We’re pretty good at picking weeds, but adding things that are helpful (official info, context, outside perspectives) are really hard to do. Traditional platforms make these decisions on their own, but those can be hit or miss. But I’m really curious if Bluesky can help solve this problem.

To really stretch the metaphor, think about Bluesky’s butterfly. The users of the app are like the butterfly, pollinating the seeds of content across the social internet. To keep things from going out of control, someone needs to both pick weeds and add nutrients.

This is sort of the opposite of content moderation, but both things need to happen. There’s harmful content that naturally spreads if unchecked and helpful content that doesn’t unless it’s helped along. Basically, is there a way to make the social internet a curated garden?

I’ve wanted something like a Whitepages (☎️ 👴) for the internet. Could something like this happen on decentralized platforms? Could official info be its own layer, so it’s there when people need it?

But that doesn’t solve the distribution problem. I wonder if there’s a way for Bluesky’s architecture to help boost content that comes from official sources, but without doing so in a way that stifles free speech or artificially boosts propaganda

I think a lot about how to get good information to people who don’t know they need it. One way I’ve been thinking about relates to AI - rather than watermarking AI, we should be authenticating official information (or maybe both) 2/

Idaha! Ho! Let’s go!

It does! And yet it appears to not exist. Although Pennsylvaniar (Pirate Pennsylvania? 🏴‍☠️) does in this universe:

I did appreciate that it highlighted exactly where the R is in South Dakorta 😆

From our perspective at the end of a major election year, I’d say the Australian ballot certainly qualifies as iconic

The lack of a secret ballot may have also led to the death of Edgar Allen Poe - from the Wikipedia page on the Death of Edgar Allen Poe: