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32C3 preroll music
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Herald: I’m happy to introduce
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
German consumer organisations;
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and also for the German working
group on Data Retention.
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She was on the board of
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
platform here in Germany.
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But also she’s an economist.
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And she did some research
on why it is so difficult
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for decentralized social networks
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to compete with Facebook.
So it’s the perfect talk
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for the mission statement of this
Congress – Katharina Nocun!
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applause
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Katharina Nocun: Yeah, thank you very
much for this awesome introduction.
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And first of all I need to excuse
myself: I catched a cold, so
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just imagine that I’m shouting at
you all the time. Because I can’t.
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Yeah, why did I do some research on
the topic of Facebook and Diaspora?
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You know I really hate
Facebook. During my time
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at the Federal consumer
organization of Germany
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we sued Facebook a lot.
We also sued Google a lot.
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And when I studied economics
friends of me asked me:
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“Yeah, let’s found a Facebook Group
and there we can exchange exams and…
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that’s so cool, that’s so awesome”
and I said: “Yeah, well, no,
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I don’t have a Facebook
account and I don’t want to”.
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applause
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And then I asked…
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
there. But still I asked myself
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why can’t I convince more people to
join Diaspora or other networks.
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And that’s why I did
this research project.
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So let’s talk about gated
communities and the internet.
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The internet is based at large
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
there were many many nodes
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and they were connected to one
another as equals. And today
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the internet is a giant web
which is interconnected
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with more and more aspects
of all-eyes (?). But what started
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as a playground for nerds and
scientists is not only today
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a powerful economic driving force
but changes a lot of aspects of
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how economics work, how politics
work and how public debates work.
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But it also changed in
a way I really dislike.
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The main topic of this Congress
is ‘Gated Communities’
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and I think it’s a very
important issue to address
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that above this open layer of the
Internet, above this open protocol
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gated, closed islands of
gated communities emerged
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and we see clear that those
are trends for concentration
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in the hands of just
a few platform owners.
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So what can we do about it? I think
social networks are an important benchmark
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for these trends and, as an economist,
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
there is no real competition
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possible with Facebook. There
is no real competition possible
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with other large platforms.
And that’s why this talk
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will try to explain why we should
care that Facebook has become
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the de facto social network provider
for large parts of the world
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and how this came about.
And, most importantly,
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what lessons we can draw from
certain dynamics on the market,
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for market entry options for
decentralized social networks.
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So, first of all, why should we care?
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Some numbers:
if Facebook was a state,
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it would have more inhabitants than
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
at least once per month.
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That’s an incredible number.
And the reason for the success
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of social networks as an
idea is because it connects
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to a very basic human need for us.
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
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
add context to content.
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It makes a difference if a friend of mine
shares an article about Star Wars,
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how stupid the new Star Wars movie
is than some journalist just writes
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an article about it. And social
networks are so important for us
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because the web is filled with
information about everything.
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And social networks allow us to filter
this information through social ties.
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And it’s not only the place where
we can spread birthday messages,
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“Happy Birthday, I thought about you
because Facebook reminded me
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I should do so”.
But Facebook is also the place
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where we can found groups, where we
can not only exchange maybe exams
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for economics classes, but where we
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
I registered on Facebook
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under a fake name.
I was called ‘Maria Musterfrau’.
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And this Maria Musterfrau
founded different events
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on Facebook, for demonstration
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
issues. And we called for action
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on the web, and 15,000 people came
to our demonstration in Hamburg.
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So basically I think social networks
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
that the structure of Facebook
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as the de facto social network
provider of the world
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is the best way to provide
this idea to the people.
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So we heard a lot on TV,
on the newspapers,
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about the Facebook revolution; how
the Facebook revolution would
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empower democracy etc.,
and freedom of speech.
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And, in fact, for generations,
media institutions such as
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TV channels or newspapers were
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
gatekeepers. And it is true
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that the internet or social media allowed
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to implement setting
a topic from bottom-up.
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And that is a very powerful idea. But
this tale of the power of Facebook
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as an enabler or catalyst
for freedom of speech,
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I think it’s really a tale, it’s a
very simplified story. Because
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the inconvenient truth
is that today, if you
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want to influence public debates,
you have new gatekeepers.
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And Facebook is one of the most
important gatekeepers of our time.
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Take e.g. secret algorithms,
which filter information
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that is revealed to us, not on the basis
which information we want to see,
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but on assumed click-and-interaction
rates. Based on economic incentives,
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because they want to make
money out of this interaction.
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Facebook thereby creates virtual
filter bubbles around us.
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It’s not only that we can filter
information through our social ties,
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but Facebook sits in the middle,
as bottleneck for information
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and control. Whether or not
this is really provided to us.
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And, most importantly, Facebook
decides which content is allowed
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on its network and which content is
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
to depict violence on its network
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than nudity. E.g. when you
have a mother feeding a child,
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Facebook is more likely [for you]
to be banned than someone
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beating someone else up.
And if you ask Kurdish activists
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on the topic of what they think about
freedom of speech on Facebook
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they will tell you a pretty different
tale than we see on the media
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when they talk about the
Facebook revolution.
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Because during the last years there were
several cases where president Erdoğan,
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the Turkish Prime Minister,
addressed Facebook,
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because he wanted to have some
profiles of activists or parties banned.
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And Facebook complied.
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And talking about social network is
not only about freedom of speech.
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One of the most important topics,
I think, is also the issue of privacy.
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And for me, the decisive privacy
struggles are not whether or not
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someone sees our selfies on Facebook.
Because I guess most people want
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that other people see their selfies on
Facebook. For me the decisive struggles
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are rather about our browser history that
Facebook collects through Like buttons.
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It’s about connection information.
It’s about our Search queries and
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the right to register under a fake name.
Because what I did back then,
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when I organized demonstration in
Hamburg, that was clearly illegal.
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You are not allowed to register under
a fake name. And what would have happened
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if Facebook decided one day, or 2 days
before the demonstration was launched,
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or maybe before that: “let’s delete
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
on which profiles we click
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our provider knows with whom we are in
love and whether or not we moved on
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after a break-up. That are pretty
important information about us;
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and we should never forget that
the information that is stored
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in order to sell us cars, and
diamonds and fancy stuff
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can also be used in order to target
activists. And in the wrong hands
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this data on activists
is pretty dangerous.
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So as we see there is a clear
conflict between shareholder value
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and public interest. And I do not
have a problem with social network.
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As I told you, I love the idea. But I do
have a problem when we put corporations
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in a position to exploit this very
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
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launched a crowdfunding project
on kickstarter. And they asked
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for 10,000 US$ in order to change
their internships and summer jobs
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for the opportunity to work full time
on a decentralized open source
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alternative social network. And
the reaction was really stunning.
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Because they asked for 10,000 $
and what they got in the end,
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after 39 days, was 20 times
more than they asked for.
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It was 200,000 $. And what
was the goal of Diaspora?
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The founders wanted to give the users
first of all a better bargaining position
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against the dominant
social network provider.
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They wanted to give users
more control over their data
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and they wanted to implement
a structure for social networks
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that provides a better
control against censorship
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and control of governments.
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So what does it mean,
‘a decentralized social network’?
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To talk about the issue of centralization
or decentralization is important because
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a lot of the power structure between users
and the platform owners can be foreseen
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somehow through the technical
infrastructure that is implemented. And
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you can say that there are 3 basic
kinds of different network structures,
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which be ‘centralized’,
‘decentralized’ and ‘distributed’.
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In the centralized design which
is represented e.g. by Facebook
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there is one network platform owner
in the middle like a spider in the web
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collecting all the data. He’s the
bottleneck. You can’t go besides
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this bottleneck in order to communicate
with other members of the platform.
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In contrast to that a fully
distributed system would be like…
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or is a peer-to-peer system where
every user is at the same time
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a node of the network.
So, again, it’s a network of equals.
