Move Slowly and Build Bridges

Paperback, 240 pages

Published by Oxford University Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-19-777668-1

(2 reviews)

Move Slowly and Build Bridges tells the story of activists, software developers, artists, and everyday people who have built the fediverse — a large, noncentralized, alternative social media system. In contrast to big tech corporations like Meta, TikTok, or X, the fediverse is comprised of thousands of small, independent communities who use a powerful internet protocol to communicate with one another. These small communities can govern themselves and moderate content at the human scale — in stark contrast to the global and advertiser-friendly interests of Meta or X.

The Mastodon network is perhaps the most notable and successful platform in the fediverse. Founded in 2016, Mastodon has positioned itself as an alternative to Twitter — one that can be completely under the control of its members, from it to its daily operations to it underlying software.

Making a noncentralized, ethically-run social media system is no easy task. The people building …

Move Slowly and Build Bridges tells the story of activists, software developers, artists, and everyday people who have built the fediverse — a large, noncentralized, alternative social media system. In contrast to big tech corporations like Meta, TikTok, or X, the fediverse is comprised of thousands of small, independent communities who use a powerful internet protocol to communicate with one another. These small communities can govern themselves and moderate content at the human scale — in stark contrast to the global and advertiser-friendly interests of Meta or X.

The Mastodon network is perhaps the most notable and successful platform in the fediverse. Founded in 2016, Mastodon has positioned itself as an alternative to Twitter — one that can be completely under the control of its members, from it to its daily operations to it underlying software.

Making a noncentralized, ethically-run social media system is no easy task. The people building the fediverse have faced burnout, bigotry, angry debates, and death threats. And they face constant, nagging doubts: can we really do this? Can noncentralized social media survive? Can we — all of us — have our own social media? In this thoroughly researched book, Robert W. Gehl argues that the answer is yes — but it won't be easy.

1 edition

snowka reviewed Move Slowly and Build Bridges by Robert W. Gehl

Move Slowly and Build Bridges

5 stars

I've read books published by Oxford University Press before, but I've never enjoyed a book from OUP like I have Gehl's Move Slowly and Build Bridges. This work of Internet Studies focused on the Mastodon social media platform employs an interview-based methodology that lets the citizens of the Fediverse tell their stories in a compelling way. I loved hearing the backstories of Mastodon luminaries Ro and The Artist Marcia X, who I've followed since joining Mastodon after Musk's purchase of Twitter, and especially loved that Gehl chose artwork of Marcia X to adorn the cover. My own instance admin from @Scholar.social is quoted repeatedly emphasizing the ethical choices and ideals that made me want to join that instance over others. Gehl's analysis of Mastodon and the Fediverse is incisive and insightful--he articulates as few others have what makes a non-centralized social media platform like Mastodon both challenging and so …

I've read books published by Oxford University Press before, but I've never enjoyed a book from OUP like I have Gehl's Move Slowly and Build Bridges. This work of Internet Studies focused on the Mastodon social media platform employs an interview-based methodology that lets the citizens of the Fediverse tell their stories in a compelling way. I loved hearing the backstories of Mastodon luminaries Ro and The Artist Marcia X, who I've followed since joining Mastodon after Musk's purchase of Twitter, and especially loved that Gehl chose artwork of Marcia X to adorn the cover. My own instance admin from @Scholar.social is quoted repeatedly emphasizing the ethical choices and ideals that made me want to join that instance over others. Gehl's analysis of Mastodon and the Fediverse is incisive and insightful--he articulates as few others have what makes a non-centralized social media platform like Mastodon both challenging and so essential to maintain. And quite simply, the book is fun. From references to solarpunk to #Monsterdon, you'll find people, orgs, and instances that you will want to follow and learn more about.

pacavegano reviewed Move Slowly and Build Bridges by Robert W. Gehl

Informative and enjoyable

5 stars

This study of the Fediverse focuses primarily on Mastodon, which makes sense in that it was the first project to adopt the ActivityPub protocol, and is by far the most popular platform in the Fediverse. (I personally have never understood the attraction of Twitter and microblogging in general, so Mastodon is not my preferred platform, Friendica is, but I cannot fault Gehl’s chosen focus.)

The book covers the development of ActivityPub, the history of Mastodon, various challenges that the Fediverse has faced, important movements within the Fediverse, and philosophical questions about the Fediverse and social media. It includes personal observations by the author, who is a Mastodon user and instance admin, and interviews with other Fediverse users, admins and moderators.

Appropriately, the book centers the ethics of the Fediverse. The majority of Fediverse developers and users are there for one or more ethical reasons—moving away from surveillance capitalism, seeking spaces …

This study of the Fediverse focuses primarily on Mastodon, which makes sense in that it was the first project to adopt the ActivityPub protocol, and is by far the most popular platform in the Fediverse. (I personally have never understood the attraction of Twitter and microblogging in general, so Mastodon is not my preferred platform, Friendica is, but I cannot fault Gehl’s chosen focus.)

The book covers the development of ActivityPub, the history of Mastodon, various challenges that the Fediverse has faced, important movements within the Fediverse, and philosophical questions about the Fediverse and social media. It includes personal observations by the author, who is a Mastodon user and instance admin, and interviews with other Fediverse users, admins and moderators.

Appropriately, the book centers the ethics of the Fediverse. The majority of Fediverse developers and users are there for one or more ethical reasons—moving away from surveillance capitalism, seeking spaces that are safe for marginalized communities, rejecting censorship, etc. To not focus on the ethics of the project would have been to grossly misrepresent the Fediverse.

While I would have loved for the book to cover the Fediverse more broadly, I think that it does what it does very well.

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