A European platform

Sunday, December 15, 2019.

I read about Johannes Hillje who works for the idea of a “European platform”. He writes that “the European Union lacks a central piece for reaching our goal of a living democracy: a European public space.” He develops a visionary plan for an altruistic digital social network financed by public money. News, entertainment, services, education, citizen projects and direct exchanges between humans within Europe. (johanneshillje.de)

My feedback to Johannes Hillje:

A platform that can be used only by European citizens will have no chance next to the existing proprietary world-wide platforms. We must understand that the mere using of the platform already increases its value. The users of a platform are the capital that makes up its value. And only the value of a software product will ensure its quality and long-term survival.

I recommend to add a contacts and calendar function. The world lacks an altruistic non-proprietary software system for sharing information about contacts, events, meetings and participants. A system that collaborates well with every technology, not only the technology owned by a given vendor.

When introducing such a platform to its future end users, it is important to make clear some fundamental differences with proprietary systems, and why they want to use it. Here are some spontaneous words.

This platform is made for you and with your money. It is financed basically from taxes of the member countries. It belongs to us all. You are free to use it.

About privacy. Keep in mind that this platform is a public space. It is made for exchanging. You want us to share your ideas with others. Your postings on the platform are like spoken words, you cannot unsay them once you said them. You cannot undo a public posting. You can, however, regret a posting and “revoke” it. This will hide it at least to normal users who choose to not see revoked postings.

You may send encrypted private messages to individual users. In that case your encrypting methods are responsible for keeping them private.

You want us to protect your author’s right. You want us to certify that it’s you who posted something at a given time. You are responsible for what you post here. You may work under a pseudonym if you prefer to not reveal your real identity to others. But keep in mind that we cannot protect your author’s rights if you don’t reveal your real identity.