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But unfortunately it’s a bit tricky to
provide a distributed social network
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on large scale because as you can
imagine you would need encryption,
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on a large scale because otherwise every
other member of the network would have
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the potential to access your private
data. And there are some projects
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researching on that. But in 2010
when Diaspora was founded
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the idea was to start with
a decentralized structure.
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And the most important feature
of such a decentralized structure
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is that you don’t have
one server where every…
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like every interaction is going through
but you have different servers.
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And because it’s open source everyone
is free to set up their own server;
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or you as a user can maybe
chose “I trust person X,
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and she’s running a Diaspora pod,
and I join”; or I don’t trust anyone
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and I set up my own pod.
00:16:02.790 --> 00:16:07.070
And talking about freedom of
speech or government pressure:
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One interesting feature is that
it’s much, much more difficult
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to censor or to control data
flows from government level
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in a decentralized or distributed
system because if there is a server
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under pressure you just
can move to another server.
00:16:32.149 --> 00:16:36.519
This slide shows what’s
the state of Diaspora
00:16:36.519 --> 00:16:42.560
right now. We have now… well we live
in the year 2015. Some years passed
00:16:42.560 --> 00:16:47.470
since this idea was announced. And
00:16:47.470 --> 00:16:53.190
here you see the Top 10 active Diaspora
servers. Or they’re also called pods.
00:16:53.190 --> 00:16:56.449
And first of all we see
that in the last years
00:16:56.449 --> 00:17:03.139
there was a development or a trend
that more and more servers
00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:07.860
are located in Germany. The biggest
server once… or the most active server
00:17:07.860 --> 00:17:13.420
once was joindiaspora.com
which was the first server
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that called for like
registration for anyone.
00:17:16.510 --> 00:17:21.020
And today most servers are in Germany.
00:17:21.020 --> 00:17:24.510
And looking at the number
of registered users
00:17:24.510 --> 00:17:28.480
you see that the Top 10
Diaspora pods together
00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:33.150
have roundabout half a Million users.
00:17:33.150 --> 00:17:37.460
So anyone who’s telling you
“Diaspora is dead!”, you can tell:
00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:42.390
“Diaspora is not dead!”.
It’s pretty alive. And
00:17:42.390 --> 00:17:46.980
there are roundabout between
20.000 and 30.000 people
00:17:46.980 --> 00:17:52.090
who log in to the Diaspora
network, or connected networks
00:17:52.090 --> 00:17:58.040
at least once per month. And
this number is rather increasing…
00:17:58.040 --> 00:18:02.790
…over the last years. So we see
that Diaspora has a relatively small
00:18:02.790 --> 00:18:08.260
but stable user base. But in
the end when we look at the…
00:18:08.260 --> 00:18:12.640
what was announced we see
that it’s clearly failed its goal
00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:18.020
to overcome Facebook or to overthrow
Facebook as the de facto social network
00:18:18.020 --> 00:18:23.060
of the world. So we need to ask ourselves:
00:18:23.060 --> 00:18:28.630
“Why didn’t this happen?”
00:18:28.630 --> 00:18:33.230
And in IT it’s said that ‘Code is
Law’. And in economics it’s said
00:18:33.230 --> 00:18:38.880
that the market structures
are telling you a lot
00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:46.130
about which outcome is most likely
to come out of a situation on the market.
00:18:46.130 --> 00:18:49.340
That means that market structure are
a powerful tool that can provide
00:18:49.340 --> 00:18:54.260
some explanations why we live in
such a decade of gated communities
00:18:54.260 --> 00:18:59.170
and why decentralized alternatives
struggle so hard to overcome Facebook
00:18:59.170 --> 00:19:06.400
and others. And talking about
00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:10.690
market structures or
features of certain markets:
00:19:10.690 --> 00:19:15.820
the most important feature on
the market for social networks
00:19:15.820 --> 00:19:20.990
is of course the ‘network effect’.
So: what’s the network effect?
00:19:20.990 --> 00:19:25.870
Imagine you get a very tempting
offer for a mobile contract.
00:19:25.870 --> 00:19:30.090
And it offers really everything you
were craving for: different features,
00:19:30.090 --> 00:19:36.520
a new mobile for free, and
very very low, competitive prize.
00:19:36.520 --> 00:19:41.180
But there’s just one twist with
this offer: the operator tells you:
00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:46.400
“Well, you can accept this offer, but the
problem is you can only communicate
00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:50.390
with other members of our network.
Everyone else will be banned
00:19:50.390 --> 00:19:54.850
from calling you or being called.”
00:19:54.850 --> 00:19:59.360
Would you accept such an offer?
Would you join a gated community?
00:19:59.360 --> 00:20:06.020
I don’t think so. I wouldn’t.
And this example
00:20:06.020 --> 00:20:11.070
shows really what the
network effect is all about.
00:20:11.070 --> 00:20:15.600
The ‘global network
effect’ means simply that
00:20:15.600 --> 00:20:19.980
the more users join a network the
more connections are available
00:20:19.980 --> 00:20:24.180
and therefor the more attractive it
becomes for other people to join.
00:20:24.180 --> 00:20:27.810
The more people join
– more people join etc.
00:20:27.810 --> 00:20:33.320
And therefor it’s a structure that really
empowers the growth of monopolies
00:20:33.320 --> 00:20:38.090
or big platforms. And
00:20:38.090 --> 00:20:42.380
through this Bandwagon effect
with positive feedback loops
00:20:42.380 --> 00:20:47.320
you can clearly see that
monopolies are enforced.
00:20:47.320 --> 00:20:51.340
But talking about social networks: the
global effect is really not so important,
00:20:51.340 --> 00:20:57.430
I think. Because when I think about social
networks or communication platforms
00:20:57.430 --> 00:21:01.960
I really don’t care about the market
share in China, or in Brazil,
00:21:01.960 --> 00:21:07.940
or in the US. I care about the
market share among my friends,
00:21:07.940 --> 00:21:15.950
I care about on which platform I can reach
my family, or my business contacts.
00:21:15.950 --> 00:21:22.550
And that’s true for a lot of people.
I mean, most people communicate intensely
00:21:22.550 --> 00:21:27.820
always with a very small subset of people.
And that is how the ‘local network effect’
00:21:27.820 --> 00:21:33.040
works. If everyone here in this room…
or if everyone I’m friends with
00:21:33.040 --> 00:21:37.240
– rather to say – would switch to an
alternative platform I would follow.
00:21:37.240 --> 00:21:41.810
Always. Because I want
to reach these people.
00:21:41.810 --> 00:21:47.040
And interestingly the success
of Facebook was not so much
00:21:47.040 --> 00:21:51.400
about the global network effect.
This effect came later.
00:21:51.400 --> 00:21:56.660
First of all it was about
the local network effect.
00:21:56.660 --> 00:22:00.400
Because when Facebook emerged they
had a certain strategy for growth.
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:05.210
And first of all Facebook was
in the first month or year
00:22:05.210 --> 00:22:08.560
only available for Harvard students.
00:22:08.560 --> 00:22:13.790
You even needed a valid Harvard
University address in order to register.
00:22:13.790 --> 00:22:18.140
Everyone else was banned from the network.
00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:22.040
So imagine the situation: you are new
at the university and most likely
00:22:22.040 --> 00:22:25.780
you moved to Harvard.
You don’t know anyone there.
00:22:25.780 --> 00:22:29.970
But you make new friends and all these
new friends are on this platform.
00:22:29.970 --> 00:22:33.840
So you know you will meet
people you want to meet there.
00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:39.220
So you join. And only after having reached
00:22:39.220 --> 00:22:43.370
a critical mass in Harvard
Facebook expanded
00:22:43.370 --> 00:22:48.160
to other Ivy League colleges.
These are very prestigious colleges
00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:53.980
in the US and you can be really lucky if
you are accepted at one of these colleges.
