I think this misses the mark a little. Protocol transparency basically already exists. Facebook, for instance, has an extensive series of APIs and SDKs for interacting with their 'servers'.
Anyone with high-school level 'web development' skills can hack together their own custom client to view, for instance, the same information they migh…
I think this misses the mark a little. Protocol transparency basically already exists. Facebook, for instance, has an extensive series of APIs and SDKs for interacting with their 'servers'.
Anyone with high-school level 'web development' skills can hack together their own custom client to view, for instance, the same information they might see on their feed (and no one will use it, because it will suck). Same goes for Twitter and the like. They are all using pretty much the same toolbox of already-open protocols: publicly documented REST/Graph APIs, OAuth, etc. Heck, a lot of these companies have already released a lot of their internal projects as FOSS - out of the goodness of their kind and progressive hearts /s.
The problem with "Big (Scary) Tech" lies entirely outside of the 7 layers of the OSI model. The problem is that they have a direct line of communication into the brains of "the masses" via the dopamine drips we carry around in our front pockets. The issue is not *how* you access Facebook's servers, but *what* you see when you do. Boomers who might still believe that the news media is "trustworthy and honest" will also likely find nothing suspect with those same news outlets appearing with the same headline right at the top of their Facebook feed, giant 'Verified' logos and all.
Go ahead, see what happens when you mandate that these companies instead use *open algorithms* to determine what gets promoted on their site, and what gets memory-holed. They will run around screaming "But that's our IP! That's how we make all of the money!". And they would be correct. The subtle shaping of public opinion offered by such technologies may be the most politically (and commercially) valuable invention in human history.
Fortunately for us, these platforms are already on their way out - Demographics is Destiny after all, and only Boomers use Facebook anymore. Now all the cool kids are using ChiCom-developed chat apps. Problem solved.
I think this misses the mark a little. Protocol transparency basically already exists. Facebook, for instance, has an extensive series of APIs and SDKs for interacting with their 'servers'.
Anyone with high-school level 'web development' skills can hack together their own custom client to view, for instance, the same information they might see on their feed (and no one will use it, because it will suck). Same goes for Twitter and the like. They are all using pretty much the same toolbox of already-open protocols: publicly documented REST/Graph APIs, OAuth, etc. Heck, a lot of these companies have already released a lot of their internal projects as FOSS - out of the goodness of their kind and progressive hearts /s.
The problem with "Big (Scary) Tech" lies entirely outside of the 7 layers of the OSI model. The problem is that they have a direct line of communication into the brains of "the masses" via the dopamine drips we carry around in our front pockets. The issue is not *how* you access Facebook's servers, but *what* you see when you do. Boomers who might still believe that the news media is "trustworthy and honest" will also likely find nothing suspect with those same news outlets appearing with the same headline right at the top of their Facebook feed, giant 'Verified' logos and all.
Go ahead, see what happens when you mandate that these companies instead use *open algorithms* to determine what gets promoted on their site, and what gets memory-holed. They will run around screaming "But that's our IP! That's how we make all of the money!". And they would be correct. The subtle shaping of public opinion offered by such technologies may be the most politically (and commercially) valuable invention in human history.
Fortunately for us, these platforms are already on their way out - Demographics is Destiny after all, and only Boomers use Facebook anymore. Now all the cool kids are using ChiCom-developed chat apps. Problem solved.
Facebook's API was pretty closed last time I tried to use it. Or am I wrong?
Havent used it in a while so I'm not sure. I could be wrong about that part.