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Writing at the intersection of technology, journalism, and community.
IndieWeb
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
For instance and community operators, "copyright’s “statutory damages” regime allows for massive, unpredictable financial liability. That’s why it’s important to limit your risk." This guide helps you to get started.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
In which a defense contractor lays its anti-democratic, pro-fascist ideology bare.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
How AI is affecting thinking and distribution – and why relationships are still at the heart of great teams.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"Google had already disclosed my data without telling me. There was no opportunity to contest it."
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"A mantra to clarify ownership while reinforcing shared responsibility." I agree with every word.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
An innocuous iPhone notifications setting could put your Signal contacts at risk.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Flock is building a national surveillance network. A protest movement is forming to tear it down.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
How open protocols and agentic development could lead to a whole new generation of social applications.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"There is a fixed amount of scarce attention to go around, and too many people want it. The metagame becomes: secure attention by any means necessary."
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
This cannot continue.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"Experiments show large majorities uncritically accepting “faulty” AI answers." Increasingly, incentive structures are asking them to.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
A dystopian week, with a glimmer of hope: alternatives are available.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Julien Genestoux thinks the open web needs netizens. I agree – and in 2026, that's indistinguishable from citizenry.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"Nota shut down its news sites after Axios and Poynter found dozens of plagiarized quotes, phrases and photos."
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
LinkedIn is using invasive techniques to fingerprint your browser. Together with its understanding of your identity and professional history, it has the ingredients for an incredibly detailed profile.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Flipboard's browser for the open social web is out for web users today.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"Four weeks into the war, Iran is plummeting toward total digital isolation with its internet blocked and communications heavily restricted and monitored." And it's part of a bigger trend.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"Groups that challenge books have begun using Gemini, ChatGPT, xAI, and other AI tools to try to get books banned." The point is to create a chilling effect.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
I joined Rabble on the Revolution.Social podcast.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
A new white paper about building open communities for news.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Bluesky's new service isn't about AI; it's about accessibility.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
By treating source materials as contraband, the DOJ is putting both journalism and democracy at risk.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Want to report your friends and neighbors for extrajudicial kidnapping? The new White House app wants you to get in touch.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Progress on the open social web; not so much in the world.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
Newsrooms have been slow to care about the open social web - but one of their most important support organizations is paying attention.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"If you want stronger decisions, make space for every voice." This is a simple technique to do this in your meetings that really works.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
The implications of this case could include the effective end of Section 230 protections – and a new wave of attacks on places where people learn, share, and connect online.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
John O'Nolan built a CLI for his own product - and found himself using it in an entirely new way. The underlying trend here is really exciting.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"Our home planet is struggling with a record energy imbalance, which is warming oceans to unprecedented levels, making weather more extreme and threatening health and food supplies." How we react matters.
Ben Werdmuller
• Ben Werdmuller
"The materialist response isn't to reject the new technology. It's to evolve our licenses to encompass it."
