0:19:41.180
But there’s just one twist with[br]this offer: the operator tells you:
0:19:41.180,0:19:46.400
“Well, you can accept this offer, but the[br]problem is you can only communicate
0:19:46.400,0:19:50.390
with other members of our network.[br]Everyone else will be banned
0:19:50.390,0:19:54.850
from calling you or being called.”
0:19:54.850,0:19:59.360
Would you accept such an offer?[br]Would you join a gated community?
0:19:59.360,0:20:06.020
I don’t think so. I wouldn’t.[br]And this example
0:20:06.020,0:20:11.070
shows really what the[br]network effect is all about.
0:20:11.070,0:20:15.600
The ‘global network[br]effect’ means simply that
0:20:15.600,0:20:19.980
the more users join a network the[br]more connections are available
0:20:19.980,0:20:24.180
and therefor the more attractive it[br]becomes for other people to join.
0:20:24.180,0:20:27.810
The more people join[br]– more people join etc.
0:20:27.810,0:20:33.320
And therefor it’s a structure that really[br]empowers the growth of monopolies
0:20:33.320,0:20:38.090
or big platforms. And
0:20:38.090,0:20:42.380
through this Bandwagon effect[br]with positive feedback loops
0:20:42.380,0:20:47.320
you can clearly see that[br]monopolies are enforced.
0:20:47.320,0:20:51.340
But talking about social networks: the[br]global effect is really not so important,
0:20:51.340,0:20:57.430
I think. Because when I think about social[br]networks or communication platforms
0:20:57.430,0:21:01.960
I really don’t care about the market[br]share in China, or in Brazil,
0:21:01.960,0:21:07.940
or in the US. I care about the[br]market share among my friends,
0:21:07.940,0:21:15.950
I care about on which platform I can reach[br]my family, or my business contacts.
0:21:15.950,0:21:22.550
And that’s true for a lot of people.[br]I mean, most people communicate intensely
0:21:22.550,0:21:27.820
always with a very small subset of people.[br]And that is how the ‘local network effect’
0:21:27.820,0:21:33.040
works. If everyone here in this room…[br]or if everyone I’m friends with
0:21:33.040,0:21:37.240
– rather to say – would switch to an[br]alternative platform I would follow.
0:21:37.240,0:21:41.810
Always. Because I want[br]to reach these people.
0:21:41.810,0:21:47.040
And interestingly the success[br]of Facebook was not so much
0:21:47.040,0:21:51.400
about the global network effect.[br]This effect came later.
0:21:51.400,0:21:56.660
First of all it was about[br]the local network effect.
0:21:56.660,0:22:00.400
Because when Facebook emerged they[br]had a certain strategy for growth.
0:22:00.400,0:22:05.210
And first of all Facebook was[br]in the first month or year
0:22:05.210,0:22:08.560
only available for Harvard students.
0:22:08.560,0:22:13.790
You even needed a valid Harvard[br]University address in order to register.
0:22:13.790,0:22:18.140
Everyone else was banned from the network.
0:22:18.140,0:22:22.040
So imagine the situation: you are new[br]at the university and most likely
0:22:22.040,0:22:25.780
you moved to Harvard.[br]You don’t know anyone there.
0:22:25.780,0:22:29.970
But you make new friends and all these[br]new friends are on this platform.
0:22:29.970,0:22:33.840
So you know you will meet[br]people you want to meet there.
0:22:33.840,0:22:39.220
So you join. And only after having reached
0:22:39.220,0:22:43.370
a critical mass in Harvard[br]Facebook expanded
0:22:43.370,0:22:48.160
to other Ivy League colleges.[br]These are very prestigious colleges
0:22:48.160,0:22:53.980
in the US and you can be really lucky if[br]you are accepted at one of these colleges.
0:22:53.980,0:22:57.960
And again, you needed a valid[br]university address in order to register.
0:22:57.960,0:23:02.810
And everyone else was banned.
0:23:02.810,0:23:07.430
And only after they reached a critical[br]mass there they expanded.
0:23:07.430,0:23:11.630
And allowed any university[br]student to log in.
0:23:11.630,0:23:16.780
Then they expanded again.[br]And allowed any school…
0:23:16.780,0:23:22.620
or any member of a school to join.[br]Then they chose several institutions,
0:23:22.620,0:23:26.590
which were also allowed to join. And[br]only after they reached a critical mass
0:23:26.590,0:23:36.150
in every of these communities they[br]opened for the general public.
0:23:36.150,0:23:41.630
And that is how social networks[br]– or also different kinds of networks
0:23:41.630,0:23:45.950
which are based on communication –[br]how they grow.
0:23:45.950,0:23:49.580
And this strategy is successful[br]because people who joined early
0:23:49.580,0:23:53.750
on Facebook knew that they would[br]find meaningful connections there,
0:23:53.750,0:23:58.460
not anyone. As I told you: you don’t[br]care about the market share in China.
0:23:58.460,0:24:02.450
You care about the market share[br]maybe on the CCC congress, or maybe
0:24:02.450,0:24:06.980
at your local hackerspace, or maybe at[br]your school or university, or at work,
0:24:06.980,0:24:13.790
or at your sucker clob… soccer club.[br]laughs
0:24:13.790,0:24:19.480
laughter, relenting applause
0:24:19.480,0:24:23.220
Well, and...[br]laughs again
0:24:23.220,0:24:26.710
Facebook was not the only network[br]that understood how important
0:24:26.710,0:24:31.380
these local network effects[br]are in order to grow.
0:24:31.380,0:24:36.530
You often find invite-only structures,[br]searchable friends-of-friends lists,
0:24:36.530,0:24:40.590
or invite applications, or…[br]These fancy upload functions
0:24:40.590,0:24:45.540
for your address book… yeah, it’s[br]all about the local network effect,
0:24:45.540,0:24:50.550
it’s all about local growth.
0:24:50.550,0:24:54.810
But unfortunately it’s not only the[br]global and the local network effect
0:24:54.810,0:24:59.210
that benefits Facebook. It’s also[br]the indirect network effect,
0:24:59.210,0:25:03.540
or also called[br]‘cross sided network effect’.