00:22:53.980 --> 00:22:57.960
And again, you needed a valid
university address in order to register.
00:22:57.960 --> 00:23:02.810
And everyone else was banned.
00:23:02.810 --> 00:23:07.430
And only after they reached a critical
mass there they expanded.
00:23:07.430 --> 00:23:11.630
And allowed any university
student to log in.
00:23:11.630 --> 00:23:16.780
Then they expanded again.
And allowed any school…
00:23:16.780 --> 00:23:22.620
or any member of a school to join.
Then they chose several institutions,
00:23:22.620 --> 00:23:26.590
which were also allowed to join. And
only after they reached a critical mass
00:23:26.590 --> 00:23:36.150
in every of these communities they
opened for the general public.
00:23:36.150 --> 00:23:41.630
And that is how social networks
– or also different kinds of networks
00:23:41.630 --> 00:23:45.950
which are based on communication –
how they grow.
00:23:45.950 --> 00:23:49.580
And this strategy is successful
because people who joined early
00:23:49.580 --> 00:23:53.750
on Facebook knew that they would
find meaningful connections there,
00:23:53.750 --> 00:23:58.460
not anyone. As I told you: you don’t
care about the market share in China.
00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:02.450
You care about the market share
maybe on the CCC congress, or maybe
00:24:02.450 --> 00:24:06.980
at your local hackerspace, or maybe at
your school or university, or at work,
00:24:06.980 --> 00:24:13.790
or at your sucker clob… soccer club.
laughs
00:24:13.790 --> 00:24:19.480
laughter, relenting applause
00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:23.220
Well, and...
laughs again
00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:26.710
Facebook was not the only network
that understood how important
00:24:26.710 --> 00:24:31.380
these local network effects
are in order to grow.
00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:36.530
You often find invite-only structures,
searchable friends-of-friends lists,
00:24:36.530 --> 00:24:40.590
or invite applications, or…
These fancy upload functions
00:24:40.590 --> 00:24:45.540
for your address book… yeah, it’s
all about the local network effect,
00:24:45.540 --> 00:24:50.550
it’s all about local growth.
00:24:50.550 --> 00:24:54.810
But unfortunately it’s not only the
global and the local network effect
00:24:54.810 --> 00:24:59.210
that benefits Facebook. It’s also
the indirect network effect,
00:24:59.210 --> 00:25:03.540
or also called
‘cross sided network effect’.
00:25:03.540 --> 00:25:07.260
And one example, what does
it mean, ‘indirect network effect’,
00:25:07.260 --> 00:25:13.230
one network effect again?
Facebook opens its platform
00:25:13.230 --> 00:25:17.270
for app developers. Any app
developer is free to join Facebook
00:25:17.270 --> 00:25:20.530
– of course you have some restrictions –
but you don’t need to pay money
00:25:20.530 --> 00:25:26.310
in order to place your app on Facebook.
And why does Facebook act in such a way?
00:25:26.310 --> 00:25:30.970
Because the more apps you have,
the more interaction you have
00:25:30.970 --> 00:25:35.110
the more people are likely to join.
And the more people join
00:25:35.110 --> 00:25:39.670
the more apps you have. Then
more people will join. So you have
00:25:39.670 --> 00:25:44.600
a likelihood that more apps
can contribute to growth.
00:25:44.600 --> 00:25:48.230
And maybe you don’t care about apps.
00:25:48.230 --> 00:25:51.670
I know pretty much people
from my time at university
00:25:51.670 --> 00:25:59.660
that were so addicted to Farmville.
00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:03.440
Or CandyCrush, or whatever.
But this Farmville thing really
00:26:03.440 --> 00:26:07.910
ruled at university when
you looked at the laptops.
00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:11.360
Another interesting cross
sided network effect is
00:26:11.360 --> 00:26:15.340
e.g. an example where you tried…
00:26:15.340 --> 00:26:18.360
when you succeed to
attract more advertisers,
00:26:18.360 --> 00:26:21.900
and these more advertisers pay you
more money, you use this money
00:26:21.900 --> 00:26:26.860
in order to provide better
services to your users and
00:26:26.860 --> 00:26:33.240
maybe more users join because of this.
This attracts more advertisers etc.
00:26:33.240 --> 00:26:38.060
So this is another effect that
00:26:38.060 --> 00:26:42.280
leads to an increase in growth
– for the largest platform!
00:26:42.280 --> 00:26:46.100
Or for large platforms. And on top
of that you still of course have
00:26:46.100 --> 00:26:50.500
economies of scale, like in
many different other markets.
00:26:50.500 --> 00:26:53.990
Economies of scale basically
means the marginal costs
00:26:53.990 --> 00:27:00.320
for every additional user just decreases.
00:27:00.320 --> 00:27:04.650
And of course this doesn’t
make competition any easier.
00:27:04.650 --> 00:27:08.800
And at this point it is to understand
– talking about Facebook
00:27:08.800 --> 00:27:12.900
as a gated community –
how it came about that
00:27:12.900 --> 00:27:17.930
it is in fact today a gated
community. Because
00:27:17.930 --> 00:27:22.350
it wouldn’t if Facebook would
provide e.g. open standards
00:27:22.350 --> 00:27:28.020
and the ability to interconnect
between different networks.
00:27:28.020 --> 00:27:32.870
Imagine a situation where
you just could join Diaspora
00:27:32.870 --> 00:27:38.040
and you still could contact all
your contacts from Facebook.
00:27:38.040 --> 00:27:42.800
How much more people would then
switch from Facebook to Diaspora?
00:27:42.800 --> 00:27:50.440
I think this number would
be pretty high. And…
00:27:50.440 --> 00:27:56.400
maybe some of you may think
this is like a total[ly] naive dream
00:27:56.400 --> 00:28:02.030
of open standards in social networks.
But I guess everyone of you
00:28:02.030 --> 00:28:06.700
has an email address. And do you care
00:28:06.700 --> 00:28:10.730
which provider your
communication partner chooses?
00:28:10.730 --> 00:28:14.130
I mean you don’t need to care
because it’s an open protocol.
00:28:14.130 --> 00:28:17.780
As long as this person
uses the email technology
00:28:17.780 --> 00:28:20.700
you can communicate with [it].
00:28:20.700 --> 00:28:27.010
And the issues of whether or
not a communication platform
00:28:27.010 --> 00:28:30.770
shuts down and uses proprietary standards,
00:28:30.770 --> 00:28:36.860
and maybe implements
incompatibility on purpose
00:28:36.860 --> 00:28:41.290
is because that standards have the power
00:28:41.290 --> 00:28:45.320
to change the reference
point for the network effect.
00:28:45.320 --> 00:28:49.910
As I told you with the example of email:
00:28:49.910 --> 00:28:55.080
the relevant number concerning the
local and the global network effect
00:28:55.080 --> 00:29:00.930
with email is not the number who’s on
Gmail or the number of people who use GMX
00:29:00.930 --> 00:29:05.670
or T-Online, whatever there is.
But the relevant number is really
00:29:05.670 --> 00:29:10.330
who uses this technology.
00:29:10.330 --> 00:29:14.230
And that is why there
are very high incentives:
00:29:14.230 --> 00:29:17.830
once you became a big player
because of the global network effect,
00:29:17.830 --> 00:29:21.090
the local network effect,
the indirect network effect,
00:29:21.090 --> 00:29:27.490
just to close your gates and
shut your competitors out.
00:29:27.490 --> 00:29:32.490
And it won’t get better.
In fact it will get worse.
00:29:32.490 --> 00:29:37.110
E.g. we see a lot of companies
that in the beginning provide pretty
00:29:37.110 --> 00:29:42.280
open standards, or invite application
writers to write mobile applications,
00:29:42.280 --> 00:29:46.770
such as Twitter, but at some
point they always close down.
