Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder and CEO of Block, has announced an investment of $10 million into experimental open-source projects that could reshape the social media ecosystem. These endeavors are managed collaboratively by the group 'and Other Stuff,' founded on the Nostr platform.
The 'and Other Stuff' Initiative
The group 'and Other Stuff' was formed in May and includes Jack Dorsey, Evan Henshaw-Plath, creator of the Cashu platform, Alex Gleason, former engineer at Truth Social, and Jeff Gardner, the fourth employee at Inetercom. The group operates as a hacker community without plans to establish a commercial company.
Experiencing Socialization Beyond Companies
The 'and Other Stuff' group actively discusses the Nostr protocol, which serves as an apolitical solution for information dissemination. Dorsey became interested in Nostr after stepping down from Bluesky's board and Twitter. The group also plans to experiment with other tools, such as ActivityPub, which powers Mastodon.
The Future of Social Platforms
According to Dorsey, setting up Twitter as a company was a mistake. He pointed out that corporate interests can hinder the free functioning of social networks. Evan Henshaw-Plath also mentioned the development of a 'Social Media Bill of Rights' that outlines requirements for platforms in areas of privacy, security, and transparency.
Jack Dorsey's investments in open projects indicate a desire to implement new ideas in social media and create platforms free from corporate control. The 'and Other Stuff' group aims to develop initiatives that may transform the approach to social networks in the future.
