From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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3.62K Posts, 4.18K Following, 6.14K Followers · I lead technology at ProPublica and write speculative fiction. This is a personal account. Every day, I write about tech, democracy, and society at https://werd.io. More about me: https://about.werd.io #indieweb #opensource #journalism...
on Apr 7
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
My most listened-to song this year was this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD_eZg70Ms0 #music
on Dec 4
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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"We constrain our imaginations when we subordinate our creations to names owned by fascist tycoons." Pulling no punches, I think correctly: #Media https://werd.io/2024/dont-call-it-a-substack
on Nov 20
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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The open social web is the first thing I’ve really been excited by in tech for years. It’s a fundamentally pro-human movement where the antipattern is centralized control, surveillance, and wealth hoarding. It’s going to empower artists, journalists, artists. What could be more exciting than that?
on Nov 20
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
Everyone is entitled to their own hopes and dreams for a platform, but what I hope for from decentralized social media is for every social media user to be on it, and for the owners of centralized platforms to no longer be able to influence elections, movements, or genocides. It’s got to go big.
on Nov 15
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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The Onion has successfully acquired Infowars. (Not a joke.) #Media https://werd.io/2024/the-onion-acquires-infowars
on Nov 14
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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I’ve noticed a few mistaken assumptions circulating on social media lately, so I thought it was worth clarifying a few things around privacy and surveillance. https://werd.io/2024/psa-social-media-privacy-and-you #privacy #technology
on Nov 12
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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@artlung@xoxo.zone @simon@simonwillison.net @evan@cosocial.ca @seth@socl.bz This thread has convinced me to not. Going a different way. https://werd.io/2024/we-can-still-rise
on Nov 6
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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Journalists, your job more than ever is to speak truth to power.
on Nov 6
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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On the offchance you're looking for a distraction: https://werd.io/2024/10-distractions-in-case-you-need-them-for-some-reason
on Nov 5
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
Everyone’s asking whether they should be using Threads or Mastodon or Bluesky or Nostr or something else, and the simple answer is that it’s not zero sum. The era of one social network being the holder of the conversation is over. The only sustainable answer is for them all to interoperate.
on Oct 20
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
Nonprofit Explorer for the WordPress Foundation: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205498932 You can see the drop-off in 2016 when the WordPress Community Support PBC was created. I guess much of the money has been floated through there since then, with some individual...
on Sep 29
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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Forgive me for not knowing this, re: WordPress. I'm not trying to sew conspiracy theories - I just don't know how it fits together, and I'm having trouble finding this written down. The WP Foundation reported $23K in revenue on its last available 990. That doesn't seem like enough to sustain...
on Sep 28
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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I'd love to learn what's actually going on behind the scenes here. This whole skirmish feels like it came out of the blue. What were the private conversations that led to it? https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine-banned/
on Sep 26
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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I'm convinced that the Fediverse is the future of the social web. The Social Web Foundation is a key step towards supporting its growth, and I could not be more excited. https://werd.io/2024/unlocking-the-fediverse-the-social-web-foundation-is-shaping-the #fediverse #socialwebfoundation
on Sep 25
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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PSA for anyone who switched to Arc as their main browser (hey, that's me!). #Technology https://werd.io/2024/gaining-access-to-anyones-browser-without-them-even-visiting-a
on Sep 20
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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"Mozilla is exiting the fediverse." I wish it had taken a more ambitious approach and integrated with the fediverse instead of just running a Mastodon instance for a handful of people - but here we are. #Fediverse https://werd.io/2024/mozilla-exits-the-fediverse-and-will-shutter-its-mastodon-server
on Sep 18
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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"The Media Economies Design Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder is launching a 5-month process of mentorship and peer-to-peer learning, empowering veteran community builders to adopt emerging open social networks." #Fediverse...
on Sep 14
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 1
"Project 2025’s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy on behalf of a future Trump administration remains on track." My colleagues at ProPublica have the details. #Democracy...
on Aug 10
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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As a lifelong Doctor Who + Star Trek fan I don't really get what's happening here, but hey, they're both examples of beautifully progressive, inclusive science fiction storytelling, and I love them both. Maybe a crossover is on the cards? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu3s6ee7wLE
on Jul 31
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
What if the Harris campaign - or the White House - wanted to join the fediverse properly? They'd have to admin their own Mastodon (or similar) instance. I'm convinced there's a need for a VIP hosted instance for brands, government, professional organizations, and anyone who cares about...
on Jul 31
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 1
Jeff Bridges on mute on the Zoom just made me laugh. And then: "I'm white, I'm a dude, and I'm for Harris."