00:29:46.770 --> 00:29:50.920
Once Facebook chat was
compatible with Jabber.
00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:56.100
And the Google chat was compatible
with Jabber, with XMPP, too.
00:29:56.100 --> 00:30:00.440
But at some point they just
decided to close down.
00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:04.270
And if you compete with a gated community
00:30:04.270 --> 00:30:09.330
this means also something else.
It means that a new feature
00:30:09.330 --> 00:30:14.320
won’t help you that much.
When you try to get users
00:30:14.320 --> 00:30:20.550
to switch. Because maybe e.g. there will…
00:30:20.550 --> 00:30:23.770
imagine a new social network with
a fancy feature and everyone says:
00:30:23.770 --> 00:30:27.260
“Oh, I like this feature but at the
same point at the same time
00:30:27.260 --> 00:30:30.870
a lot of people will say: “Yeah, I like
this feature but still it’s more important
00:30:30.870 --> 00:30:35.050
to communicate with all of my
friends.” This gives you time.
00:30:35.050 --> 00:30:39.530
Of course people are more likely to
switch but you have time to adapt
00:30:39.530 --> 00:30:44.980
as a monopolist, as a big platform
in order to copy these features.
00:30:44.980 --> 00:30:51.660
Or maybe to buy the whole company
like Facebook does frequently.
00:30:51.660 --> 00:30:55.790
And it becomes more likely
– with the possibility just to close up
00:30:55.790 --> 00:30:59.370
your community and make
a gated community out of it –
00:30:59.370 --> 00:31:03.070
that the first mover on the market
will take it all. The first company,
00:31:03.070 --> 00:31:07.330
or the first platform that
manages to get a critical mass
00:31:07.330 --> 00:31:12.600
and shuts down is most likely to become
the de facto [standard] platform provider
00:31:12.600 --> 00:31:17.830
for all of the users.
00:31:17.830 --> 00:31:22.680
But unfortunately these are
not all the economic effects
00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:26.230
that make it less likely that
people leave Facebook.
00:31:26.230 --> 00:31:31.440
There are still the ‘switching cause’
and the ‘lock-in’ effect.
00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:35.160
Imagine you want to leave
from Facebook, you have
00:31:35.160 --> 00:31:40.070
all your photos there, you have all your
contacts there, you have interaction data.
00:31:40.070 --> 00:31:43.380
And maybe you can move some of your
photos; but it’s incredibly annoying
00:31:43.380 --> 00:31:47.510
when you don’t have data portability
in place. And there are some data
00:31:47.510 --> 00:31:51.140
which are really lost.
You can’t take them with you.
00:31:51.140 --> 00:31:55.530
And that is why switching is so hard.
And the longer you are member
00:31:55.530 --> 00:31:59.470
of such are platform which doesn’t
allow you just to take your stuff
00:31:59.470 --> 00:32:03.480
when you move out the more
you become locked in.
00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:07.720
And the problem about the situation
is: once the operator knows
00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:12.470
that you won’t be very likely
someone who just switches
00:32:12.470 --> 00:32:17.860
he will care less. He will care
less when you complain about
00:32:17.860 --> 00:32:21.490
the new ‘Terms of Services’, he will
care less when you complain about
00:32:21.490 --> 00:32:25.980
privacy issues, or the advertising
policy or whatever. He will just
00:32:25.980 --> 00:32:32.590
don’t give a shit.
00:32:32.590 --> 00:32:35.780
And the problem is: once you have
a gated community, of course
00:32:35.780 --> 00:32:40.770
[you] want to monetize it.
And the less likely users can make
00:32:40.770 --> 00:32:45.720
a credible threat to leave in case
they don’t like the business model
00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:53.170
or the way how their data or
they themselves are treated
00:32:53.170 --> 00:32:57.610
the more you can just take out of this
network. Because people will start
00:32:57.610 --> 00:33:02.140
to tolerate things they would never
tolerate under other conditions.
00:33:02.140 --> 00:33:06.590
In the case of email I would just switch
my email provider. In the case of Facebook
00:33:06.590 --> 00:33:11.240
most people won’t
switch the social network.
00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:15.190
In the business model of Facebook we are
not the consumers. That’s very important
00:33:15.190 --> 00:33:19.710
to keep in mind. We are the product
being sold. And advertisers pay
00:33:19.710 --> 00:33:23.450
for the really really scarce
resource on the internet:
00:33:23.450 --> 00:33:28.630
It’s access to the users!
It’s our attention.
00:33:28.630 --> 00:33:33.910
And this here is some data
on how much worth…
00:33:33.910 --> 00:33:38.150
or how much revenue is generated per user.
00:33:38.150 --> 00:33:42.330
And you see that when
you’re from the US or Canada
00:33:42.330 --> 00:33:49.840
your data per year is worth ca. 8 Dollars.
00:33:49.840 --> 00:33:54.490
So you pay such an amount
of money for getting a service
00:33:54.490 --> 00:34:01.360
that costs the provider approx. some
pennies, because of economies of scale.
00:34:01.360 --> 00:34:11.118
So that’s why gated communities
are everywhere. It’s a gold mine.
00:34:11.118 --> 00:34:18.130
And the problem is, talking about
platforms such as Facebook…
00:34:18.130 --> 00:34:22.320
We are not talking anymore
about just social networks.
00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:26.409
Because it’s a platform.
00:34:26.409 --> 00:34:32.139
And platforms that have the network
effects and ‘lock-in’ on their side
00:34:32.139 --> 00:34:36.270
try often to transfer their
dominant market position
00:34:36.270 --> 00:34:42.560
from one market to another market.
And one common strategy is bundling.
00:34:42.560 --> 00:34:48.389
Bundling appears when you
only can get a certain service
00:34:48.389 --> 00:34:52.260
as a bundle of services, and you
can’t just get a single service
00:34:52.260 --> 00:34:56.820
without the whole bundle. Some
examples concerning Facebook:
00:34:56.820 --> 00:35:00.490
Why do you need Jabber when you
have a Facebook chat that can’t even
00:35:00.490 --> 00:35:05.760
communicate with Jabber. Or do you really
need Skype when you have Google Hangouts
00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:10.900
on your Google+ account?
Or e.g. would you still
00:35:10.900 --> 00:35:15.260
upload videos on Youtube or Vimeo
when you want to spread them
00:35:15.260 --> 00:35:19.920
via Facebook, and you know that Facebook
systematically downgrades every video
00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:25.760
that isn’t uploaded on their servers?
00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:29.490
And this strategy has devastating results.
00:35:29.490 --> 00:35:33.740
It’s causing that the
gates, or the borders
00:35:33.740 --> 00:35:38.060
of a gated community are constantly
expanding. That means larger
00:35:38.060 --> 00:35:44.220
and larger parts of the internet are
becoming parts of some gated community.
00:35:44.220 --> 00:35:48.110
And Facebook and others even
have managed to kill net neutrality
00:35:48.110 --> 00:35:51.400
in various countries in order
to expand their borders
00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:55.520
to the level of internet access.
00:35:55.520 --> 00:35:59.700
The fight about net neutrality is nothing
else; the fight about net neutrality
00:35:59.700 --> 00:36:03.870
is about gated communities that
try to expand their borders
00:36:03.870 --> 00:36:10.350
to a level where they don’t
belong. And they had no powers
00:36:10.350 --> 00:36:14.540
until now. And it is sad to see
00:36:14.540 --> 00:36:18.770
but for many people, like for
many people I met on university,
00:36:18.770 --> 00:36:23.960
back then when I studied here,
Facebook is the Internet!
00:36:23.960 --> 00:36:27.910
Because Facebook provides
everything they basically need.
00:36:27.910 --> 00:36:38.931
Everything but freedom,
and privacy, and choice.
00:36:38.931 --> 00:36:43.460
I admit this was a pretty
depressing overview
00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:49.420
over market structures.