0:25:03.540,0:25:07.260
And one example, what does[br]it mean, ‘indirect network effect’,
0:25:07.260,0:25:13.230
one network effect again?[br]Facebook opens its platform
0:25:13.230,0:25:17.270
for app developers. Any app[br]developer is free to join Facebook
0:25:17.270,0:25:20.530
– of course you have some restrictions –[br]but you don’t need to pay money
0:25:20.530,0:25:26.310
in order to place your app on Facebook.[br]And why does Facebook act in such a way?
0:25:26.310,0:25:30.970
Because the more apps you have,[br]the more interaction you have
0:25:30.970,0:25:35.110
the more people are likely to join.[br]And the more people join
0:25:35.110,0:25:39.670
the more apps you have. Then[br]more people will join. So you have
0:25:39.670,0:25:44.600
a likelihood that more apps[br]can contribute to growth.
0:25:44.600,0:25:48.230
And maybe you don’t care about apps.
0:25:48.230,0:25:51.670
I know pretty much people[br]from my time at university
0:25:51.670,0:25:59.660
that were so addicted to Farmville.
0:25:59.660,0:26:03.440
Or CandyCrush, or whatever.[br]But this Farmville thing really
0:26:03.440,0:26:07.910
ruled at university when[br]you looked at the laptops.
0:26:07.910,0:26:11.360
Another interesting cross[br]sided network effect is
0:26:11.360,0:26:15.340
e.g. an example where you tried…
0:26:15.340,0:26:18.360
when you succeed to[br]attract more advertisers,
0:26:18.360,0:26:21.900
and these more advertisers pay you[br]more money, you use this money
0:26:21.900,0:26:26.860
in order to provide better[br]services to your users and
0:26:26.860,0:26:33.240
maybe more users join because of this.[br]This attracts more advertisers etc.
0:26:33.240,0:26:38.060
So this is another effect that
0:26:38.060,0:26:42.280
leads to an increase in growth[br]– for the largest platform!
0:26:42.280,0:26:46.100
Or for large platforms. And on top[br]of that you still of course have
0:26:46.100,0:26:50.500
economies of scale, like in[br]many different other markets.
0:26:50.500,0:26:53.990
Economies of scale basically[br]means the marginal costs
0:26:53.990,0:27:00.320
for every additional user just decreases.
0:27:00.320,0:27:04.650
And of course this doesn’t[br]make competition any easier.
0:27:04.650,0:27:08.800
And at this point it is to understand[br]– talking about Facebook
0:27:08.800,0:27:12.900
as a gated community –[br]how it came about that
0:27:12.900,0:27:17.930
it is in fact today a gated[br]community. Because
0:27:17.930,0:27:22.350
it wouldn’t if Facebook would[br]provide e.g. open standards
0:27:22.350,0:27:28.020
and the ability to interconnect[br]between different networks.
0:27:28.020,0:27:32.870
Imagine a situation where[br]you just could join Diaspora
0:27:32.870,0:27:38.040
and you still could contact all[br]your contacts from Facebook.
0:27:38.040,0:27:42.800
How much more people would then[br]switch from Facebook to Diaspora?
0:27:42.800,0:27:50.440
I think this number would[br]be pretty high. And…
0:27:50.440,0:27:56.400
maybe some of you may think[br]this is like a total[ly] naive dream
0:27:56.400,0:28:02.030
of open standards in social networks.[br]But I guess everyone of you
0:28:02.030,0:28:06.700
has an email address. And do you care
0:28:06.700,0:28:10.730
which provider your[br]communication partner chooses?
0:28:10.730,0:28:14.130
I mean you don’t need to care[br]because it’s an open protocol.
0:28:14.130,0:28:17.780
As long as this person[br]uses the email technology
0:28:17.780,0:28:20.700
you can communicate with [it].
0:28:20.700,0:28:27.010
And the issues of whether or[br]not a communication platform
0:28:27.010,0:28:30.770
shuts down and uses proprietary standards,
0:28:30.770,0:28:36.860
and maybe implements[br]incompatibility on purpose
0:28:36.860,0:28:41.290
is because that standards have the power
0:28:41.290,0:28:45.320
to change the reference[br]point for the network effect.
0:28:45.320,0:28:49.910
As I told you with the example of email:
0:28:49.910,0:28:55.080
the relevant number concerning the[br]local and the global network effect
0:28:55.080,0:29:00.930
with email is not the number who’s on[br]Gmail or the number of people who use GMX
0:29:00.930,0:29:05.670
or T-Online, whatever there is.[br]But the relevant number is really
0:29:05.670,0:29:10.330
who uses this technology.
0:29:10.330,0:29:14.230
And that is why there[br]are very high incentives:
0:29:14.230,0:29:17.830
once you became a big player[br]because of the global network effect,
0:29:17.830,0:29:21.090
the local network effect,[br]the indirect network effect,
0:29:21.090,0:29:27.490
just to close your gates and[br]shut your competitors out.
0:29:27.490,0:29:32.490
And it won’t get better.[br]In fact it will get worse.
0:29:32.490,0:29:37.110
E.g. we see a lot of companies[br]that in the beginning provide pretty
0:29:37.110,0:29:42.280
open standards, or invite application[br]writers to write mobile applications,
0:29:42.280,0:29:46.770
such as Twitter, but at some[br]point they always close down.
0:29:46.770,0:29:50.920
Once Facebook chat was[br]compatible with Jabber.
0:29:50.920,0:29:56.100
And the Google chat was compatible[br]with Jabber, with XMPP, too.
0:29:56.100,0:30:00.440
But at some point they just[br]decided to close down.
0:30:00.440,0:30:04.270
And if you compete with a gated community
0:30:04.270,0:30:09.330
this means also something else.[br]It means that a new feature
0:30:09.330,0:30:14.320
won’t help you that much.[br]When you try to get users
0:30:14.320,0:30:20.550
to switch. Because maybe e.g. there will…
0:30:20.550,0:30:23.770
imagine a new social network with[br]a fancy feature and everyone says:
0:30:23.770,0:30:27.260
“Oh, I like this feature but at the[br]same point at the same time
0:30:27.260,0:30:30.870
a lot of people will say: “Yeah, I like[br]this feature but still it’s more important
0:30:30.870,0:30:35.050
to communicate with all of my[br]friends.” This gives you time.
