The time is ripe for philanthropists and academia to rise to the occasion and help shape a social network for the people, by the people.
Lemmy appears to be the closest thing to a publicly-operated reddit alternative. With tens of thousands of redditors looking for something better, I am somewhat surprised that more instances aren’t rolling out from well-financed FOSS agencies, technologists and others.
It would be great to see some of the 3PA developers committing to this platform in defiance to Reddit’s increasing enshittification.
There is an opportunity to capture the momentum that is underway, to begin taking back what we’ve lost to corporate interests these past twenty years, and to tear down the walled gardens.
For what it’s worth, in certain circles Peter Thiel could also be considered a philanthropist