Shaping the Future of Social Media with Middleware

"Middleware, third-party software intermediaries between users and platforms, has been broached as a means to decentralize the power of social media platforms and enhance user agency... widespread adoption of open middleware has long hinged on the cooperation of established major platforms; however... Mastodon and Bluesky, has led to increased offerings and user awareness.

In this report we consider the potential of middleware ... enabling greater user control over curation and moderation... evaluate the trade-offs and negative externalities ... discuss the technological, regulatory, and market dynamics that could either support or hinder its implementation."

The concept of middleware was highlighted in a 2020 paper from the Stanford Working Group on Platform Scale, which "concluded that the scale and concentrated power of current digital platforms cause ... economic harms... social and political harms... Moreover, [they have] few checks on their power".

Hence they defined middleware: “software and services that would add an editorial layer between the dominant internet platforms and consumers.... we focus on open, third-party middleware... act as delegated user agents, intermediate between users and platforms ... are accessible and adaptable... [for] content curation and moderation, middleware enables trusted consumer- or community-centric organizations to ... creating more tailored and meaningful interactions... might foster a more balanced and democratic digital environment more akin to a true public square... middleware [also] reduces platforms’ ability to selectively amplify or silence voices" - probably a better solution than "restrictive structural or content-based laws and regulations".

So it offers a lot, but there are challenges:

• middleware could "exacerbate polarization, facilitate harassment or persistent harmful content, entrench echo chambers, fragment norms, or undermine privacy.
• Technical Feasibility, particularly if it involves interoperating with existing platform architectures
• Sustainable business models which are not misaligned with users'/society's needs
• governance mechanisms are required "to ensure privacy, accountability, and alignment with societal values while fostering innovation"

The full paper is 50+pages long, so here's the final sentence: "That path forward will require a whole-of-society collaboration among technologists, policymakers, platforms, and users to ensure that middleware fulfills its potential to reshape social media—and thus public discourse—for the better."