Good morning Fedi friends!

[anders_s@mastodon.nu]

@doktorzjivago @_elena Better look at my english language Mastodon-account. @AnderstS. I've written a post on my blog about the persons and companies behind W Social. In swedish though but easily translated.
https://blog.zaramis.se/2026/01/24/personerna-bakom-w-social-vill-tjana-pengar/

[aral@mastodon.ar.al]

@MediaActivist @_elena I go into more detail in my older talks, e.g., this one from six years ago: Ethical Technology or Feudalism?

https://yewtu.be/watch?v=FsF4sdMPYas

[mediaactivist@todon.eu]

@aral @_elena This looks great, thanks - I have it opened ready to watch later!

[aral@mastodon.ar.al]

@MediaActivist @_elena 💕

[brennpunktua@mastodon.social]

@_elena place 4️⃣ in the (non personalized) Google search results for "WSocial" (at least from Germany). You did a great job! 😈

@hpod16

[brennpunktua@mastodon.social]

@_elena also, https://stage.wsocial.eu is a HUUUGE joke (but a bad one!)

[_elena@mastodon.social]

@aral @MediaActivist same, watching later today 🙏

[_elena@mastodon.social]

@BrennpunktUA @hpod16 ooooh that’s amazing! I should put my SEO skills to good use with the URL I just grabbed :)

[brennpunktua@mastodon.social]

@_elena 🛐🙏

@hpod16

[aral@mastodon.ar.al]

@_elena @MediaActivist 💕

[mediaactivist@todon.eu]

@aral @_elena Fantastic. Just last Wednesday I facilitated a workshop where I claimed that much of what we use now would've been considered "malware" back in the day. Perhaps predictably, I love the points on journalism as clickbait too (I've just included that quote from Axel Springer's lawyer in my website section on "Why Media Activism?"!) Thank you!

[aral@mastodon.ar.al]

@MediaActivist @_elena Glad to hear you enjoyed it. I wish it wasn’t still relevant. But I realised at about that time that talking about this – while important – isn’t enough. Folks would clap me in one breath and the person from Google in the next. Fingers crossed the Small Web will have an impact. Even if it doesn’t, at least it’ll exist.

[mediaactivist@todon.eu]

@aral @_elena Yes it can be a refuge if not an alternative. And wow, people can applaud good tech talks but really ought to pick a side!

[aral@mastodon.ar.al]

@MediaActivist @_elena Sadly, folks applaud anyone who speaks confidently. I even started telling people during my talks that they shouldn’t just accept what I’m saying because I say it confidently and maybe with a modicum of charisma but think about what I’m saying and what the next person is going to be saying and think critically about all of it, but… 🤷‍♂️

[_elena@mastodon.social]

@aral @MediaActivist you’re such an eloquent speaker Aral (content + form), it’s hard to fight the urge to applaud you. We are so lucky to have you here on the Fediverse advocating for all these worthy causes 💖