Has the exodus really started? Leaving X for BlueSky, the dark future for a bright sky? My followers count is rising through an appearance at a starterpack, an interesting smart move from BlueSky to accelerate the building of a social network. Despite all developments (trends) towards smaller networks within chatgroups instead of public social platforms, there is still room for a newsy social media, something that Threads is not offering with too much filtering of the threads. It is carving out different types: more news and opinion-driven with Mastodon and BlueSky, more social sharing as the new Facebook with Threads, and the right-wing activist that will be the leftovers at X. And pure entertainment with TikTok and Instagram and other video-based platforms. It is not so black and white, I know. I think it is interesting to see if these kinds of functional boundaries are more important than the usual age groups.
Just before finishing this newsletter, I returned from a very successful PhD defense of Iohanna Nicenboim, cum laude, the first I heard from at Industrial Design Engineering. Well deserved, Iohanna has a unique combination of being a stellar designer, design philosopher, academic, and ‘maker’ in the sense of focusing on research through design. I am very happy to have her back at ThingsCon this year! Check out her thesis here: Designing-with AI: More-than-human Design in/through Practice.
Triggered thought
As a result of the U.S. elections, blockchain and especially cryptocurrency have returned to the spotlight. This resurgence feels like a turning point—but not necessarily the one advocates for decentralized systems might have hoped for. This renewed interest is fueled by political shifts, where deregulation rhetoric promises to breathe new life into crypto markets. But: Who is this resurgence really for?
One ‘fork’ of the blockchain—the cryptocurrency side—is gaining a lot of attention and momentum. Not necessarily in a good way. Much of this energy is focused on the speculative, monetary aspects of blockchain: the power of coins as speculative assets, the Ponzi-like schemes that continue to emerge, and the use of blockchain systems to move wealth quickly and evade regulation.
Kara Swisher, in her recent Pivot podcast, aptly referred to this phenomenon as “Craptocracy”—a variation of kleptocracy. In this craptocratic model, we see a government increasingly influenced by businessmen who use power not to serve the public but to play out maximum influence with minimal guardrails. Blockchain, in this context, risks becoming a tool for these craptocratic goals: a means to consolidate wealth and evade oversight, rather than a technology for decentralization and empowerment.
Blockchain has always been a paradox. On one hand, it promises decentralization, transparency, and empowerment. On the other, it has become a haven for speculative markets and a tool for accumulating wealth in the hands of a few. This duality is at the heart of the current debate surrounding blockchain’s future.
The potential of blockchain for commons-based governance is immense. It offers a technological framework for communities to co-create and self-manage resources like in energy microgrids or open source projects on digital commons. It can even become more systemic in supporting commons-based economics structuring for instance the energy market, that is now build on traditional marketplaces to balance the grid. That asks for trust in new systems. Which seems at odds with the current trajectory. The resurgence fueled by post-election market optimism seems less about enabling grassroots governance or commons-based systems and more about creating opportunities for elite actors to secure financial and political advantages. When the loudest voices in blockchain belong to venture capitalists and politically connected figures, it’s harder for smaller, purpose-driven projects to gain traction. Worse, this could alienate communities who might otherwise see blockchain as a tool for empowerment. Let’s hope the craptocracy is not spreading and commons can be embraced as more inspiring driver. There might be a path into empowering collaborating more-than-human agents carefully crafted in embracing diversity and inclusion.
Read the full newsletter here, with
- Notions from last week’s news on Human-AI partnerships, Robotic performances, Immersive connectedness, and Tech societies
- Paper for the week
- Looking forward with events to visit
Thanks for reading. I started blogging ideas and observations back in 2005 via Targetisnew.com. Since 2015, I have started a weekly update with links to the news and reflections. I always capture news on tech and societal impact from my perspective and interest. In the last few years, it has focused on the relationship between humans and tech, particularly AI, IoT, and robotics.
The notions from the news are distributed via the weekly newsletter, archived online here. Every week, I reflect more on one topic, a triggered thought. I share that thought here and redirect it to my newsletter for an overview of news, events, and more.
If you are a new reader and wondering who is writing, I am Iskander Smit. I am educated as an industrial designer and have worked in digital technology all my life. I am particularly interested in digital-physical interactions and a focus on human-tech intelligence co-performance. I like to (critically) explore the near future in the context of cities of things. And organising ThingsCon. I call Target_is_New my practice for making sense of unpredictable futures in human-AI partnerships. That is the lens I use to capture interesting news and share a paper every week.
Feel invited to reach out if you need some reflections; I might be able to help out!
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