So let’s see what do we do
00:36:49.420 --> 00:36:53.870
with this knowledge and what
has it to do with Diaspora,
00:36:53.870 --> 00:37:00.690
the alternative social
network? First of all
00:37:00.690 --> 00:37:06.400
let me say one thing:
I know it is a convenient dream
00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:09.860
that one day the next
big social network, or
00:37:09.860 --> 00:37:14.470
the next big free software project
will come and rescue us all from
00:37:14.470 --> 00:37:17.760
the dominance of platform owners.
00:37:17.760 --> 00:37:22.070
But competing with such
giant platforms like Google,
00:37:22.070 --> 00:37:26.450
Facebook or Apple, or Microsoft:
00:37:26.450 --> 00:37:30.730
it’s not very likely that this
will happen overnight.
00:37:30.730 --> 00:37:35.340
And I love heroes… I love
super heroes, I love comics, but
00:37:35.340 --> 00:37:39.730
unfortunately this is not
realistic in such a situation.
00:37:39.730 --> 00:37:45.020
We need to work hard
in order to accomplish that.
00:37:45.020 --> 00:37:49.330
And a cool feature will not change this.
Because the history showed that
00:37:49.330 --> 00:37:53.780
every time Diaspora tried
to implement a new feature
00:37:53.780 --> 00:37:57.220
in order to compete with Facebook we had
00:37:57.220 --> 00:38:02.830
the situation that other
social networks instantly
00:38:02.830 --> 00:38:06.720
copied this feature.
E.g. how many of you…
00:38:06.720 --> 00:38:12.330
I don’t know how many of you
are on Facebook… but…
00:38:12.330 --> 00:38:16.750
but you know today you can differentiate
on Facebook between friends,
00:38:16.750 --> 00:38:20.440
close friends, business contacts etc.
00:38:20.440 --> 00:38:25.500
This is a relatively new feature.
And first, interestingly,
00:38:25.500 --> 00:38:29.760
Diaspora implemented
such a differentiation
00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:36.020
of contact levels,
and called it ‘aspects’.
00:38:36.020 --> 00:38:39.750
And then Google+ came and announced:
00:38:39.750 --> 00:38:43.590
“Yeah, we have something
better, we have ‘circles’!”
00:38:43.590 --> 00:38:49.420
And it was basically the same principle.
And then Facebook of course copied it.
00:38:49.420 --> 00:38:52.680
So we need to face this inconvenient
truth: Facebook and others will
00:38:52.680 --> 00:38:56.780
always have a bigger staff, more
money, and a larger user base.
00:38:56.780 --> 00:39:00.340
And they will use it against us.
So if you’re dreaming that
00:39:00.340 --> 00:39:04.440
maybe there will come
a new feature, or a new tool;
00:39:04.440 --> 00:39:07.550
and all the teens are like:
“Hell yeah, I want to use this!
00:39:07.550 --> 00:39:12.260
Fuck Facebook, my parents are
on Facebook!” laughter
00:39:12.260 --> 00:39:16.860
This happened before. Do you know
Instagram? Do you know Whatsapp?
00:39:16.860 --> 00:39:22.680
Do you know who bought it?
Facebook!
00:39:22.680 --> 00:39:27.270
So we need to really think,
in order to win this fight.
00:39:27.270 --> 00:39:31.120
Or at least to keep struggling.
What are killer features?
00:39:31.120 --> 00:39:37.270
What are the killer features of open
source decentralized social networks?
00:39:37.270 --> 00:39:41.430
I just told you: open source,
decentralized, non-corporate,
00:39:41.430 --> 00:39:45.630
privacy-aware,…
Facebook will not copy that!
00:39:45.630 --> 00:39:49.760
laughter and applause
00:39:49.760 --> 00:39:58.760
applause
00:39:58.760 --> 00:40:03.980
So, you know, I got really curious
– because I knew that my colleagues
00:40:03.980 --> 00:40:09.750
from university are not on Diaspora –
so I really got curious:
00:40:09.750 --> 00:40:14.220
who is on Diaspora? Who
are these 20..30.000 users
00:40:14.220 --> 00:40:18.070
who log in per month?
And this is an analysis
00:40:18.070 --> 00:40:22.320
of the most used hashtags on
Geraspora. Geraspora is right now
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:26.590
the most active Diaspora pod.
00:40:26.590 --> 00:40:30.750
What kind of community do
you think is on Diaspora?
00:40:30.750 --> 00:40:35.610
Top hashtags such as:
Linux, Gnu, Hackernews, ja?
00:40:35.610 --> 00:40:39.060
From my point of view this is very
awesome, and I think: “Yeah, this is
00:40:39.060 --> 00:40:42.750
a community I would like to join!”.
00:40:42.750 --> 00:40:47.040
So in fact, when we remember
what is important
00:40:47.040 --> 00:40:51.420
for social networks in order to grow?
It’s the local network effect.
00:40:51.420 --> 00:40:57.610
And in fact we already managed
to attract a very, very specific group.
00:40:57.610 --> 00:41:01.010
And this group is not very
likely to switch. Because:
00:41:01.010 --> 00:41:04.800
do you think your local hackerspace would
maybe switch from Diaspora to Facebook,
00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:10.920
because Facebook is so awesome?
I don’t think so.
00:41:10.920 --> 00:41:15.840
And there will be also some new features –
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:19.660
I can proudly announce because
some of the developers
00:41:19.660 --> 00:41:23.800
just told me I should do –
laughs
00:41:23.800 --> 00:41:27.250
which can even make the
network more attractive
00:41:27.250 --> 00:41:32.460
for groups like hackerspaces or whatever.
singular dull laughter from audience
00:41:32.460 --> 00:41:36.070
There will be... laughs in reaction
there will be
00:41:36.070 --> 00:41:40.240
chat extensions soon which
is compatible with XMPP,
00:41:40.240 --> 00:41:45.030
or based on XMPP so that you can
add all your Jabber contacts in there.
00:41:45.030 --> 00:41:49.890
And for me it’s pretty convenient because
I use Jabber over time-at-work.
00:41:49.890 --> 00:41:54.320
So guess what will be open
all the time at work!
00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:58.460
Diaspora… ooh, here is sitting
someone from my work!
00:41:58.460 --> 00:42:00.950
laughter
00:42:00.950 --> 00:42:03.590
Because it’s so super efficient. And…
laughter
00:42:03.590 --> 00:42:06.320
other features are planned as well!
00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:12.760
applause
00:42:12.760 --> 00:42:16.170
There are other features planned
as well. There shall be
00:42:16.170 --> 00:42:19.960
a group feature soon which is
not very easy to implement
00:42:19.960 --> 00:42:22.970
because in a decentralized
network it’s a bit tricky.
00:42:22.970 --> 00:42:25.870
But they’re planning to do it.
And they’re also thinking about
00:42:25.870 --> 00:42:29.770
adding ‘events’ which is pretty
awesome e.g. when you want
00:42:29.770 --> 00:42:33.000
to coordinate in your local
hackerspace, in your group, and
00:42:33.000 --> 00:42:37.490
you have on your chat an idea for an
event – bang! – you can set it up
00:42:37.490 --> 00:42:42.970
on Diaspora. So is this
a gated community for hackers?
00:42:42.970 --> 00:42:47.620
I don’t think so because it’s open,
it uses open protocols,
00:42:47.620 --> 00:42:51.020
and I am sure, or I know
there are a lot of other groups
00:42:51.020 --> 00:42:55.340
we can address with such
a network in order to join.
00:42:55.340 --> 00:42:58.640
Because this is how
social networks expand.
00:42:58.640 --> 00:43:03.530
Group by group – by group. So what
other groups could like these features?
00:43:03.530 --> 00:43:08.230
What groups could e.g.
dislike corporate power?
00:43:08.230 --> 00:43:12.270
What kind of activists could
dislike NSA backdoors?
