I can't help but feel confused about what the W3C is for. Is it an organisation for all possible stakeholders? From governments to community groups so that everyone can come together to build a better web for everyone?
Or is it just for the likes of Google, Microsoft, Facebook etc?
Because as Dentangle points out the fees for business are huge. Unlike say OSI there are no individual memberships.
So again what is the purpose of the W3C, who does it serve?
We do need to ask these questions if we want to know why Mom and Pop stores just set up on Facebook or other hard to move from silos.
Where they pay for access to ad networks for the potential of impressions on the web via #DigitalPoppets
Why the ecosystem of web development firms point small business to integrate with #SurveillanceCapitalism to help small businesses have a Storefront on the web.
It's more than ease of set up. The web isn't really there to serve our communities.
I think we really know what the W3C is for.
I feel that despite the cool stuff like ActivityPub there's a lot to question and to ask for from the commons.
So we all need to think about, what do we want the web to be?
But if needs be we can leave the web behind. The internet after all is more than the web.
@onepict Like any committee, they can and will be steered.
@onepict To be fair, I am not being snarky. Might-is-right tends to prevail in these things; the companies that bring the money and therefore the staff just elbow their way into the policy decisions so what you get is a 'standards body' that's actually bought and paid for through corporate embrace.
@sullybiker we saw that with the multicast community working group.
@sullybiker but it's just people really, being driven by what they see as a need for their jobs.
So innovative discussion and thinking outside those use cases and from the wider community doesn't happen.
Which is a problem, although that's also across tech in general, not just the W3C.
@onepict *cough* REDHAT *cough*
@onepict "It is a strange coincidence that $POLICY aligns with the interests of $LARGEPROJECTSPONSOR"