Allow Blaine Cook this moment.

Ever since Elon Musk purchased Twitter in October, the billionaire has set fire to the social media app Cook helped create as its founding engineer 16 years ago.

Since purchasing Twitter for $44 billion, Musk has dismissed the company害羞草研究所檚 CEO and its board of directors, fired about half of its 7,500 staff 害羞草研究所� including moderators charged with fighting misinformation 害羞草研究所� and reinstated controversial users such as former U.S. President Donald Trump.

In response, users have begun to seek out alternatives to Twitter. Cook, who is now principal engineer for the coding company Fission and lives in Nelson, couldn害羞草研究所檛 be happier.

害羞草研究所淚 think it害羞草研究所檚 always been inevitable because the idea that a handful of corporations would control all of human communication has always been untenable.害羞草研究所�

In 2006, Cook was working at a podcasting company called Odeo when coworker Jack Dorsey pitched the idea for a new social network. Cook was included on the project and became the engineer for what would later that year initially launch as a text messaging service called twttr before adopting the name and website it害羞草研究所檚 known as today.

As Twitter害羞草研究所檚 popularity surged, Cook pitched a new direction for the app: Instead of people only interacting with other Twitter users, the network would be decentralized to allow for conversations between users on competing platforms.

Cook reasoned Twitter, which at the time only comprised of around 10 employees, didn害羞草研究所檛 have the capacity to meet its growth. An open protocol would mean partner companies could share the burden of content moderation while also encouraging innovation.

Cook teamed up with an engineer at another social media company to build a prototype for the concept. But the pitch failed and in 2008 Cook was let go.

In the intervening years, Cook continued to preach the promise of decentralized social media. Now, as users leave Twitter to join the alternative social media app Mastodon that features the same concepts Cook once pitched, he says the moment feels 害羞草研究所渓ike 14 years of vindication all at once.害羞草研究所�

Mastodon isn害羞草研究所檛 yet as straightforward or intuitive as Twitter. New users sign up to a server, also referred to as an 害羞草研究所渋nstance,害羞草研究所� from which they access Mastodon. Although users can follow others on different servers, the app doesn害羞草研究所檛 have a universal verification badge to indicate if an account is real or a parody.

Finding specific users is also difficult without knowing what server they are on, and if a server happens to go down all of its accounts and posts go with it.

But there are obvious benefits over Twitter, as well.

The timeline is populated chronologically, not by an algorithm, so users see the posts they want and not what the app thinks you will want. Because Mastodon is crowdsourced there害羞草研究所檚 also no advertising, which makes it a refreshing experience for anyone tired of the constant billboard that Facebook害羞草研究所檚 timeline has become.

Cook thinks Mastodon will overcome its growing pains just as Twitter once did. The Twitter timeline, he points out, initially had to be scrolled through on pre-touchscreen phones while innovation came via third-party apps like TweetDeck (which Twitter purchased in 2011).

害羞草研究所淢astodon hasn害羞草研究所檛 had a lot of friction,害羞草研究所� Cook said. 害羞草研究所淵ou develop things with friction. If you don害羞草研究所檛 have that traction, you害羞草研究所檙e not going to get anywhere. So I think we害羞草研究所檙e going to see rapid evolution of Mastodon.害羞草研究所�

That evolution excites Cook because of the possibilities for integration with other services. Decentralized social networks give users the option of posting to multiple apps from one account. Tumblr, for example, announced Nov. 21 it would add support so its users害羞草研究所� posts could appear on Mastodon timelines.

Cook says verification 害羞草研究所� identified on Twitter by the blue check mark usually found on the accounts of celebrities and brands 害羞草研究所� could also eventually be improved in a decentralized network.

An individual organization like the Nelson Star, which has an active Twitter account that has never been verified, could set up a server and verify its own staff as users for little more than the cost of a domain name and a monthly host server provider.

It害羞草研究所檚 impossible, according to Cook, for one social media company to verify the identity of every user. Ideally, he says there should be one verification that can be used anywhere online, but only provides the information needed to confirm an identity.

To illustrate the point, Cook uses the example of showing ID at a bar. Identity theft is low when a bouncer is checking a card, but instead of just verifying age they are also seeing details that shouldn害羞草研究所檛 be necessary to enter a bar, like home address or gender.

害羞草研究所淲hat we need are ways to say hey, I害羞草研究所檓 21, and there害羞草研究所檚 a thing that害羞草研究所檚 signed by the Government of Canada that says they authenticate that I害羞草研究所檓 21, but I害羞草研究所檓 not going to tell you who I am.害羞草研究所�

Cook doesn害羞草研究所檛 think, however, that governments should be setting up their own social networks. Aside from clear concerns about censorship, the lack of necessary infrastructure and competition like that found in Canada害羞草研究所檚 mobile wireless market mean there害羞草研究所檚 no need for government regulation.

Instead, Cook thinks communities organizations, non-profits and co-ops should consider setting up networks. Libraries, he suggests, are ideal hosts for networks due to the inclusive nature of their services.

Is this all actually going to happen? Will people leave Twitter and even Facebook for decentralized social networks? Cook isn害羞草研究所檛 sure. But he hopes they do.

害羞草研究所淚 don害羞草研究所檛 know how it害羞草研究所檚 going to shake out. I don害羞草研究所檛 know what it害羞草研究所檚 going to feel like. I can害羞草研究所檛 wait.害羞草研究所�

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| tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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