00:43:12.270 --> 00:43:15.800
Or what kind of public institution
or even companies
00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:20.780
could feel a bit uncomfortable
to put all their data
00:43:20.780 --> 00:43:24.120
on an US server? And there are
some companies or institutions
00:43:24.120 --> 00:43:28.100
who really are craving for
a social solution on servers
00:43:28.100 --> 00:43:32.680
they can host by themselves.
So I think it’s a winning strategy
00:43:32.680 --> 00:43:38.340
to address this group, also to ask:
“What kind of features do you want?”
00:43:38.340 --> 00:43:41.740
and this is what the Diaspora
community did. They asked their users:
00:43:41.740 --> 00:43:44.430
“What do you want?” and they said:
“Jabber, we want Jabber!”.
00:43:44.430 --> 00:43:48.900
So they implemented Jabber.
And this is how we really can grow.
00:43:48.900 --> 00:43:52.660
Step by step through local
network effect. And
00:43:52.660 --> 00:43:56.750
there have been interesting cooperations
with the Diaspora networks,
00:43:56.750 --> 00:44:01.430
or other networks that have
a decentralized nature already,
00:44:01.430 --> 00:44:06.400
e.g. the most active German Diaspora pod
00:44:06.400 --> 00:44:11.990
Geraspora is right now funded in
some part by a German newspaper,
00:44:11.990 --> 00:44:18.140
the Donaukurier. And the Donaukurier
interestingly… sudden laughter
00:44:18.140 --> 00:44:21.310
the Donaukurier one day
asked… they had this idea:
00:44:21.310 --> 00:44:25.660
“Yeah we want maybe to experiment
a bit with decentralized alternatives;
00:44:25.660 --> 00:44:30.560
we like this idea… but they didn’t
want to set up a server on their own.
00:44:30.560 --> 00:44:34.650
So they decided to give regular funding.
And they are still giving regular funding.
00:44:34.650 --> 00:44:39.320
Or there are requests of
different groups or even…
00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:43.160
there was a request from youth workers
which were interested to use
00:44:43.160 --> 00:44:46.860
such a network for communication
with their clients.
00:44:46.860 --> 00:44:52.510
Because obviously you don’t want
any data concerning youth work
00:44:52.510 --> 00:44:57.850
hosted on Facebook.
And these requests, they are happening,
00:44:57.850 --> 00:45:01.240
and I think this is very
promising to work on this basic
00:45:01.240 --> 00:45:06.410
in order to expand group by group.
00:45:06.410 --> 00:45:10.790
And we should not forget: there are
certain windows of opportunity
00:45:10.790 --> 00:45:15.140
which might convince more people
00:45:15.140 --> 00:45:18.500
that Diaspora is really an awesome idea
00:45:18.500 --> 00:45:24.010
and the killer features
are really worth trying it.
00:45:24.010 --> 00:45:28.400
There have been such
windows of opportunity, e.g.
00:45:28.400 --> 00:45:35.380
there was a time… or there
was a constant time of the…
00:45:35.380 --> 00:45:41.150
Mr. Erdoğan who is banning various
social media platforms in Turkey.
00:45:41.150 --> 00:45:45.110
And every time he does the Geraspora pod
00:45:45.110 --> 00:45:49.920
sees an increased traffic
from Turkish subnets.
00:45:49.920 --> 00:45:53.211
And another interesting effect is that
00:45:53.211 --> 00:46:00.270
every time Facebook announces
changes in the Terms of Service,
00:46:00.270 --> 00:46:04.270
again there is a peak. And
00:46:04.270 --> 00:46:08.260
these windows of opportunity
– unfortunately I have to say this –
00:46:08.260 --> 00:46:11.820
they will be more frequent in the future.
00:46:11.820 --> 00:46:15.730
Unfortunately it happened before and it
will happen again. And once you will have
00:46:15.730 --> 00:46:20.270
a big leak of data from Facebook. And
00:46:20.270 --> 00:46:24.660
this can happen anytime; maybe
more people will be convinced
00:46:24.660 --> 00:46:29.310
to try a decentralized alternative.
00:46:29.310 --> 00:46:32.740
And it is also important, as
these examples showed,
00:46:32.740 --> 00:46:36.730
e.g. from Turkey, that we need
these alternatives right now.
00:46:36.730 --> 00:46:41.690
There are right now people who need such
an alternative, not only hackerspaces.
00:46:41.690 --> 00:46:46.060
And therefor I’m very, very happy
that we are trying to provide
00:46:46.060 --> 00:46:55.210
such an alternative right now.
00:46:55.210 --> 00:47:01.930
But competing with a large platform,
as Facebook is right now,
00:47:01.930 --> 00:47:07.440
we need also to see that this is
a task we never can manage alone.
00:47:07.440 --> 00:47:12.150
We can’t compete with such a network
without allies at our side
00:47:12.150 --> 00:47:17.190
which have also super
powers like we have. And
00:47:17.190 --> 00:47:21.060
one of the most interesting
developments of the last year is that
00:47:21.060 --> 00:47:26.540
Diaspora is in fact not alone
any more. Diaspora is part
00:47:26.540 --> 00:47:31.920
of the so called ‘Federation’.
And the Federation consists of
00:47:31.920 --> 00:47:38.050
different decentralized social networks
such as Diaspora, friendica or Redmatrix.
00:47:38.050 --> 00:47:41.470
And they are interconnected,
they speak the same protocol.
00:47:41.470 --> 00:47:45.750
So it doesn’t matter whether my friends
are on friendica, on Redmatrix
00:47:45.750 --> 00:47:50.410
or on Diaspora. I can
communicate with them.
00:47:50.410 --> 00:47:53.850
And therefor by pooling their
users together they change
00:47:53.850 --> 00:47:58.300
the reference point of the network
effect. And if you are considering
00:47:58.300 --> 00:48:02.750
to launch a new social network on your own
00:48:02.750 --> 00:48:07.470
you’re free to do. And if you join the
Federation you already have a user base.
00:48:07.470 --> 00:48:14.160
And this is a very, very
exciting and powerful idea.
00:48:14.160 --> 00:48:19.580
Because the networks inside
the Federation are quite different.
00:48:19.580 --> 00:48:25.380
Diaspora e.g. has a very
clean, easy design for users.
00:48:25.380 --> 00:48:30.420
And some people really like that.
00:48:30.420 --> 00:48:34.070
The other networks have
other strengths. E.g. friendica
00:48:34.070 --> 00:48:38.370
is really an interconnection
machine. One of the guys who’s
00:48:38.370 --> 00:48:41.650
working on the development team,
he’s really looking for any loop hole
00:48:41.650 --> 00:48:46.940
he can get into other networks in
order to establish an interconnection
00:48:46.940 --> 00:48:51.320
even if the operator doesn’t want to.
And that’s awesome.
00:48:51.320 --> 00:48:55.920
And e.g. friendica already
speaks email protocol
00:48:55.920 --> 00:48:59.040
and Jabber.
And Redmatrix on the other hand:
00:48:59.040 --> 00:49:04.130
it is a fork, Redmatric and friendica
00:49:04.130 --> 00:49:08.930
share large parts of the same code.
00:49:08.930 --> 00:49:12.850
But Redmatrix has a very,
very strong emphasis
00:49:12.850 --> 00:49:17.890
on privacy. And they’re
experimenting with apps,
00:49:17.890 --> 00:49:21.640
and OpenID and different features
00:49:21.640 --> 00:49:25.870
which the other networks
don’t provide. So I think
00:49:25.870 --> 00:49:30.020
such a federation or such a bundling
of your powers, such a looking for allies
00:49:30.020 --> 00:49:35.200
is a very powerful thing to do,
not only for you as a network.
00:49:35.200 --> 00:49:39.090
But also for your users.
