Unlocking the commons

The best business model pre-internet was to charge for content. In the internet age, I think the rest of the world will become more like video games — give away the base layer, and let the internet do its thing, supercharging viral marketing to monetize the complement.

Successful hoarders, though, tend to share one commonality: the information they distribute is collated, with rigor, and often tied to an organized movement for radical action. This methodology separates the “collection” from the endless stream of “content” we see today. It removes all distractions from the hacker class’s chief aim: the production ... See more

Outside of a fundamental restructuring of the internet (here’s looking at you, Web 3.0!), the next best solution for journalists and writers of all stripes is to band together, insist on a more equitable distribution of resources, and begin wielding the considerable agency at our disposal for our own good, rather than that of the men behind the cur... See more

For half a millennium, the mediators of media—editors, publishers, producers—controlled the public conversation. Now we may break free of their gatekeeping, agendas, and scarcities—while at the same time risking the loss of the value these institutions have brought in recommending quality, certifying fact, and supporting creativity. What must we cr

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