0:30:35.050,0:30:39.530
Of course people are more likely to[br]switch but you have time to adapt
0:30:39.530,0:30:44.980
as a monopolist, as a big platform[br]in order to copy these features.
0:30:44.980,0:30:51.660
Or maybe to buy the whole company[br]like Facebook does frequently.
0:30:51.660,0:30:55.790
And it becomes more likely[br]– with the possibility just to close up
0:30:55.790,0:30:59.370
your community and make[br]a gated community out of it –
0:30:59.370,0:31:03.070
that the first mover on the market[br]will take it all. The first company,
0:31:03.070,0:31:07.330
or the first platform that[br]manages to get a critical mass
0:31:07.330,0:31:12.600
and shuts down is most likely to become[br]the de facto [standard] platform provider
0:31:12.600,0:31:17.830
for all of the users.
0:31:17.830,0:31:22.680
But unfortunately these are[br]not all the economic effects
0:31:22.680,0:31:26.230
that make it less likely that[br]people leave Facebook.
0:31:26.230,0:31:31.440
There are still the ‘switching cause’[br]and the ‘lock-in’ effect.
0:31:31.440,0:31:35.160
Imagine you want to leave[br]from Facebook, you have
0:31:35.160,0:31:40.070
all your photos there, you have all your[br]contacts there, you have interaction data.
0:31:40.070,0:31:43.380
And maybe you can move some of your[br]photos; but it’s incredibly annoying
0:31:43.380,0:31:47.510
when you don’t have data portability[br]in place. And there are some data
0:31:47.510,0:31:51.140
which are really lost.[br]You can’t take them with you.
0:31:51.140,0:31:55.530
And that is why switching is so hard.[br]And the longer you are member
0:31:55.530,0:31:59.470
of such are platform which doesn’t[br]allow you just to take your stuff
0:31:59.470,0:32:03.480
when you move out the more[br]you become locked in.
0:32:03.480,0:32:07.720
And the problem about the situation[br]is: once the operator knows
0:32:07.720,0:32:12.470
that you won’t be very likely[br]someone who just switches
0:32:12.470,0:32:17.860
he will care less. He will care[br]less when you complain about
0:32:17.860,0:32:21.490
the new ‘Terms of Services’, he will[br]care less when you complain about
0:32:21.490,0:32:25.980
privacy issues, or the advertising[br]policy or whatever. He will just
0:32:25.980,0:32:32.590
don’t give a shit.
0:32:32.590,0:32:35.780
And the problem is: once you have[br]a gated community, of course
0:32:35.780,0:32:40.770
[you] want to monetize it.[br]And the less likely users can make
0:32:40.770,0:32:45.720
a credible threat to leave in case[br]they don’t like the business model
0:32:45.720,0:32:53.170
or the way how their data or[br]they themselves are treated
0:32:53.170,0:32:57.610
the more you can just take out of this[br]network. Because people will start
0:32:57.610,0:33:02.140
to tolerate things they would never[br]tolerate under other conditions.
0:33:02.140,0:33:06.590
In the case of email I would just switch[br]my email provider. In the case of Facebook
0:33:06.590,0:33:11.240
most people won’t[br]switch the social network.
0:33:11.240,0:33:15.190
In the business model of Facebook we are[br]not the consumers. That’s very important
0:33:15.190,0:33:19.710
to keep in mind. We are the product[br]being sold. And advertisers pay
0:33:19.710,0:33:23.450
for the really really scarce[br]resource on the internet:
0:33:23.450,0:33:28.630
It’s access to the users![br]It’s our attention.
0:33:28.630,0:33:33.910
And this here is some data[br]on how much worth…
0:33:33.910,0:33:38.150
or how much revenue is generated per user.
0:33:38.150,0:33:42.330
And you see that when[br]you’re from the US or Canada
0:33:42.330,0:33:49.840
your data per year is worth ca. 8 Dollars.
0:33:49.840,0:33:54.490
So you pay such an amount[br]of money for getting a service
0:33:54.490,0:34:01.360
that costs the provider approx. some[br]pennies, because of economies of scale.
0:34:01.360,0:34:11.118
So that’s why gated communities[br]are everywhere. It’s a gold mine.
0:34:11.118,0:34:18.130
And the problem is, talking about[br]platforms such as Facebook…
0:34:18.130,0:34:22.320
We are not talking anymore[br]about just social networks.
0:34:22.320,0:34:26.409
Because it’s a platform.
0:34:26.409,0:34:32.139
And platforms that have the network[br]effects and ‘lock-in’ on their side
0:34:32.139,0:34:36.270
try often to transfer their[br]dominant market position
0:34:36.270,0:34:42.560
from one market to another market.[br]And one common strategy is bundling.
0:34:42.560,0:34:48.389
Bundling appears when you[br]only can get a certain service
0:34:48.389,0:34:52.260
as a bundle of services, and you[br]can’t just get a single service
0:34:52.260,0:34:56.820
without the whole bundle. Some[br]examples concerning Facebook:
0:34:56.820,0:35:00.490
Why do you need Jabber when you[br]have a Facebook chat that can’t even
0:35:00.490,0:35:05.760
communicate with Jabber. Or do you really[br]need Skype when you have Google Hangouts
0:35:05.760,0:35:10.900
on your Google+ account?[br]Or e.g. would you still
0:35:10.900,0:35:15.260
upload videos on Youtube or Vimeo[br]when you want to spread them
0:35:15.260,0:35:19.920
via Facebook, and you know that Facebook[br]systematically downgrades every video
0:35:19.920,0:35:25.760
that isn’t uploaded on their servers?
0:35:25.760,0:35:29.490
And this strategy has devastating results.
0:35:29.490,0:35:33.740
It’s causing that the[br]gates, or the borders
0:35:33.740,0:35:38.060
of a gated community are constantly[br]expanding. That means larger
0:35:38.060,0:35:44.220
and larger parts of the internet are[br]becoming parts of some gated community.
