Ben Werdmuller

@jskstanford.bsky.social fellow at Stanford. Ex: @propublica.org, @19thnews.org, @medium.com, Matter, Elgg.

I write about tech / media / society at werd.io.

🌉 bridged from 🦋 werd.io, follow @bsky.brid.gy to interact

Public Key

npub1wnqqfngvdffkgxupe9nllaw4v9hg023dyp3qs38n9404g4k99x9shj8a65

NIP-05 Address

werd.io@bsky-brid-gy.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs8fsqye5xx55myrwqujell7h2kzm584gkjqcsggnej6h652mzjnzcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsx986t4

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1wnqqfngvdffkgxupe9nllaw4v9hg023dyp3qs38n9404g4k99x9shj8a65

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Last Notes

2026-10-26 18:47:52 UTC

Holy wow. 25% of Microsoft. www.theverge.com/tech/1018666...
Microsoft offers buyouts to 60...

2026-10-21 17:20:19 UTC

This PHP exploit is an example of how and why most people should not be administering their own server, and I specifically do not want to be. (I do run a server and have patched it.) Applying patches and watching security advisories is just not what I want to be doing with my days.

2026-10-12 05:57:15 UTC

"I want to go back to the network run for the benefit of the man directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, because that's where the good AI posts are," say nation's oblivious bloggers

2026-07-13 20:05:42 UTC

Did a thing and my Ghost site is now integrated with @standard.site@bsky.brid.gy, entirely using Cloudflare workers and Ghost webhooks (with zero modifications to Ghost code). I'll be backfilling, but new posts are saved to my PDS completely automatically. werd.io/climate-gov-...
Climate.gov was destroyed. Ope...

2026-06-11 23:58:52 UTC

"We’re publishing this blog post to explain our decision to refer to Delaney Hall as a “concentration camp” and clarify the term’s meaning." This is incredibly important. jerseybee.org/2026/06/11/w...
Why we’re calling Delaney Hall...

2026-05-27 15:24:12 UTC

Whoa. support.last.fm/t/last-fm-is...
Last.fm is now independent

2026-05-05 13:03:32 UTC

This is extremely cool to see: a media network that is also a social network, all built on the fediverse.
#nevent1q…4dy3

2026-04-17 13:43:38 UTC

Newsrooms should not block the Internet Archive. Any public service publisher should not block the Internet Archive. If anything, we should all be directly supporting the Internet Archive.

2026-04-15 12:49:45 UTC

I wrote a piece explaining why open protocols are even more important in a world where everyone can build their own software - and what that might mean for social. werd.io/one-size-fit...
One size fits none: let commun...

2026-03-21 21:35:08 UTC

"Teams from Google and leading universities found that large-language models change the voice, tone and intended meaning of human authors." werd.io/ai-is-changi...
AI is changing the style and s...

2026-02-28 20:55:11 UTC

More people live in Tehran than New York City. It’s a bustling metropolis. The people who live there have a thriving culture despite their own government and the machinations of ours. They do not deserve to be bombed by us.

2026-01-26 13:53:45 UTC

There's a common thread disparaging people who might move away in this moment. All I'll say is that many of the wave of immigrants who came to the US 80+ years ago are also people who moved away. People get to do what's right for them to keep their children safe.

2026-01-24 21:44:30 UTC

I mean
https://inkcap.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:77tdak46psveqneyegsdyc7l&cid=bafkreihkmtvvqtyev2wr6e6uobhoxclujnbtbslh43qiypvt3wqtebwqeu

2025-11-24 23:09:05 UTC

These Mamdani transition committees are seriously impressive. Hiring @ruha9.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy for the technology committee is very smart. And so many more. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani...

2025-11-18 23:52:29 UTC

Just published a deep look at where open social networks stand in 2025: Mastodon’s leadership change, Bluesky’s trajectory, AT Protocol, ActivityPub, cross-network tools, and more. For newsrooms and public service orgs, this moment really matters. werd.io/the-state-of...
The State of the Open Social W...