on Jul 30
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
"Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his estranged transgender daughter was "killed" by the "woke mind virus" after he was tricked into agreeing to gender-affirming care procedures." This is sick stuff from Musk. #Democracy https://werd.io/2024/elon-musk-says-woke-mind-virus-killed-estranged-trans-daughter
on Jul 23
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
White House aides first learned Biden was dropping out on X. But aides should have learned that the President was dropping out of the election race on the fediverse. In this blog post I will
on Jul 23
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 1
I’d love to see a lot more people talking about JD Vance’s support for Curtis Yarvin, who believes in the reinstatement of slavery, in replacing the democratically elected government with a CEO king, and that Hitler was acting in self defense.
on Jul 22
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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You know what movie could actually use a new, modern take? Citizen Kane. Consider who the William Randolph Hearst of our age is.
on Jul 18
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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These 15 books made an enormous impact on me. Maybe you'll like them too. #bookstodon https://werd.io/2024/15-books-that-made-an-impact
on Jul 11
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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Attached: 1 image STRAIGHT INTO MY VEINS
on Jul 4
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
Let me join the chorus of people saying: we are fucked. Now: how can we change that?
on Jun 28
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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"ShareOpenly breaks the door even wider than sharing to Mastodon, and I intend to be using it to update some of my examples listed above." What a lovely surprise this post was! #Technology https://werd.io/2024/sharing-openly-about-shareopenly
on Jun 25
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
Perplexity AI: "So they're using headless browsers to scrape content, ignoring robots.txt, and not sending their user agent string." #AI https://werd.io/2024/perplexity-ai-is-lying-about-their-user-agent
on Jun 25
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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In 2024, in the midst of war, climate change, and the global rise of fascism, the need for critical thinking, independent thought, and democratic action is stronger than ever before. Some thoughts: https://werd.io/2024/dont-let-them-tell-you-what-to-think #democracy #media #journalism
on Jun 25
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
I have a solution to the twin problems of public school funding and teacher pay the militarization of the police and police reform I'm proud to announce TANKS FOR SCHOOLS Does your school need a tank How about a cadre of drones Perchance a microwave weapon All your school needs to do is...
on Jun 24
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
"Chamber of Progress, a tech industry coalition whose members include Amazon, Apple and Meta, is launching a campaign to defend the legality of using copyrighted works to train artificial intelligence systems." #AI https://werd.io/2024/ai-lobbying-group-launches-campaign-defending-tech
on Jun 23
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
I’m no longer posting pics of my kid online, but maybe posting descriptions will work. A toddler stares dispassionately into the camera, an entire whole waffle scrunched in his left hand, an immaculately cut waffle with blueberries on his plate in front of him, his bib speckled with maple...
on May 26
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
"The free version of Apple News is one of the biggest news platforms in the world. It’s the most widely used news application in the United States, the U.K., Canada, and Australia, and boasted over 125 million monthly users in 2020." And publications are becoming dependent on it. #Media...
on May 20
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
"Our findings imply that return to office mandates can imply significant human capital costs in terms of output, productivity, innovation, and competitiveness for the companies that implement them." #Business https://werd.io/view/664765a219e4d579460b55f2
on May 17
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
"A recent MIT study indicated that “the cloud” now has a larger carbon footprint than the airline industry, and that “a single data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes.”" #Climate...
on Apr 22
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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If you were buying a new car for a family today, what would you buy? EV preferred. (Please don’t say “public transit”. Yes, I’d prefer functional public infrastructure too, and resent the need to own a car, but I live in America.)
on Apr 13
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
Any business that depends on third-party APIs that it does not control and is locked into using is not a good business.
on Apr 10
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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"On Thursday I reported that Meta had blocked all links to the Kansas Reflector from approximately 8am to 4pm, citing cybersecurity concerns after the nonprofit published a column critical of Facebook’s climate change ad policy. By late afternoon, all links were once again able to be posted on...
on Apr 7
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
So I built a prototype of a thing to help people share to the #fediverse (and beyond). It's a work in progress, and I'd love feedback. https://werd.io/2024/share-openly
on Mar 28
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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I'm prototyping something. Would you mind clicking this link?...
on Mar 28
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
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I'm afraid to quote-boost on Mastodon because I'm worried most people won't be able to read the quoted post. Is this fear justified?
on Mar 26
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
"We’re taking a phased approach to Threads’ fediverse integration to ensure we can continue to build responsibly and get valuable feedback from our users and the fediverse community." It's really great to see them do this and communicate well about it. #Technology...
on Mar 21
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
If AI makes it easier to create generic, middle-of-the-road content, the way forward for human beings is to create content that is out there on the edges, blazing ground that probabilistic algorithms could never possibly reach. Which, honestly, I wish more people would do anyway. The middle of...
on Mar 18
From werd.social
Ben Werdmuller (@ben@werd.social)
0 0
Europe once again leads the way by passing meaningful AI regulation. Banned unacceptable-risk uses of AI include facial recognition, social scoring, and emotion recognition at schools and workplaces. #AI...
on Mar 13