0:35:44.220,0:35:48.110
And Facebook and others even[br]have managed to kill net neutrality
0:35:48.110,0:35:51.400
in various countries in order[br]to expand their borders
0:35:51.400,0:35:55.520
to the level of internet access.
0:35:55.520,0:35:59.700
The fight about net neutrality is nothing[br]else; the fight about net neutrality
0:35:59.700,0:36:03.870
is about gated communities that[br]try to expand their borders
0:36:03.870,0:36:10.350
to a level where they don’t[br]belong. And they had no powers
0:36:10.350,0:36:14.540
until now. And it is sad to see
0:36:14.540,0:36:18.770
but for many people, like for[br]many people I met on university,
0:36:18.770,0:36:23.960
back then when I studied here,[br]Facebook is the Internet!
0:36:23.960,0:36:27.910
Because Facebook provides[br]everything they basically need.
0:36:27.910,0:36:38.931
Everything but freedom,[br]and privacy, and choice.
0:36:38.931,0:36:43.460
I admit this was a pretty[br]depressing overview
0:36:43.460,0:36:49.420
over market structures.[br]So let’s see what do we do
0:36:49.420,0:36:53.870
with this knowledge and what[br]has it to do with Diaspora,
0:36:53.870,0:37:00.690
the alternative social[br]network? First of all
0:37:00.690,0:37:06.400
let me say one thing:[br]I know it is a convenient dream
0:37:06.400,0:37:09.860
that one day the next[br]big social network, or
0:37:09.860,0:37:14.470
the next big free software project[br]will come and rescue us all from
0:37:14.470,0:37:17.760
the dominance of platform owners.
0:37:17.760,0:37:22.070
But competing with such[br]giant platforms like Google,
0:37:22.070,0:37:26.450
Facebook or Apple, or Microsoft:
0:37:26.450,0:37:30.730
it’s not very likely that this[br]will happen overnight.
0:37:30.730,0:37:35.340
And I love heroes… I love[br]super heroes, I love comics, but
0:37:35.340,0:37:39.730
unfortunately this is not[br]realistic in such a situation.
0:37:39.730,0:37:45.020
We need to work hard[br]in order to accomplish that.
0:37:45.020,0:37:49.330
And a cool feature will not change this.[br]Because the history showed that
0:37:49.330,0:37:53.780
every time Diaspora tried[br]to implement a new feature
0:37:53.780,0:37:57.220
in order to compete with Facebook we had
0:37:57.220,0:38:02.830
the situation that other[br]social networks instantly
0:38:02.830,0:38:06.720
copied this feature.[br]E.g. how many of you…
0:38:06.720,0:38:12.330
I don’t know how many of you[br]are on Facebook… but…
0:38:12.330,0:38:16.750
but you know today you can differentiate[br]on Facebook between friends,
0:38:16.750,0:38:20.440
close friends, business contacts etc.
0:38:20.440,0:38:25.500
This is a relatively new feature.[br]And first, interestingly,
0:38:25.500,0:38:29.760
Diaspora implemented[br]such a differentiation
0:38:29.760,0:38:36.020
of contact levels,[br]and called it ‘aspects’.
0:38:36.020,0:38:39.750
And then Google+ came and announced:
0:38:39.750,0:38:43.590
“Yeah, we have something[br]better, we have ‘circles’!”
0:38:43.590,0:38:49.420
And it was basically the same principle.[br]And then Facebook of course copied it.
0:38:49.420,0:38:52.680
So we need to face this inconvenient[br]truth: Facebook and others will
0:38:52.680,0:38:56.780
always have a bigger staff, more[br]money, and a larger user base.
0:38:56.780,0:39:00.340
And they will use it against us.[br]So if you’re dreaming that
0:39:00.340,0:39:04.440
maybe there will come[br]a new feature, or a new tool;
0:39:04.440,0:39:07.550
and all the teens are like:[br]“Hell yeah, I want to use this!
0:39:07.550,0:39:12.260
Fuck Facebook, my parents are[br]on Facebook!” laughter
0:39:12.260,0:39:16.860
This happened before. Do you know[br]Instagram? Do you know Whatsapp?
0:39:16.860,0:39:22.680
Do you know who bought it?[br]Facebook!
0:39:22.680,0:39:27.270
So we need to really think,[br]in order to win this fight.
0:39:27.270,0:39:31.120
Or at least to keep struggling.[br]What are killer features?
0:39:31.120,0:39:37.270
What are the killer features of open[br]source decentralized social networks?
0:39:37.270,0:39:41.430
I just told you: open source,[br]decentralized, non-corporate,
0:39:41.430,0:39:45.630
privacy-aware,…[br]Facebook will not copy that!
0:39:45.630,0:39:49.760
laughter and applause
0:39:49.760,0:39:58.760
applause
0:39:58.760,0:40:03.980
So, you know, I got really curious[br]– because I knew that my colleagues
0:40:03.980,0:40:09.750
from university are not on Diaspora –[br]so I really got curious:
0:40:09.750,0:40:14.220
who is on Diaspora? Who[br]are these 20..30.000 users
0:40:14.220,0:40:18.070
who log in per month?[br]And this is an analysis
0:40:18.070,0:40:22.320
of the most used hashtags on[br]Geraspora. Geraspora is right now
0:40:22.320,0:40:26.590
the most active Diaspora pod.
0:40:26.590,0:40:30.750
What kind of community do[br]you think is on Diaspora?
0:40:30.750,0:40:35.610
Top hashtags such as:[br]Linux, Gnu, Hackernews, ja?
0:40:35.610,0:40:39.060
From my point of view this is very[br]awesome, and I think: “Yeah, this is
0:40:39.060,0:40:42.750
a community I would like to join!”.
0:40:42.750,0:40:47.040
So in fact, when we remember[br]what is important
0:40:47.040,0:40:51.420
for social networks in order to grow?[br]It’s the local network effect.
0:40:51.420,0:40:57.610
And in fact we already managed[br]to attract a very, very specific group.
0:40:57.610,0:41:01.010
And this group is not very[br]likely to switch. Because:
0:41:01.010,0:41:04.800
do you think your local hackerspace would[br]maybe switch from Diaspora to Facebook,
0:41:04.800,0:41:10.920
because Facebook is so awesome?[br]I don’t think so.
