{"id":443,"date":"2018-05-30T15:47:46","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T20:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/2018-chicago.publishers.wordcamp.org\/?post_type=wcb_session&#038;p=443"},"modified":"2018-08-24T10:03:18","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T15:03:18","slug":"taking-what-back-and-from-whom-imagined-communities-and-the-role-of-wordpress-in-the-future-of-the-open-web","status":"publish","type":"wcb_session","link":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/session\/taking-what-back-and-from-whom-imagined-communities-and-the-role-of-wordpress-in-the-future-of-the-open-web\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking What Back, and from Whom?: Imagined Communities and the Role of WordPress in the Future of the Open Web"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"VideoPress Video Player\" aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='525' height='295' src='https:\/\/video.wordpress.com\/embed\/HXHeOY6q?hd=1&amp;cover=1' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen allow='clipboard-write'><\/iframe><script src='https:\/\/v0.wordpress.com\/js\/next\/videopress-iframe.js?m=1674852142'><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTaking Back The Open Web\u201d is a bold theme, but every word in that sentence requires some significant unpacking if we\u2019re to agree on a path forward. From whom is the open web being taken back? Who took it from us in the first place? What do we mean by open, and do we really mean \u201cweb\u201d here?<\/p>\n<p>Dries\u2019s version of the open web (to which the CFP linked) is a vaguely defined point in the recent past where \u201cthe web felt like a free space that belong to everyone.\u201d Anil Dash\u2019s version, which he calls \u201cThe Web We Lost\u201d posits a time when the web was about \u201cletting lots of people build innovative new opportunities for themselves\u201d which has been replaced by a system which \u201ccontinues to make a small number of wealthy people even more wealthy\u201d via \u201cnarrow-minded, web-hostile products.\u201d The call for papers for this conference, with a focus on publishers, points to \u201cstress\u201d caused by \u201cproprietary formats which enforce limits and restraints.\u201d There\u2019s even an Open Web Foundation (founded in 2004) dedicated to \u201copen, non-proprietary specifications for web technologies,\u201d to which primary subscribers are Facebook, Google, and Microsoft.<\/p>\n<p>Is the conflict between the open web and the (presumably) closed web which opposes it, really about formats? Is it about access and distribution? Is it about a small number of powerful corporate overlords versus inspired, creative small business entrepreneurs?<\/p>\n<p>In this talk I\u2019ll lay out a couple of different ways of thinking about the \u201copen web\u201d we\u2019re after, what each of those visions postulates as the problem, and what solutions emerge from that set of problems. I\u2019ll conclude with some of my own take on how WordPress as itself an \u201cimagined community\u201d (cf. Benedict Anderson\u2019s 1983 book) can and should contribute to shaping the future of the web. (Hint: It&#8217;s about democratizing publishing through open source AND community).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cTaking Back The Open Web\u201d is a bold theme, but every word in that sentence requires some significant unpacking if we\u2019re to agree on a path forward. From whom is the open web being taken back? Who took it from us in the first place? What do we mean by open, and do we really &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/session\/taking-what-back-and-from-whom-imagined-communities-and-the-role-of-wordpress-in-the-future-of-the-open-web\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Taking What Back, and from Whom?: Imagined Communities and the Role of WordPress in the Future of the Open Web&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258633,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wcpt_session_time":1533744900,"_wcpt_session_duration":3000,"_wcpt_session_type":"session","_wcpt_session_slides":"","_wcpt_session_video":"","_wcpt_speaker_id":[442],"footnotes":""},"session_track":[167683,12343],"session_category":[],"class_list":["post-443","wcb_session","type-wcb_session","status-publish","hentry","wcb_track-presentation","wcb_track-workshop"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9KLAS-79","session_date_time":{"date":"August 8, 2018","time":"11:15 am"},"session_speakers":[{"id":"442","slug":"john-eckman","name":"John Eckman","link":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/speaker\/john-eckman\/"}],"session_cats_rendered":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wcb_session"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1348,"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sessions\/443\/revisions\/1348"}],"speakers":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speakers\/442"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wporg\/v1\/users\/johneckman"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wcb_track","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/session_track?post=443"},{"taxonomy":"wcb_session_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/publishers.wordcamp.org\/2018-chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/session_category?post=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}