2025-10-01 17:00:09 UTC

What if we built a LiveJournal-like system on ATproto?
Long-form posts but in a feed, based on who you were connected to. Picking up the ball from Leaflet and similar tools but riding on the Bluesky social graph and resting heavily on updates from your friends. Throw in RSS for good measure.

2025-06-12 03:37:29 UTC

I think this keynote from the Elgg conference in 2008 is still (fairly) relevant today. werd.io/the-internet... #fediverse #socialmedia
The Internet is People

2025-06-03 02:01:10 UTC

That's what I get for making a proprietary browser a core part of my workflow. Arc is brilliant and I truly love using it - but it's also a dead end. Back to Firefox I (very reluctantly) go. I hope they adopt some of its UX. #Technology browsercompany.substack.com/p/letter-to-...
Letter to Arc members 2025

2025-05-27 13:56:43 UTC

A lovely reflection on 12 years of Ghost, the non-profit, open source publishing platform that powers independent publishers and allows them to make a living on their own terms: #Technology john.onolan.org/12/
12 years of Ghost

2025-05-26 19:25:40 UTC

Christ. Just came downstairs to find my dad watching an entirely AI-generated YouTube video about an event that didn't happen involving the Pope. Had to convince him the whole think was fake. "How can you tell?" he asked. He has five degrees including a PhD.

2025-05-26 13:10:43 UTC

Still baffling to me how people asking for basic human rights and civil liberties are painted as far left. They’re normal asks and enjoyed in many other countries. The rhetoric is just designed to stop the conversation; it’s not a serious discussion.

2025-05-08 15:57:52 UTC

I’ve written before about what I’d do if I ran Bluesky or Mastodon. But what if I started from scratch? What would it look like to build a new open social platform - one that's private-by-default, human-centered, and sustainable from day one?
Here’s the blueprint I’d follow: werd.io/2025/if-i-st...
If I started fresh

2025-04-25 13:31:52 UTC

This is actually really cool, and if it had 2X the range I would absolutely buy one. I really like the approach. #Technology www.theverge.com/electric-car...
Slate Truck is a $20,000 Ameri...

2025-04-22 13:52:05 UTC

This is obvious, but if people broadly rely on a black box to give them answers that help them understand the world, whoever controls the black box controls those answers and therefore the understanding that comes from them.
Openness is safety.

2025-04-18 18:59:35 UTC

Mastodon is a revolution in people-powered social networking. But it needs help to push it past its early adopter community. In the spirit of my previous piece about Bluesky, here's what I would do if I ran the project: werd.io/2025/if-i-ra...
If I ran Mastodon

2025-04-16 15:39:12 UTC

Bluesky’s trying something no one’s pulled off before: building a protocol and a business model around openness. They’re hiring a Head of Product. I’m not applying - but here’s how I’d approach it. werd.io/2025/if-i-ra...
If I ran Bluesky Product

2025-03-26 12:57:00 UTC

"In recounting events, the author glosses over her own indifference to repeated warnings from policymakers, civil society, and internal teams outside the U.S. that ultimately led to serious harm to communities." #Technology
Careless People: Facebook insi...

2025-03-18 13:38:52 UTC

Wired is going to stop paywalling articles that are primarily based on public records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. #Media
Wired is dropping paywalls for...

2025-03-17 14:10:08 UTC

"Several major European tech companies are pushing for greater action from the European Union to reduce the bloc’s reliance on foreign-owned infrastructure by buying and building locally." #Technology
EU tech companies push for dig...

2025-03-16 23:03:16 UTC

This is absurdly great, but I haven't read a single news article about it. A fully open source, offline-first alternative to Notion that's a collab between the French and German governments because they want to host docs securely and on their own terms. THIS is what Europe should be doing.
Docs

2025-03-09 21:45:49 UTC

"In tumultuous times, we believe in being prepared, not scared." These security tips are designed for journalists but are good ideas for everyone. #Technology
The 2025 journalist’s digital ...