0:41:10.920,0:41:15.840
And there will be also some new features –
0:41:15.840,0:41:19.660
I can proudly announce because[br]some of the developers
0:41:19.660,0:41:23.800
just told me I should do –[br]laughs
0:41:23.800,0:41:27.250
which can even make the[br]network more attractive
0:41:27.250,0:41:32.460
for groups like hackerspaces or whatever.[br]singular dull laughter from audience
0:41:32.460,0:41:36.070
There will be... laughs in reaction[br]there will be
0:41:36.070,0:41:40.240
chat extensions soon which[br]is compatible with XMPP,
0:41:40.240,0:41:45.030
or based on XMPP so that you can[br]add all your Jabber contacts in there.
0:41:45.030,0:41:49.890
And for me it’s pretty convenient because[br]I use Jabber over time-at-work.
0:41:49.890,0:41:54.320
So guess what will be open[br]all the time at work!
0:41:54.320,0:41:58.460
Diaspora… ooh, here is sitting[br]someone from my work!
0:41:58.460,0:42:00.950
laughter
0:42:00.950,0:42:03.590
Because it’s so super efficient. And…[br]laughter
0:42:03.590,0:42:06.320
other features are planned as well!
0:42:06.320,0:42:12.760
applause
0:42:12.760,0:42:16.170
There are other features planned[br]as well. There shall be
0:42:16.170,0:42:19.960
a group feature soon which is[br]not very easy to implement
0:42:19.960,0:42:22.970
because in a decentralized[br]network it’s a bit tricky.
0:42:22.970,0:42:25.870
But they’re planning to do it.[br]And they’re also thinking about
0:42:25.870,0:42:29.770
adding ‘events’ which is pretty[br]awesome e.g. when you want
0:42:29.770,0:42:33.000
to coordinate in your local[br]hackerspace, in your group, and
0:42:33.000,0:42:37.490
you have on your chat an idea for an[br]event – bang! – you can set it up
0:42:37.490,0:42:42.970
on Diaspora. So is this[br]a gated community for hackers?
0:42:42.970,0:42:47.620
I don’t think so because it’s open,[br]it uses open protocols,
0:42:47.620,0:42:51.020
and I am sure, or I know[br]there are a lot of other groups
0:42:51.020,0:42:55.340
we can address with such[br]a network in order to join.
0:42:55.340,0:42:58.640
Because this is how[br]social networks expand.
0:42:58.640,0:43:03.530
Group by group – by group. So what[br]other groups could like these features?
0:43:03.530,0:43:08.230
What groups could e.g.[br]dislike corporate power?
0:43:08.230,0:43:12.270
What kind of activists could[br]dislike NSA backdoors?
0:43:12.270,0:43:15.800
Or what kind of public institution[br]or even companies
0:43:15.800,0:43:20.780
could feel a bit uncomfortable[br]to put all their data
0:43:20.780,0:43:24.120
on an US server? And there are[br]some companies or institutions
0:43:24.120,0:43:28.100
who really are craving for[br]a social solution on servers
0:43:28.100,0:43:32.680
they can host by themselves.[br]So I think it’s a winning strategy
0:43:32.680,0:43:38.340
to address this group, also to ask:[br]“What kind of features do you want?”
0:43:38.340,0:43:41.740
and this is what the Diaspora[br]community did. They asked their users:
0:43:41.740,0:43:44.430
“What do you want?” and they said:[br]“Jabber, we want Jabber!”.
0:43:44.430,0:43:48.900
So they implemented Jabber.[br]And this is how we really can grow.
0:43:48.900,0:43:52.660
Step by step through local[br]network effect. And
0:43:52.660,0:43:56.750
there have been interesting cooperations[br]with the Diaspora networks,
0:43:56.750,0:44:01.430
or other networks that have[br]a decentralized nature already,
0:44:01.430,0:44:06.400
e.g. the most active German Diaspora pod
0:44:06.400,0:44:11.990
Geraspora is right now funded in[br]some part by a German newspaper,
0:44:11.990,0:44:18.140
the Donaukurier. And the Donaukurier[br]interestingly… sudden laughter
0:44:18.140,0:44:21.310
the Donaukurier one day[br]asked… they had this idea:
0:44:21.310,0:44:25.660
“Yeah we want maybe to experiment[br]a bit with decentralized alternatives;
0:44:25.660,0:44:30.560
we like this idea… but they didn’t[br]want to set up a server on their own.
0:44:30.560,0:44:34.650
So they decided to give regular funding.[br]And they are still giving regular funding.
0:44:34.650,0:44:39.320
Or there are requests of[br]different groups or even…
0:44:39.320,0:44:43.160
there was a request from youth workers[br]which were interested to use
0:44:43.160,0:44:46.860
such a network for communication[br]with their clients.
0:44:46.860,0:44:52.510
Because obviously you don’t want[br]any data concerning youth work
0:44:52.510,0:44:57.850
hosted on Facebook.[br]And these requests, they are happening,
0:44:57.850,0:45:01.240
and I think this is very[br]promising to work on this basic
0:45:01.240,0:45:06.410
in order to expand group by group.
0:45:06.410,0:45:10.790
And we should not forget: there are[br]certain windows of opportunity
0:45:10.790,0:45:15.140
which might convince more people
0:45:15.140,0:45:18.500
that Diaspora is really an awesome idea
0:45:18.500,0:45:24.010
and the killer features[br]are really worth trying it.
0:45:24.010,0:45:28.400
There have been such[br]windows of opportunity, e.g.
0:45:28.400,0:45:35.380
there was a time… or there[br]was a constant time of the…
0:45:35.380,0:45:41.150
Mr. Erdoğan who is banning various[br]social media platforms in Turkey.
0:45:41.150,0:45:45.110
And every time he does the Geraspora pod
0:45:45.110,0:45:49.920
sees an increased traffic[br]from Turkish subnets.
0:45:49.920,0:45:53.211
And another interesting effect is that
0:45:53.211,0:46:00.270
every time Facebook announces[br]changes in the Terms of Service,
0:46:00.270,0:46:04.270
again there is a peak. And
0:46:04.270,0:46:08.260
these windows of opportunity[br]– unfortunately I have to say this –
0:46:08.260,0:46:11.820
they will be more frequent in the future.
