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The internet just feels so small currently. The technology seems to be all here to make it distributed and open it up, but the convenience of centralization and the lack of network-effects of the distributed solutions seem to be the bottle-neck that stop them from gaining traction.

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I remember a lovely time when my RSS was pulling in data from a huge and various number of independent sources, non-algorythmically, all compiled nicely in GReader ... without social media flame wars hanging off the end of every link.

/random-cry-against-centralisation-of-the-internet

Not necessarily against algorithmic feeds, but would be nice if you could chose your own algorithm, or just pure chronological feeds like you mentioned.

If someone invented an algorithm to enable network effects on decentralized networks, they'd secure a place in computing history.

Open protocols (HTTP and email) have even greater network effects than closed solutions (Facebook). However, you still need a strong push in the beginning, which protocols don’t usually have the funding while VC burns $100 million in an initial push.

Unfortunately, it just doesn't seem to be the kind of problem that capitalism is able to solve.

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