Jack Dorsey's Decentralization and Social Media Evolution

It’s a fascinating (and complicated) development, and one that will be worth following in the years ahead as Dorsey continues to try and transition to the role of CEO – and as Twitter itself tries to stay afloat.

Few stories are more interesting than that of Jack Dorsey, one of the co-founders of the original (Twitter/X), as he navigates the machinations of his web of companies, protocols and investments in the ongoing battle to decipher the future of connecting online. Dorsey’s recent departure from the board of directors at his company Bluesky, and equally significant financial gesture to a competitor project, signals some important blindspots and backroom brawls in the wake of the march for decentralisation and user sovereignty in cyberspace.

THE DEPARTURE: A CHANGE IN STATUS

Then, Dorsey quietly left Bluesky in February. (‘Nope, not on the board.’ That was his terse reply on his Twitter/X account to an enquiry about his board position. ‘No elaboration.’) But the bare fact did not deter the speculation and rumour mill in the online world. Not long after, Bluesky confirmed that Dorsey, a crypto enthusiast, had left and was looking for a new board member to help it deliver on its ‘vision of a better, more transparent internet founded on principles of user governance’.

THE INVESTMENT: FORGING A NEW PATH

Even as Dorsey’s platform exodus storyline was playing out, work started on another narrative of him: when his #startsmall philanthropic fund donated $5 million to the decentralised social media network protocol Nostr, part of a $21 million capital allocation to OpenStats, an organisation that funds Bitcoin-related open-source projects, his intentions became clear: this was Dorsey doubling down on his commitment to technology that fosters decentralisation and user rights. The storyline has since solidified: as Dorsey completed his exit from Twitter, his latest investment – in BitClout, a slightly twisted, UTO-fuelled social network – indicated another version of where he wants social interactivity to go.

THE UNDERLYING MOTIVE: A QUEST FOR FREEDOM

Dorsey’s moves – his quiet, low-drama board exit, the deletion of his personal Bluesky account, and his myopic social media activity – all seem to be pointed toward a theme of freedom from corporate bondage. His Twitter/X following list, now highlighting only Musk, Snowden and Assange, and accompanied by that same melancholy manifesto of self-sufficiency over corporate reliance, suggests that a philosophy more than a chess move is at play here.

THE DECENTRALIZATION DREAM: A LEGACY UNFOLDING

Born at Twitter/X while Dorsey was still at the helm of the company, but spun out as a standalone project after he stepped down, Bluesky was intended as a demonstration of what a decentralised social network could look like. But Dorsey’s dreams seem undiminished now that he’s gone: instead, much of what he’d once put into Twitter goes into Nostr. He clearly believes that social networks need a paradigm shift, one in which they are used by users rather than used up by users.

REFLECTIONS ON STATUS: THE CRUX OF CHANGE

So thinking of Dorsey’s arc, ‘status’ becomes something of a catch-all metaphor for what’s going on at the highest levels of social media now, encompassing: board status; social status; status as a decentralisation push. These layers together create a picture of change. Dorsey’s is a tale of the endless search for freedom of movement, for fairness, and for ingenuity in a digital world.

UNLOCKING POTENTIAL: A CLOSER LOOK AT STATUS

Status both as a word and a theme runs through all of this, as a device for change. As Dorsey descends from his Bluesky period in Apple, his language and investments point to a global retune in status, from centre – top to edges – sideways. It’s a very personal fable, but it’s also a case study in the wider narrative on how digital platforms were built and how they might yet be built differently, and better, to enable people to form communities among themselves.

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Tracing the new codes of conduct around the status quo being developed by technicians such as Dorsey in the social and technological spheres can sometimes feel like untangling the mechanics of a Rube Goldberg machine. But at the core of this story is a very basic, and important endeavour: the attempt to recalibrate ‘status’ from the status quo, and forge the way forward through the digital age towards empowerment, decentralisation and sustainable innovation.