As a user I can vote by feet just –
00:49:39.090 --> 00:49:42.770
if I don’t like Diaspora then I just
join friendica. But I still have
00:49:42.770 --> 00:49:47.260
all my contacts from my local
hackerspace and that’s awesome.
00:49:47.260 --> 00:49:53.730
And in the long run when
we look at how this works:
00:49:53.730 --> 00:49:59.690
this is really a small version of
how the concept of social networks
00:49:59.690 --> 00:50:04.470
could look like if we just had open
protocols. And that’s also very important,
00:50:04.470 --> 00:50:08.230
also for the political struggle,
for open protocols to provide
00:50:08.230 --> 00:50:13.820
that such a thing works.
00:50:13.820 --> 00:50:17.910
But competing with large
platforms like Facebook
00:50:17.910 --> 00:50:21.110
you’re not only competing
with a social network,
00:50:21.110 --> 00:50:24.910
you’re competing with an alternative
eco system. So we need really to think
00:50:24.910 --> 00:50:29.340
how to build an eco system
on our own. And
00:50:29.340 --> 00:50:33.110
every time there is a new
idea or a new feature
00:50:33.110 --> 00:50:36.780
Facebook would like to
implement they just copy it,
00:50:36.780 --> 00:50:40.600
or they buy it. And the big strength
00:50:40.600 --> 00:50:45.910
of the Free Software movement is
that we don’t nee monetary incentives
00:50:45.910 --> 00:50:49.490
to work together. Because
we share similar goals.
00:50:49.490 --> 00:50:53.960
So instead of trying to provide
all the features by yourself
00:50:53.960 --> 00:50:57.480
the really winning strategy
is just to stay open.
00:50:57.480 --> 00:51:02.890
Just to talk to other projects in order
to find maybe shared protocols,
00:51:02.890 --> 00:51:08.790
or maybe find ways how you can
integrate your work into another work,
00:51:08.790 --> 00:51:12.940
and how you can benefit from one another.
00:51:12.940 --> 00:51:18.830
One example: When I bought
this crappy Android phone
00:51:18.830 --> 00:51:24.610
there was a pre-installed
Google+ app on it.
00:51:24.610 --> 00:51:27.830
It’s disgusting, I know, but…
laughter
00:51:27.830 --> 00:51:32.790
applause
I really…
00:51:32.790 --> 00:51:37.141
But I really like the idea of…
maybe one day
00:51:37.141 --> 00:51:41.860
I will be able to buy
a free operating system
00:51:41.860 --> 00:51:45.200
without any connections to Google.
And I would really love
00:51:45.200 --> 00:51:49.700
to have my Diaspora or friendica, whatever
app, pre-installed. Or maybe an app
00:51:49.700 --> 00:51:54.950
to connect anything inside the Federation.
00:51:54.950 --> 00:51:59.350
So we need also to bundle. I mean
Facebook does it, we also need to do it.
00:51:59.350 --> 00:52:03.590
And some first steps are made.
E.g. there are some projects
00:52:03.590 --> 00:52:08.060
for home-made clouds where you just
can buy your plug-and-play device
00:52:08.060 --> 00:52:13.080
and you would be able to get it
soon with pre-installed version
00:52:13.080 --> 00:52:17.490
of a Diaspora pod. So it won’t
be the hackers any more
00:52:17.490 --> 00:52:22.830
who have their own pod
but maybe the left activists
00:52:22.830 --> 00:52:28.630
who’s protesting
against neo-liberal politics.
00:52:28.630 --> 00:52:32.510
And that’s cool.
And there’s another example
00:52:32.510 --> 00:52:37.550
that cooperation really can work.
00:52:37.550 --> 00:52:42.530
When you take e.g. Firefox.
Firefox is the most used browser,
00:52:42.530 --> 00:52:47.240
at least in Germany.
And Firefox has a feature:
00:52:47.240 --> 00:52:51.590
you can have included share
buttons inside Firefox.
00:52:51.590 --> 00:52:54.941
And you can not only choose
between Facebook and Twitter,
00:52:54.941 --> 00:53:00.150
and others, but you can also
choose to use Diaspora.
00:53:00.150 --> 00:53:05.520
And this kind of cooperation is
something we clearly need more
00:53:05.520 --> 00:53:12.700
in order to overcome gated
communities such as Facebook.
00:53:12.700 --> 00:53:16.950
So you know I’m an economist.
00:53:16.950 --> 00:53:20.580
So I was trained to believe
in the idea of free markets
00:53:20.580 --> 00:53:27.380
and fair competition etc.
It’s a bit like studying Dark Magic.
00:53:27.380 --> 00:53:34.190
But in fact really I believe that
competition is at least in some areas
00:53:34.190 --> 00:53:38.510
something that makes sense. But
at some points you need to see
00:53:38.510 --> 00:53:44.410
when a market just fails
so hard that it doesn’t deliver
00:53:44.410 --> 00:53:49.200
the best possible solution. And I don’t
think it’s the best possible solution
00:53:49.200 --> 00:53:53.510
if you can’t really choose. If there’s no
competition. And there is no competition
00:53:53.510 --> 00:53:59.510
with Facebook. So the reason
why Diaspora and the others
00:53:59.510 --> 00:54:04.190
struggle so hard is not because their
idea isn’t great, or their technology
00:54:04.190 --> 00:54:10.130
is not the better one, maybe.
But it is the openness of the web
00:54:10.130 --> 00:54:16.480
that is threatened systematically when
monopolies use the network effect
00:54:16.480 --> 00:54:21.320
in order to create more and more gated
communities and expand the borders
00:54:21.320 --> 00:54:25.780
of these gated communities
more and more. And
00:54:25.780 --> 00:54:29.170
the inconvenient truth is also…
I mean I presented some ideas
00:54:29.170 --> 00:54:33.790
how we can overcome this.
But it will remain hard
00:54:33.790 --> 00:54:39.119
as long as the structures
are like they are right now.
00:54:39.119 --> 00:54:43.520
And I read one very interesting article
00:54:43.520 --> 00:54:49.200
where the journalist asked the inventor
of the protocol for email attachments:
00:54:49.200 --> 00:54:54.020
“What would happen if this idea of email
00:54:54.020 --> 00:54:58.369
was invented today?” and he replied:
00:54:58.369 --> 00:55:02.200
“In this environment, if somebody
invented email, whoever managed
00:55:02.200 --> 00:55:11.780
to get critical mass first would become
the world’s de facto email provider”.
00:55:11.780 --> 00:55:14.780
Imagine such a world!
I mean it’s disgusting!
00:55:14.780 --> 00:55:20.440
But right now we have such a situation
in the area of social network.
00:55:20.440 --> 00:55:25.110
Here we are! Facebook has become the
world’s de facto social network provider
00:55:25.110 --> 00:55:31.170
in large parts of the world. Every
fifth human being on this planet
00:55:31.170 --> 00:55:35.380
logs in on Facebook
at least once per month.
00:55:35.380 --> 00:55:39.160
And it has this position not because
it’s better than others but only
00:55:39.160 --> 00:55:43.900
because of market dynamics
and because it was lucky.
00:55:43.900 --> 00:55:48.530
There is no real competition,
and this is market failure. And
00:55:48.530 --> 00:55:51.640
when Tim Berners-Lee invented
the internet protocol that freed us
00:55:51.640 --> 00:55:59.540
from the gated communities
of Compuserve and others
00:55:59.540 --> 00:56:03.320
he gave it just away. He
didn’t say: “Yeah, I want to…
00:56:03.320 --> 00:56:07.960
I have this business model, it’s super
cool, it’s based on targeted advertisement
00:56:07.960 --> 00:56:12.990
and I will build a gated community
around my internet”.
00:56:12.990 --> 00:56:17.860
He gave it away for free.
