The roadbeat Manifesto
The Internet We Deserve
The promise of the internet was connection, knowledge, and empowerment. Social media was supposed to democratize publishing. Instead, we got:
- Addiction engines that optimize for time-on-screen, not human flourishing
- Surveillance capitalism that turns every click into a data point for sale
- Algorithmic amplification of outrage, conspiracy, and division
- Platform dependency where creators build audiences on rented land
- Cultural homogenization where a Silicon Valley algorithm decides what 731 million Europeans see
The European response so far - the Digital Services Act, the Digital Markets Act, the GDPR, the AI Act - is necessary but insufficient. Regulation constrains bad behavior. It doesn't create good alternatives.
We Need to Build, Not Just Regulate
roadbeat is that alternative. Not a clone. Not a patch. A structural rethinking of how content is created, discovered, and consumed.
Our Five Commitments
1.Content should serve the user's intentions, not the platform's engagement metrics.
We replace algorithmic feeds with goal-driven discovery. Users define what they want. The platform delivers it. Every item explains why it was shown.
2.Content deserves structure.
A job offer is not a "post." An event is not a "post." A recipe is not a "post." 100+ purpose-built content types with rich metadata schemas make real discovery possible - without algorithms.
3.Infrastructure should be distributed.
No single company should control the network. Publishers host their own content. Discovery is distributed across independent nodes. The Schema Registry is governed by a German e.V., not a corporation.
4.Privacy is architecture, not policy.
We don't track users and then write a privacy policy about it. We design systems that can't track users in the first place. Social graphs are stored client-side. There is no behavioral profiling. There are no ads.
5.Open source is non-negotiable.
The core platform is AGPL 3.0. Content type schemas are Apache 2.0. Documentation is CC BY 4.0. Anyone can run a node, fork the code, or propose a content type. Sustainability comes from Pro licenses and managed hosting - not from locking users in.
A Call to Action
To publishers: Publish structured content to a network that respects your work and connects you with audiences who actually want it. Self-host your CMS. Own your data.
To users: Define your goals. Take back control of what you see. Choose transparency over manipulation.
To developers: Run a node. Build a gateway. Contribute a content type. The code is open.
To policymakers: Support infrastructure alternatives, not just regulation. Fund European open-source social platforms. Incentivize self-hosting and data sovereignty.
To the Fediverse community: We share your values of decentralization and user control. We go further by structuring content so discovery doesn't require algorithms at all. Let's collaborate.
To everyone: Share this manifesto. Talk about roadbeat. Invite us to speak. Star us on GitHub. The network grows when you help build it.
roadbeat - Stop posting. Start publishing.
roadbeat.net · github.com/roadbeat · Munich, Germany