While the government should engage us "where we are," wherever that might be, I believe that they should ensure that they support non-proprietary, open platforms or protocols whenever doing so is reasonable. I find it obnoxious that the White House has a Twitter account but does not even echo its Tweets to non-proprietary systems such as those reliant on ActivityPub (e.g. Mastodon), Nostr, or other open protocols.
The government can't, and shouldn't, encourage people to shift platforms (e.g. to go where they are not), but it also shouldn't allow its preference for any proprietary platform to diminish the value of more open alternatives. Whenever the White House chooses to engage on a proprietary platform, it should seek to identify and similarly support non-proprietary, alternative platforms.
I think that it’s not only reasonable to support non-proprietary platforms and open protocols, but that it should be the default. There is an ongoing failure of imagination and responsibility right now, as you can see expressed across the varied states of federal, city, & state agency verification on Twitter right now. Instead of not paying & letting a company set the terms by Unverification, the White House could be using its considerable leverage to ensure it and set up on open platforms, crossposting and always ensuring the public does not have to pay for public info.
While the government should engage us "where we are," wherever that might be, I believe that they should ensure that they support non-proprietary, open platforms or protocols whenever doing so is reasonable. I find it obnoxious that the White House has a Twitter account but does not even echo its Tweets to non-proprietary systems such as those reliant on ActivityPub (e.g. Mastodon), Nostr, or other open protocols.
The government can't, and shouldn't, encourage people to shift platforms (e.g. to go where they are not), but it also shouldn't allow its preference for any proprietary platform to diminish the value of more open alternatives. Whenever the White House chooses to engage on a proprietary platform, it should seek to identify and similarly support non-proprietary, alternative platforms.
I think that it’s not only reasonable to support non-proprietary platforms and open protocols, but that it should be the default. There is an ongoing failure of imagination and responsibility right now, as you can see expressed across the varied states of federal, city, & state agency verification on Twitter right now. Instead of not paying & letting a company set the terms by Unverification, the White House could be using its considerable leverage to ensure it and set up on open platforms, crossposting and always ensuring the public does not have to pay for public info.