2025-03-09 17:43:33 UTC

"As an engineering leader, you should be constantly working to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete one cycle of a feedback loop." This is good, actionable advice. #Technology
Feedback loops | Joe Woods

2025-02-16 17:54:25 UTC

"Unfortunately for American tech workers, the layoff train isn't slowing down." It used to be easy to find a job in tech. Not anymore: #Technology
Silicon Valley Software Engine...

2025-02-16 13:53:05 UTC

"Being “in tech” in 2025 is depressing, and if I’m going to stick around, I need to remember why I’m here." Every word of this resonated for me. #Technology
Tech continues to be political

2025-02-11 20:49:02 UTC

"Automattic confirmed to TechCrunch that when the migration is complete, every Tumblr user will be able to federate their blog via ActivityPub." I didn't realize this was still happening! #Fediverse
Tumblr to join the fediverse a...

2025-02-03 21:47:46 UTC

"That Elon Musk and his minions have managed to walk right into government offices to take over computer systems where they had no legitimate authorization or entitlement needs to be understood as a cyberattack by a rogue actor." #Democracy https://www.techdirt.com/2025/02/03/musks-takeover-of-the-…
Musk’s Takeover Of The Governm...

2025-01-19 15:38:06 UTC

"Donald Trump directly threatened to throw Zuck in prison for the rest of his life. Brendan Carr threatened Meta that if it kept on fact-checking stories, he would try to remove Meta’s Section 230 protections." Then Zuckerberg ended all fact-checking on Meta. #Technology https://www.techdirt.com/20…
Rogan Misses The Mark: How Zuc...

2025-01-19 04:20:34 UTC

"I would say that AI is going to be the biggest privacy story of the decade. Not only will we soon be doing more of our compute off-device, but we’ll be sending a lot more of our private data." #AI
Let’s talk about AI and end-to...

2025-01-16 15:07:46 UTC

Not just obeying in advance but actively collaborating: #Technology
Meta Is Laying the Narrative G...

2025-01-14 20:49:19 UTC

"I have fired Meta as a client. While I think they are on the right side in the generative AI copyright dispute in which I represented them, and I hope they win, I cannot in good conscience serve as their lawyer any longer." #Technology https://www.linkedin.com/posts/marklemley_i-have-struggled-wit…
Mark Lemley on LinkedIn: I hav...

2025-01-11 14:53:07 UTC

Zuckerberg is so done with politics that he's completely bending over backwards to dog-whistle Trump in every possible way. I hope he did his stretches. #Technology
The Good, The Bad, And The Stu...

2025-01-11 14:33:16 UTC

"Members of the fledgling WordPress Sustainability Team have been left reeling after WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg abruptly dissolved the team this week." Also: Automattic has stopped sponsored contributions to WordPress?! #Technology https://www.therepository.email/mullenweg-shuts-down-wordp…
Mullenweg Shuts Down WordPress...

2024-12-31 15:02:03 UTC

I like Ryan's take on tech pace layers quite a bit: #Technology
Tech pace layers | snarfed.org

2024-12-30 22:52:02 UTC

"The VW Group stored sensitive information for 800,000 electric vehicles from various brands on a poorly secured and misconfigured Amazon cloud storage system" including highly-specific location data. #Technology https://www.carscoops.com/2024/12/vw-group-data-breach-exposed-location-info-for-80000…
Massive VW Data Leak Exposed 8...

2024-12-27 14:31:52 UTC

OpenAI is restructuring its for-profit as a Public Benefit Corporation, which can have social values enshrined alongside shareholder interests - and it appears that it's doing this, in part, to reach more investors and raise yet more money. #AI https://openai.com/index/why-our-structure-must-evolve…
openai.com/index/why-our-...