Sam Liebeskind
@samliebeskind
product strategy at New_Public; previously community & growth @ Geneva
Sam Liebeskind
What is the purpose of protocols? To guarantee the rights of individuals and communities.
Paul Frazee • Practical Decentralization
Traditional federation lacks modularity. Hosting, distribution, moderation, algorithms, and business logic are located in the hosting instance. This creates a weak separation of powers. Ideally, users reduce the power of a popular instance by devolving specific functions to other providers. We want to preserve rights in the default course of... See more
Practical Decentralization
A logical extension of personal computing is a belief that everyone ought to possess maximal personal rights and make all decisions on their own.
This view runs into scale problems. One-way broadcast is relatively easy to make perform well and the shape of the problem supports low-coordination meshes (BitTorrent). Likewise, small-group chat and... See more
This view runs into scale problems. One-way broadcast is relatively easy to make perform well and the shape of the problem supports low-coordination meshes (BitTorrent). Likewise, small-group chat and... See more
Practical Decentralization
Preference for small, comprehensible businesses; valuing craftsmanship, limits, anti-optimization, and the philosophy of “enough.”
TRANSCRIPT
I feel like they're more real. I like real things, for whatever that means. Define it however you'd like. But a billion-dollar business or a ten-billion-dollar business, just it doesn't feel like a real thing to me. It feels like a concept.
Meanwhile, the dry cleaner down the street, I can drop off my shirt. I get it cleaned. I bring it up. I pick
... See moreAlgorithmic feeds: good or bad?
Many people claim they just want a chronological feed, but studies consistently show the vast majority of people prefer algorithmic recommendations, because they surface more of what users actually want, compared to chronological feeds.
That said, it’s not as simple as “algorithms good.” There’s evidence that... See more
Many people claim they just want a chronological feed, but studies consistently show the vast majority of people prefer algorithmic recommendations, because they surface more of what users actually want, compared to chronological feeds.
That said, it’s not as simple as “algorithms good.” There’s evidence that... See more
Yes, Section 230 Should Apply Equally To Algorithmic Recommendations
We believe the future of social networking should be open, give users genuine control over their data and experience, and create accountability through transparency. That means building differently—not just better moderation policies, but a fundamentally different architecture that puts power back in users' hands.
2025 Transparency Report Overview - Bluesky
Open signups are a business decision. There are many ways that a platform could make it harder to get an account. Lots of real-world privileges have more steps – government IDs like passports or drivers licenses, obviously, but also financial transactions like bank accounts, car loans, or mortgages; or joining high-status organizations like social... See more