<story><title>We Need More Alternatives to Facebook</title><url>https://www.technologyreview.com/s/604082/we-need-more-alternatives-to-facebook/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>Nomentatus</author><text>Obviously we don&amp;#x27;t need an alternative very much since we aren&amp;#x27;t enforcing the laws about interoperability that have always applied to every other sort of monopoly, such as railroads - you aren&amp;#x27;t allowed to have your own rail gauge, by law, for a reason; others have to be able to take those railcars on their line, too. Similarly, back in the day Bell was forced to interoperate with other telephone networks, that wasn&amp;#x27;t a choice. If other networks could interoperate transparently with Facebook there would be no shortage of alternatives. When things get really, really desperate... maybe at long last, despite our captured legislatures, it&amp;#x27;s time to apply the normal legal remedies that were good enough for our great-grandfathers.</text></comment>
<story><title>We Need More Alternatives to Facebook</title><url>https://www.technologyreview.com/s/604082/we-need-more-alternatives-to-facebook/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>pyrophane</author><text>We need interconnected networks to succeed again. Remember when the internet was all about services based on open protocols that could talk to one another? I do. We&amp;#x27;ve moved away from that in no small part to the fact that it isn&amp;#x27;t in the interest of the Facebooks and Googles of the world, who want to BE the internet rather than just a part of it. Everyone has a closed off messaging system. Platforms are working harder to bring content into their wall so you don&amp;#x27;t ever have to leave to get it.&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;m not sure how to fix this now, as the answers (xmpp, openid, diaspora, matrix) don&amp;#x27;t seem to be gaining a huge amount of traction, either because they are too difficult to use, lack important features, or because most users don&amp;#x27;t care.&lt;p&gt;Either way if we can&amp;#x27;t figure out a way to bring that spirit of interconnectedness and decentralization back to the internet I&amp;#x27;m afraid that the situation will continue to deteriorate.</text></comment>