0:46:11.820,0:46:15.730
Unfortunately it happened before and it[br]will happen again. And once you will have
0:46:15.730,0:46:20.270
a big leak of data from Facebook. And
0:46:20.270,0:46:24.660
this can happen anytime; maybe[br]more people will be convinced
0:46:24.660,0:46:29.310
to try a decentralized alternative.
0:46:29.310,0:46:32.740
And it is also important, as[br]these examples showed,
0:46:32.740,0:46:36.730
e.g. from Turkey, that we need[br]these alternatives right now.
0:46:36.730,0:46:41.690
There are right now people who need such[br]an alternative, not only hackerspaces.
0:46:41.690,0:46:46.060
And therefor I’m very, very happy[br]that we are trying to provide
0:46:46.060,0:46:55.210
such an alternative right now.
0:46:55.210,0:47:01.930
But competing with a large platform,[br]as Facebook is right now,
0:47:01.930,0:47:07.440
we need also to see that this is[br]a task we never can manage alone.
0:47:07.440,0:47:12.150
We can’t compete with such a network[br]without allies at our side
0:47:12.150,0:47:17.190
which have also super[br]powers like we have. And
0:47:17.190,0:47:21.060
one of the most interesting[br]developments of the last year is that
0:47:21.060,0:47:26.540
Diaspora is in fact not alone[br]any more. Diaspora is part
0:47:26.540,0:47:31.920
of the so called ‘Federation’.[br]And the Federation consists of
0:47:31.920,0:47:38.050
different decentralized social networks[br]such as Diaspora, friendica or Redmatrix.
0:47:38.050,0:47:41.470
And they are interconnected,[br]they speak the same protocol.
0:47:41.470,0:47:45.750
So it doesn’t matter whether my friends[br]are on friendica, on Redmatrix
0:47:45.750,0:47:50.410
or on Diaspora. I can[br]communicate with them.
0:47:50.410,0:47:53.850
And therefor by pooling their[br]users together they change
0:47:53.850,0:47:58.300
the reference point of the network[br]effect. And if you are considering
0:47:58.300,0:48:02.750
to launch a new social network on your own
0:48:02.750,0:48:07.470
you’re free to do. And if you join the[br]Federation you already have a user base.
0:48:07.470,0:48:14.160
And this is a very, very[br]exciting and powerful idea.
0:48:14.160,0:48:19.580
Because the networks inside[br]the Federation are quite different.
0:48:19.580,0:48:25.380
Diaspora e.g. has a very[br]clean, easy design for users.
0:48:25.380,0:48:30.420
And some people really like that.
0:48:30.420,0:48:34.070
The other networks have[br]other strengths. E.g. friendica
0:48:34.070,0:48:38.370
is really an interconnection[br]machine. One of the guys who’s
0:48:38.370,0:48:41.650
working on the development team,[br]he’s really looking for any loop hole
0:48:41.650,0:48:46.940
he can get into other networks in[br]order to establish an interconnection
0:48:46.940,0:48:51.320
even if the operator doesn’t want to.[br]And that’s awesome.
0:48:51.320,0:48:55.920
And e.g. friendica already[br]speaks email protocol
0:48:55.920,0:48:59.040
and Jabber.[br]And Redmatrix on the other hand:
0:48:59.040,0:49:04.130
it is a fork, Redmatric and friendica
0:49:04.130,0:49:08.930
share large parts of the same code.
0:49:08.930,0:49:12.850
But Redmatrix has a very,[br]very strong emphasis
0:49:12.850,0:49:17.890
on privacy. And they’re[br]experimenting with apps,
0:49:17.890,0:49:21.640
and OpenID and different features
0:49:21.640,0:49:25.870
which the other networks[br]don’t provide. So I think
0:49:25.870,0:49:30.020
such a federation or such a bundling[br]of your powers, such a looking for allies
0:49:30.020,0:49:35.200
is a very powerful thing to do,[br]not only for you as a network.
0:49:35.200,0:49:39.090
But also for your users.[br]As a user I can vote by feet just –
0:49:39.090,0:49:42.770
if I don’t like Diaspora then I just[br]join friendica. But I still have
0:49:42.770,0:49:47.260
all my contacts from my local[br]hackerspace and that’s awesome.
0:49:47.260,0:49:53.730
And in the long run when[br]we look at how this works:
0:49:53.730,0:49:59.690
this is really a small version of[br]how the concept of social networks
0:49:59.690,0:50:04.470
could look like if we just had open[br]protocols. And that’s also very important,
0:50:04.470,0:50:08.230
also for the political struggle,[br]for open protocols to provide
0:50:08.230,0:50:13.820
that such a thing works.
0:50:13.820,0:50:17.910
But competing with large[br]platforms like Facebook
0:50:17.910,0:50:21.110
you’re not only competing[br]with a social network,
0:50:21.110,0:50:24.910
you’re competing with an alternative[br]eco system. So we need really to think
0:50:24.910,0:50:29.340
how to build an eco system[br]on our own. And
0:50:29.340,0:50:33.110
every time there is a new[br]idea or a new feature
0:50:33.110,0:50:36.780
Facebook would like to[br]implement they just copy it,
0:50:36.780,0:50:40.600
or they buy it. And the big strength
0:50:40.600,0:50:45.910
of the Free Software movement is[br]that we don’t nee monetary incentives
0:50:45.910,0:50:49.490
to work together. Because[br]we share similar goals.
0:50:49.490,0:50:53.960
So instead of trying to provide[br]all the features by yourself
0:50:53.960,0:50:57.480
the really winning strategy[br]is just to stay open.
0:50:57.480,0:51:02.890
Just to talk to other projects in order[br]to find maybe shared protocols,
0:51:02.890,0:51:08.790
or maybe find ways how you can[br]integrate your work into another work,
0:51:08.790,0:51:12.940
and how you can benefit from one another.
0:51:12.940,0:51:18.830
One example: When I bought[br]this crappy Android phone
0:51:18.830,0:51:24.610
there was a pre-installed[br]Google+ app on it.