And because people like him
00:56:17.860 --> 00:56:21.770
gave protocols or new ideas
away for free and opened it
00:56:21.770 --> 00:56:27.410
we had this incredible development,
where we had so much innovation,
00:56:27.410 --> 00:56:32.400
so much creativity through these
open structures. But this is not
00:56:32.400 --> 00:56:37.080
how market regulation should work.
I mean market regulation should not
00:56:37.080 --> 00:56:41.370
rely upon that someone who
has the next cool, big idea
00:56:41.370 --> 00:56:48.370
that can change the world for better
would just be a cool person.
00:56:53.170 --> 00:57:05.850
So, finally…
applause
00:57:05.850 --> 00:57:08.480
Some people argue when we
talk about social networks
00:57:08.480 --> 00:57:11.960
and the dominance of Facebook
that this is only a trend.
00:57:11.960 --> 00:57:17.040
It would go away one day all the
teens switch to another network.
00:57:17.040 --> 00:57:20.470
Facebook will be gone.
00:57:20.470 --> 00:57:24.779
And I remember hearing similar things
about the internet as such. laughter
00:57:24.779 --> 00:57:30.600
“It’s only a trend. It will
go away.” But I don't think so.
00:57:30.600 --> 00:57:34.660
And I also don’t think so
about social networks
00:57:34.660 --> 00:57:38.560
because social networks are
a very, very powerful idea.
00:57:38.560 --> 00:57:42.391
They are super awesome. And
maybe Facebook declines one day
00:57:42.391 --> 00:57:48.340
because all the teens realize that
their parents are on Facebook as well.
00:57:48.340 --> 00:57:52.050
But what will be next?
If the next big thing
00:57:52.050 --> 00:57:57.420
is also a gated community
nothing has changed.
00:57:57.420 --> 00:58:02.700
So in order to change things we
not only need to provide alternatives
00:58:02.700 --> 00:58:08.890
such as the Federation:
Diaspora, friendica, etc.
00:58:08.890 --> 00:58:13.250
We need to support them, because
00:58:13.250 --> 00:58:18.530
maybe you are looking for
friends: where should you go?
00:58:18.530 --> 00:58:21.600
laughs Maybe you find
interesting people on Diaspora.
00:58:21.600 --> 00:58:26.010
And they really deserve our support.
As users, as donators,
00:58:26.010 --> 00:58:30.930
as developers or as allies.
And you should never forget
00:58:30.930 --> 00:58:35.300
that programming free software
and building alternative eco systems
00:58:35.300 --> 00:58:39.640
to what we see outside in
this gated community world (?)
00:58:39.640 --> 00:58:43.430
is also a political act.
It’s not only writing software.
00:58:43.430 --> 00:58:48.430
It’s writing an alternative code for
how we want the world to be!
00:58:48.430 --> 00:58:51.910
And there is an alternative
to patent wars.
00:58:51.910 --> 00:58:54.950
There is an alternative to gated
communities and business models
00:58:54.950 --> 00:58:58.730
that only are based on
exploiting our privacy.
00:58:58.730 --> 00:59:02.690
And such projects represent
the visions of a better world
00:59:02.690 --> 00:59:06.619
and that’s why I would
like to support them.
00:59:06.619 --> 00:59:11.320
But we also need to address,
in order to win this fight,
00:59:11.320 --> 00:59:15.000
that these alternatives
don’t face fair competition.
00:59:15.000 --> 00:59:18.920
This is market failure on a large scale.
00:59:18.920 --> 00:59:23.710
And that is why we need to fight for
open standards; and in order to change
00:59:23.710 --> 00:59:28.990
the market structures that will create
gated communities over and over again
00:59:28.990 --> 00:59:34.020
we need to force Facebook… we need
to force them and not just kindly ask:
00:59:34.020 --> 00:59:37.850
“Mr. Zuckerberg, would you
please be so kind to consider
00:59:37.850 --> 00:59:42.030
to tear down this wall?”.
This will not work!
00:59:42.030 --> 00:59:46.170
We need to talk about political solutions.
And we need to address this
00:59:46.170 --> 00:59:50.109
as a need for market regulation in order
that the better solution can win.
00:59:50.109 --> 01:00:11.390
Thank you.
applause
01:00:11.390 --> 01:00:15.900
Herald: Yeah, tear down this wall.
Ronald Reagan at its best,
01:00:15.900 --> 01:00:18.640
at least Mr. Zuckeberg
is watching the stream or
01:00:18.640 --> 01:00:22.220
Oettinger is watching the steam.
You know what to do!
01:00:22.220 --> 01:00:25.340
So come we now to the
Questions and Answers.
01:00:25.340 --> 01:00:28.610
Microphones on the left,
on the right, and also:
01:00:28.610 --> 01:00:31.100
are there any questions from the internet?
01:00:31.100 --> 01:00:32.860
Signal Angel: Yes, I have
2 questions from the internet.
01:00:32.860 --> 01:00:36.990
Herald: Okay, we will start with the
internet because I’m sure you are here
01:00:36.990 --> 01:00:41.860
after the talk that people can ask you.
So, okay, dear internet!
01:00:41.860 --> 01:00:44.930
Question: What is the relation of
Diaspora and GNU-social or Pump.io
01:00:44.930 --> 01:00:47.670
Are there plans to merge the protocols?
01:00:47.670 --> 01:00:52.600
Katharina: I think for this
question you would really need
01:00:52.600 --> 01:00:56.440
to ask the developers.
But I can ask this room:
01:00:56.440 --> 01:01:01.650
hey, Diaspora developers: are you here?
points into audience
01:01:01.650 --> 01:01:06.170
Yeah, there! Do you want
to say something about this?
01:01:06.170 --> 01:01:08.700
Herald: Please just when
you’ll go to the microphone,
01:01:08.700 --> 01:01:11.210
otherwise it’s not
hear in this steam.
01:01:11.210 --> 01:01:14.459
Katharina: Yeah, a worm
applaus to Dennis Schubert
01:01:14.459 --> 01:01:22.699
applause
01:01:22.699 --> 01:01:25.690
Dennis: So no, there are no
actual plans to merge protocols
01:01:25.690 --> 01:01:28.109
but there are discussions
on defining a new protocol.
01:01:28.109 --> 01:01:33.590
That supports all social
networks together. So, yeah.
01:01:33.590 --> 01:01:36.520
Herald: Is there another question on…
applause
01:01:36.520 --> 01:01:38.590
Is there another question
from the internet?
01:01:38.590 --> 01:01:43.740
Question: Yes: is there a way to import
from Facebook to Diaspora?
01:01:43.740 --> 01:01:49.830
Katharina: To import data…
Yeah this is a interesting thing
01:01:49.830 --> 01:01:53.730
e.g. … yeah, I had this
in my presentation,
01:01:53.730 --> 01:01:57.300
but because of out-of-time
reasons I deleted it.
01:01:57.300 --> 01:02:00.510
There is fortunately this
new EU Privacy Law,
01:02:00.510 --> 01:02:06.510
the Privacy Regulation,
which will also force platforms
01:02:06.510 --> 01:02:11.970
such as Facebook to provide
like a data dump of your data
01:02:11.970 --> 01:02:16.479
– you can take with you. But I’m
still a bit not very convinced
01:02:16.479 --> 01:02:22.220
how this will work out, whether or not
ALL the data is included.
01:02:22.220 --> 01:02:26.140
It would be very convenient
if you just had one like…
01:02:26.140 --> 01:02:29.340
one data dump and you could
just download it and upload it.
01:02:29.340 --> 01:02:33.760
But we need to wait and
see how this will develop.
01:02:33.760 --> 01:02:39.409
Herald: Okay, I’m sorry to hear but at
least we are out of time now.
01:02:39.409 --> 01:02:42.810
All [remaining] questions
afterwards with Katharina.
01:02:42.810 --> 01:02:47.140
Give her another warm applaus!
For the federous (?) talk!
01:02:47.140 --> 01:02:53.020
postroll music
01:02:53.020 --> 01:02:57.901
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