Hosted by Flipboard co-founder and CEO Mike McCue, Dot Social is a new podcast and video series spotlighting leaders at the forefront of the open social web movement. Mike and his guests will explore the evolution of the internet and how new open standards, like ActivityPub, can forever change the Web and the world of social media.
Since Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, now called X, millions are figuring out where to pitch their social media tent and build thriving communities. Many people are exploring new decentralized social media platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky along with Threads, which Meta plans to decentralize.
The new platforms create an open social web that offers new opportunities. On Dot Social, Mike will give you a front-row seat to this movement, particularly for those looking to be a part of this change as entrepreneurs, creators and community builders. Dot Social is the first podcast dedicated to exploring the impact of this next wave of innovation on the Internet driven by decentralized social media and the Fediverse.
Few people understand this space as well as Mike, who was a Twitter board member during its heyday and Netscape’s first head of technology in the 1990s. He believes today’s shift in social media mirrors the transition we witnessed with the birth of the Web. Open protocols like HTML and HTTP changed the game then. Today, open social protocol ActivityPub will have a similar impact on social media, moving us away from walled gardens to open platforms that’ll spark better interoperability, communication and consumer experiences.
To navigate the opportunities and challenges that arise from the transformation to an open social media environment, Mike has conversations with pioneers of the internet and early adopters of the Fediverse, including:
- Mike Masnick, the founder and editor of the technology and policy blog Techdirt.
- Mitchell Baker, CEO at Mozilla and chairwoman of Mozilla Foundation.
- Tony Stubblebine, Medium‘s CEO, who is leading the company’s Fediverse strategy including the launch of its own Mastodon instance.
- Evan Prodromou, key contributor to the ActivityPub protocol used in decentralized social networks.
- Ian Forrester, the Senior Firestarter at BBC R&D, one of many leading the BBC’s experimental move into the Fediverse with a Mastodon server at social.bbc.
- Tim Chambers, co-founder of Dewey Digital and creator of the quarterly X/Twitter Migration report.
- John Battelle, entrepreneur and author best known for co-founding Wired magazine.
Episode 1, which is out today, is a conversation with Mike Masnick about the open social web’s current landscape, which services have the most potential and so much more.
Or, if you prefer your podcasts in video form, it’s also on YouTube:
Tune in for a new Dot Social episode every Tuesday until early next year. If you like our show, please subscribe, rate and review it and wherever you get your podcasts. Dot Social is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and on Flipboard.
We’re thrilled to bring you this limited series and hope you enjoy these deep dives into the future of the Web and social media as much as Mike’s enjoyed creating them for you.
— Christel van der Boom, head of communications, is curating Eye Openers