0:51:24.610,0:51:27.830
It’s disgusting, I know, but…[br]laughter
0:51:27.830,0:51:32.790
applause[br]I really…
0:51:32.790,0:51:37.141
But I really like the idea of…[br]maybe one day
0:51:37.141,0:51:41.860
I will be able to buy[br]a free operating system
0:51:41.860,0:51:45.200
without any connections to Google.[br]And I would really love
0:51:45.200,0:51:49.700
to have my Diaspora or friendica, whatever[br]app, pre-installed. Or maybe an app
0:51:49.700,0:51:54.950
to connect anything inside the Federation.
0:51:54.950,0:51:59.350
So we need also to bundle. I mean[br]Facebook does it, we also need to do it.
0:51:59.350,0:52:03.590
And some first steps are made.[br]E.g. there are some projects
0:52:03.590,0:52:08.060
for home-made clouds where you just[br]can buy your plug-and-play device
0:52:08.060,0:52:13.080
and you would be able to get it[br]soon with pre-installed version
0:52:13.080,0:52:17.490
of a Diaspora pod. So it won’t[br]be the hackers any more
0:52:17.490,0:52:22.830
who have their own pod[br]but maybe the left activists
0:52:22.830,0:52:28.630
who’s protesting[br]against neo-liberal politics.
0:52:28.630,0:52:32.510
And that’s cool.[br]And there’s another example
0:52:32.510,0:52:37.550
that cooperation really can work.
0:52:37.550,0:52:42.530
When you take e.g. Firefox.[br]Firefox is the most used browser,
0:52:42.530,0:52:47.240
at least in Germany.[br]And Firefox has a feature:
0:52:47.240,0:52:51.590
you can have included share[br]buttons inside Firefox.
0:52:51.590,0:52:54.941
And you can not only choose[br]between Facebook and Twitter,
0:52:54.941,0:53:00.150
and others, but you can also[br]choose to use Diaspora.
0:53:00.150,0:53:05.520
And this kind of cooperation is[br]something we clearly need more
0:53:05.520,0:53:12.700
in order to overcome gated[br]communities such as Facebook.
0:53:12.700,0:53:16.950
So you know I’m an economist.
0:53:16.950,0:53:20.580
So I was trained to believe[br]in the idea of free markets
0:53:20.580,0:53:27.380
and fair competition etc.[br]It’s a bit like studying Dark Magic.
0:53:27.380,0:53:34.190
But in fact really I believe that[br]competition is at least in some areas
0:53:34.190,0:53:38.510
something that makes sense. But[br]at some points you need to see
0:53:38.510,0:53:44.410
when a market just fails[br]so hard that it doesn’t deliver
0:53:44.410,0:53:49.200
the best possible solution. And I don’t[br]think it’s the best possible solution
0:53:49.200,0:53:53.510
if you can’t really choose. If there’s no[br]competition. And there is no competition
0:53:53.510,0:53:59.510
with Facebook. So the reason[br]why Diaspora and the others
0:53:59.510,0:54:04.190
struggle so hard is not because their[br]idea isn’t great, or their technology
0:54:04.190,0:54:10.130
is not the better one, maybe.[br]But it is the openness of the web
0:54:10.130,0:54:16.480
that is threatened systematically when[br]monopolies use the network effect
0:54:16.480,0:54:21.320
in order to create more and more gated[br]communities and expand the borders
0:54:21.320,0:54:25.780
of these gated communities[br]more and more. And
0:54:25.780,0:54:29.170
the inconvenient truth is also…[br]I mean I presented some ideas
0:54:29.170,0:54:33.790
how we can overcome this.[br]But it will remain hard
0:54:33.790,0:54:39.119
as long as the structures[br]are like they are right now.
0:54:39.119,0:54:43.520
And I read one very interesting article
0:54:43.520,0:54:49.200
where the journalist asked the inventor[br]of the protocol for email attachments:
0:54:49.200,0:54:54.020
“What would happen if this idea of email
0:54:54.020,0:54:58.369
was invented today?” and he replied:
0:54:58.369,0:55:02.200
“In this environment, if somebody[br]invented email, whoever managed
0:55:02.200,0:55:11.780
to get critical mass first would become[br]the world’s de facto email provider”.
0:55:11.780,0:55:14.780
Imagine such a world![br]I mean it’s disgusting!
0:55:14.780,0:55:20.440
But right now we have such a situation[br]in the area of social network.
0:55:20.440,0:55:25.110
Here we are! Facebook has become the[br]world’s de facto social network provider
0:55:25.110,0:55:31.170
in large parts of the world. Every[br]fifth human being on this planet
0:55:31.170,0:55:35.380
logs in on Facebook[br]at least once per month.
0:55:35.380,0:55:39.160
And it has this position not because[br]it’s better than others but only
0:55:39.160,0:55:43.900
because of market dynamics[br]and because it was lucky.
0:55:43.900,0:55:48.530
There is no real competition,[br]and this is market failure. And
0:55:48.530,0:55:51.640
when Tim Berners-Lee invented[br]the internet protocol that freed us
0:55:51.640,0:55:59.540
from the gated communities[br]of Compuserve and others
0:55:59.540,0:56:03.320
he gave it just away. He[br]didn’t say: “Yeah, I want to…
0:56:03.320,0:56:07.960
I have this business model, it’s super[br]cool, it’s based on targeted advertisement
0:56:07.960,0:56:12.990
and I will build a gated community[br]around my internet”.
0:56:12.990,0:56:17.860
He gave it away for free.[br]And because people like him
0:56:17.860,0:56:21.770
gave protocols or new ideas[br]away for free and opened it
0:56:21.770,0:56:27.410
we had this incredible development,[br]where we had so much innovation,
0:56:27.410,0:56:32.400
so much creativity through these[br]open structures. But this is not
0:56:32.400,0:56:37.080
how market regulation should work.[br]I mean market regulation should not
0:56:37.080,0:56:41.370
rely upon that someone who[br]has the next cool, big idea
0:56:41.370,0:56:48.370
that can change the world for better[br]would just be a cool person.
0:56:53.170,0:57:05.850
So, finally…[br]applause
0:57:05.850,0:57:08.480
Some people argue when we[br]talk about social networks
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and the dominance of Facebook[br]that this is only a trend.
