Molly White is a leading cryptocurrency critic, but get to know her and you’ll see she’s anything but cynical. In fact, this researcher, writer and software engineer cares so deeply about free and open access to high-quality information that she’s been a Wikipedia editor since she was a teenager.

Now Molly is the force behind the Citation Needed newsletter and the Web3IsGoingGreat site, and frequently speaks to journalists and makes media appearances. Despite tracking and writing about crypto’s shames, she is actually hopeful about how the internet is evolving in ways that are more open, collaborative, and in the user’s control.

In this interview, Molly shares her thoughts on how the social web is transforming our lives, why everyone should be a blogger, and how the concept of digital ownership is changing before our eyes. She also explains the POSSE model — Publish [on your] Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere — which has the potential to revolutionize how we share digital content and think about our online identities.

Highlights of this conversation include:

1:35 Why Molly is optimistic about the future of the web
4:11 What Molly is optimistic about
7:30 Importance of “social” as it relates to the web
11:12 “Everyone is a blogger”
14:45 POSSE — Post on Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere
18:41 ActivityPub
20:01 Wishlist for a better web
22:57 New framework for identity on the web
25:18 Digital ownership
26:20 Digital sovereignty
29:11 Ghost vs Substack
31:15 Enabling creators to build relationships that transcend platforms
33:55 Business models and public funding
39:20 Wikipedia model
41:48 Exciting projects on the horizon for creators; imperativeness of being user friendly
44:20 A formative time of innovation

🔎 You can find everything Molly’s posting via the POSSE implementation on her website at https://www.mollywhite.net/feed. She’s also on Mastodon at @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io.

✚ You can connect with Mike McCue on Mastodon at @mike@flipboard.social or via his Flipboard federated account, where you can see what he’s curating on Flipboard in the Fediverse, at @mike@flipboard.com

💡 To learn more about what Flipboard's doing in the Fediverse, sign up here: http://about.flipboard.com/a-new-wave

💰 Mastodon is a non-profit that runs on donations from the community. You can help Mastodon succeed by supporting the organization via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mastodon