Jack Dorsey pumps $10 million into a nonprofit focused on open-source social media

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter and CEO of Block, is making headlines with a substantial $10 million investment aimed at fostering innovative open-source projects that could reshape the social media landscape. This initiative is part of a collective called 'and Other Stuff,' established in May, which includes notable figures such as Twitter's first employee Evan Henshaw-Plath and other tech innovators. The group originally came together to collaborate on Nostr, an open and politically neutral social networking protocol that has garnered significant attention from Dorsey, particularly after his departure from Twitter following its sale to Elon Musk. While Nostr remains a primary focus, the collective is also exploring other tools, including ActivityPub, which powers the decentralized application Mastodon, and the e-cash platform Cashu. Dorsey has voiced concerns about the evolution of social media, stating that Twitter should never have been a conventional company. He believes that platforms like Bluesky are at risk of repeating past mistakes. The team at 'and Other Stuff' is committed to operating as a community of hackers rather than a traditional business, aiming to create technologies that could lead to new consumer social applications and various experimental tools for developers. Among their projects is an app named Shakespeare, designed for creating Nostr-based social applications with AI support, along with other ventures like heynow, a voice note application built on Nostr, and the private messenger White Noise. Henshaw-Plath notes that advancements in AI-driven coding are enabling this type of experimentation, similar to how frameworks like Ruby on Rails and Django propelled the earlier Web 2.0 era. In a recent podcast episode of revolution.social, hosted by Henshaw-Plath, Dorsey discussed Twitter's history and his vision for the future of social media. He articulated the challenges of maintaining a platform that is supposed to function as a protocol but is constrained by corporate interests and advertising pressures. Dorsey pointed out that if Twitter had operated as an open protocol, it could have fostered healthier business models independent of advertising. Dorsey’s commitment to an open protocol was evident in his prior efforts that led to the creation of Bluesky. However, he expressed skepticism about its current structure, which still relies on venture capital funding and faces similar hurdles as traditional social media platforms. He advocates for pushing toward a more decentralized model, akin to Bitcoin, where ownership is not concentrated in the hands of a few. Looking ahead, the team at 'and Other Stuff' is also drafting a social media 'Bill of Rights' that will outline essential provisions for platforms regarding privacy, security, and user governance. Dorsey’s financial backing has set the stage for exciting developments, with more innovative projects on the horizon, promising a transformative journey in social media.