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It would go away one day all the[br]teens switch to another network.
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Facebook will be gone.
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And I remember hearing similar things[br]about the internet as such. laughter
0:57:24.779,0:57:30.600
“It’s only a trend. It will[br]go away.” But I don't think so.
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And I also don’t think so[br]about social networks
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because social networks are[br]a very, very powerful idea.
0:57:38.560,0:57:42.391
They are super awesome. And[br]maybe Facebook declines one day
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because all the teens realize that[br]their parents are on Facebook as well.
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But what will be next?[br]If the next big thing
0:57:52.050,0:57:57.420
is also a gated community[br]nothing has changed.
0:57:57.420,0:58:02.700
So in order to change things we[br]not only need to provide alternatives
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such as the Federation:[br]Diaspora, friendica, etc.
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We need to support them, because
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maybe you are looking for[br]friends: where should you go?
0:58:18.530,0:58:21.600
laughs Maybe you find[br]interesting people on Diaspora.
0:58:21.600,0:58:26.010
And they really deserve our support.[br]As users, as donators,
0:58:26.010,0:58:30.930
as developers or as allies.[br]And you should never forget
0:58:30.930,0:58:35.300
that programming free software[br]and building alternative eco systems
0:58:35.300,0:58:39.640
to what we see outside in[br]this gated community world (?)
0:58:39.640,0:58:43.430
is also a political act.[br]It’s not only writing software.
0:58:43.430,0:58:48.430
It’s writing an alternative code for[br]how we want the world to be!
0:58:48.430,0:58:51.910
And there is an alternative[br]to patent wars.
0:58:51.910,0:58:54.950
There is an alternative to gated[br]communities and business models
0:58:54.950,0:58:58.730
that only are based on[br]exploiting our privacy.
0:58:58.730,0:59:02.690
And such projects represent[br]the visions of a better world
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and that’s why I would[br]like to support them.
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But we also need to address,[br]in order to win this fight,
0:59:11.320,0:59:15.000
that these alternatives[br]don’t face fair competition.
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This is market failure on a large scale.
0:59:18.920,0:59:23.710
And that is why we need to fight for[br]open standards; and in order to change
0:59:23.710,0:59:28.990
the market structures that will create[br]gated communities over and over again
0:59:28.990,0:59:34.020
we need to force Facebook… we need[br]to force them and not just kindly ask:
0:59:34.020,0:59:37.850
“Mr. Zuckerberg, would you[br]please be so kind to consider
0:59:37.850,0:59:42.030
to tear down this wall?”.[br]This will not work!
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We need to talk about political solutions.[br]And we need to address this
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as a need for market regulation in order[br]that the better solution can win.
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Thank you.[br]applause
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Herald: Yeah, tear down this wall.[br]Ronald Reagan at its best,
1:00:15.900,1:00:18.640
at least Mr. Zuckeberg[br]is watching the stream or
1:00:18.640,1:00:22.220
Oettinger is watching the steam.[br]You know what to do!
1:00:22.220,1:00:25.340
So come we now to the[br]Questions and Answers.
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Microphones on the left,[br]on the right, and also:
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are there any questions from the internet?
1:00:31.100,1:00:32.860
Signal Angel: Yes, I have[br]2 questions from the internet.
1:00:32.860,1:00:36.990
Herald: Okay, we will start with the[br]internet because I’m sure you are here
1:00:36.990,1:00:41.860
after the talk that people can ask you.[br]So, okay, dear internet!
1:00:41.860,1:00:44.930
Question: What is the relation of[br]Diaspora and GNU-social or Pump.io
1:00:44.930,1:00:47.670
Are there plans to merge the protocols?
1:00:47.670,1:00:52.600
Katharina: I think for this[br]question you would really need
1:00:52.600,1:00:56.440
to ask the developers.[br]But I can ask this room:
1:00:56.440,1:01:01.650
hey, Diaspora developers: are you here?[br]points into audience
1:01:01.650,1:01:06.170
Yeah, there! Do you want[br]to say something about this?
1:01:06.170,1:01:08.700
Herald: Please just when[br]you’ll go to the microphone,
1:01:08.700,1:01:11.210
otherwise it’s not[br]hear in this steam.
1:01:11.210,1:01:14.459
Katharina: Yeah, a worm[br]applaus to Dennis Schubert
1:01:14.459,1:01:22.699
applause
1:01:22.699,1:01:25.690
Dennis: So no, there are no[br]actual plans to merge protocols
1:01:25.690,1:01:28.109
but there are discussions[br]on defining a new protocol.
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That supports all social[br]networks together. So, yeah.
1:01:33.590,1:01:36.520
Herald: Is there another question on…[br]applause
1:01:36.520,1:01:38.590
Is there another question[br]from the internet?
1:01:38.590,1:01:43.740
Question: Yes: is there a way to import[br]from Facebook to Diaspora?
1:01:43.740,1:01:49.830
Katharina: To import data…[br]Yeah this is a interesting thing
1:01:49.830,1:01:53.730
e.g. … yeah, I had this[br]in my presentation,
1:01:53.730,1:01:57.300
but because of out-of-time[br]reasons I deleted it.
1:01:57.300,1:02:00.510
There is fortunately this[br]new EU Privacy Law,
1:02:00.510,1:02:06.510
the Privacy Regulation,[br]which will also force platforms
1:02:06.510,1:02:11.970
such as Facebook to provide[br]like a data dump of your data
1:02:11.970,1:02:16.479
– you can take with you. But I’m[br]still a bit not very convinced
1:02:16.479,1:02:22.220
how this will work out, whether or not[br]ALL the data is included.
1:02:22.220,1:02:26.140
It would be very convenient[br]if you just had one like…
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one data dump and you could[br]just download it and upload it.
1:02:29.340,1:02:33.760
But we need to wait and[br]see how this will develop.
1:02:33.760,1:02:39.409
Herald: Okay, I’m sorry to hear but at[br]least we are out of time now.
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All [remaining] questions[br]afterwards with Katharina.
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Give her another warm applaus![br]For the federous (?) talk!
1:02:47.140,1:02:53.020
postroll music
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