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The Post-Web Nexus is an emerging research-oriented movement that prioritizes local-first, peer-to-peer, private, resilient, and interoperable networks for the future of internet connectivity. This ecosystem-agnostic endeavor will take the form of a decentralized systems engineering experiment, drawing upon open knowledge and community-driven research as the core of its sensemaking process. The Six Principles of the Post-Web have been identified to guide this research and provide a framework for analyzing projects and protocols. Read more in our article.
In 2023, three events related to the Post-Web were organized with various organizations and communities, including Black Sky Society, Anoma, Namada, Knowable, Internet Alliance, Laconic, Radicle, Ocelot, Metacartel, EF's Privacy & Scaling, Public Works, and more. These events were Autonomous Ecologies #1 (AE1) in Denver in March, AE2 in Paris in July, and Ephemeral #1 in Istanbul in November. At Ephemeral, a paper version of Post-Web Zine Vol. 1 was distributed.
After these efforts, it became obvious that people were finding resonance with the concept of the Post-Web, and felt as if something principled like it was missing. They appreciated that it was bringing issues like digital privacy and local-first technologies to the forefront. While the Post-Web has been operating more like an underground project, facilitated by Black Sky Society, it is now breaking free to form an independent Post-Web Alliance. This Alliance is seeking donations and grants from both individual and organizations, to help formally activate the creation of the research & knowledge commons for the Post-Web initiative. We aspire to meet the Primary Goals outlined in the next section no later than May 2025, assuming we can raise a total of $250-300K by the end of August 2024.
We plan to have one-on-one meetings with potential Post-Web Alliance members who are organizations, to ensure alignment of mission and values. Note that the Post-Web Alliance will initially be focused on editorial and research aspects of the Post-Web. If there is interest, an event like a Post-Web Summit can be organized and is up for discussion.
Black Sky Society will continue to remain stewards of Autonomous Ecologies and Ephemeral events. For details on how to get involved, review Black Sky Society's draft Keystone membership document.
For samples of past writing & research work from Post-Web Alliance core contributors, check out these Penumbra and Anoma reports. We believe these can be better though, and plan to apply a refined analysis framework that will fit within our research index for the Post-Web. Additionally, check out Black Sky Nexus Issue 1.
These questions are not comprehensive. We plan to refine them before starting our research.
These questions are not comprehensive. We plan to refine them before starting our research.
These questions are not comprehensive. We plan to refine them before starting our research.
We aim to complete the primary goals in about 9 months from when we conclude our grants search. Our total fundraising target is $300,000, so we can have some more buffer/wiggle room to move on to our stretch goals. Throughout these milestones we plan on organizing regular community discussions and calls.
Milestone 1: (3 months) Formalize dimensions of analysi for both privacy protocols and local-first p2p projects, 2-3 research reports, finish post-web vol 1.1.
Milestone 2: (3 months) Formalize how the Post-Web alliance works, Start Post-web vol 2. print. Create Post-web research portal (prototype), 2-3 research reports.
Milestone 3: (3 months) Finalize Post-Web zine vol 2. Fianlize Post-web research portal, with 4+ more research reports -- time/budget permitting.
| Roles | Estimated Hours | Hourly Rate | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| General - Project admin, ops & community | 320 | $40-80/hr | $19,200 |
| General - Design & creative | 300 | $60-100/hr | $24,000 |
| 8-12 research reports | 100 each | $70-$100/hr | $70,000-$110,000 |
| Post-Web Zine Vol 1.1 & 2: Writing Stipends | $500-1,000 each | $5,000 | |
| Post-Web Zine Vol 1.1 & 2: Editors | 80 | $80 | $6,400 |
| Post-Web Zine Vol 2.: design, media, copyediting, social | 120 | $60 | $7,200 |
| Post-Web Zine Vol 1.1 & Vol 2.: print (3000 copies) | $5,000 | ||
| Post-Web Nexus: Research portal (dev) | 100 | $80 | $8,000 |
| Post-Web Nexus: Research portal (design) | 60 | $80 | $4,800 |
| Post-Web Nexus: governance development for open research | 80 | $80 | $6,400 |
| Post-Web: non-profit, legal & accounting (estimated) | $14,000 | ||
| Buffer for unforeseen costs & creativity | $30,000 | ||
| Total | $250,000-$300,000 |
Within the research report budget, funding will be allocated for third-party peer review, to ensure that the reports are not biased, especially in the cases of writing reports on a protocol who may also be funding these efforts.
Stella R. Magnet is an instigator of Autonomous Ecologies and founder of Black Sky Society. Her self-guided and experiential research over the last seven years has centered on cryptoeconomic network design related to large-scale cooperation networks. In this time, she has creatively contributed insights related to governance, mechanism design, product, and community to over eight different Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) or open-source projects. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley (2008) and an Astronautical Engineering Certificate from UCLA Extension (2016).
TG x Thoth has been working on distributed systems and P2P protocol design for the last decade, with a focus on privacy, security, scalability, resiliency and sovereignty. Recently he has been working on the LoFiRe protocol suite, which enables privacy-preserving, end-to-end encrypted local-first collaboration, and currently working on P2P protocol research for Anoma. Previously he has worked on P2P protocols for GNUnet. TG has been contributing to various open source software projects, such as the Nix package manager, and holds a Master’s degree in Systems and Network Engineering.
Sarah Grant is an American media artist, software engineer, and educator based in Berlin. Her practice engages with the electromagnetic spectrum and telecommunication networks as artistic material, social habitat, and political landscape. With a focus on radioart and computer networking, she researches and develops artworks as educational tools and workshops that demystify computer networking and radio technology. She also organizes Radical Networks, a conference that promotes artistic, grassroots activist, and experimental work in telecommunications. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Fine Art from UC Davis and a Masters of Professional Studies in Media Arts from New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program.
Giulio Prisco worked as a scientist in European research centers including CERN, then as a space system analyst at the European Space Agency. In 2005, Giulio left the public sector and founded a virtual reality development and consulting company, which he ran until 2011. More recently, he has been covering developments and trends in science and technology for the specialized press such as Vice and Bitcoin Magazine.
Monikka has spent the last 10 years in the tech industry specializing in architecture and back-end development of control systems, primarily in the energy industry. She wrote real-time optimization logic for smart batteries, developed a control system prototype for power plants, and programmed AV control systems at Apple for every retail store in the world. Monikka is currently on the board of Techtonica, a non-profit that teaches tech skills to women and non-binary adults seeking economic empowerment.
Wadada is a graphic designer and digital artist with a degree in economics. For many years he has been closely associated with the blockchain culture and the digital economy. In his works, he tries to draw attention to transformations in society and the world economy, mixing philosophical postulates there. From an early age he studied Chinese and Japanese culture, which is reflected in his works. Wadada develops and establishes a direction in digital art - crypto-dadaism. He tries to create art that has not only aesthetic properties, but also draws attention to the problems of society’s subconscious.
Loie is head of the ragequit prevention department, aka people ops in crypto orgs. With a history in activist movements & restorative justice, she has a knack for workplaces that are non-legal entities, steeped in open source culture, staffed by pseudonymous workers, and free of hierarchy. These human patterns help us usher in the next generations of the web. So Loie helps to gather, develop, and facilitate the teams carrying this movement. She is also an herbalist, TJ (tea jockey at Black Sky parties) and an offline comms fan.
Shane McCauley has been involved in art and publishing for over 30 years. The architect and author of three published books, he has also been a frequent contributor to dozens of magazines around the world. Shane is a multi disciplinary artist whose mediums include photography, film, writing, music and interactive exhibits.