June 23, 2024 [Matrix, Tech]
I am very happy to say that I was elected as a member of the Matrix Foundation Regulatory Board!
I was really surprised because there were many people who were standing, and the quality of the candidate was very high, but I was the lucky one. I hope I can do a decent job to help the foundation find his feet and bring the changes we want in modern communication. Thank you to everyone who chose me: I will do my best.
As I wrote in 2021, Matrix is our best bet to free ourselves from the Silo of a owner and aware of the potential for safe personal communication between individuals and organizations around the world.
You can read my previous post to see the platform I run: stand for the matrix regulator board.
Because I wrote that there are some very healthy discussions about the need for diversity in the matrix community, and have been involved in diversity advocacy in some workplaces I really want to do what I can in this matter in the matrix world. As an open standard, we have a number of main advantages compared to other platforms that can make our software and our community useful for various people.
The reason why the matrix can be better for diversity than a closed platform
- Various implementation – Because the matrix client can be implemented by anyone, the community can have control over their software to make it work for them. This means that clients are specific to people with different needs, and that also means experts can contribute to general clients to make them work better for more people. Our openness makes us stronger.
- Public accountability – As a community that works for everyone’s profit, we are responsible to everyone for our behavior. One of the jobs of the regulator is to ensure that the votes that are marginalized are heard. Our openness makes us stronger!
- Low cost – As an open source project, there should be no financial obstacles to enter anyone who wants to use a matrix or contribute to it. Although many companies that build matrices and build on the matrix for profit, one of the foundations (as I see) is to ensure we act as a truly open project, benefit from the perspective of the people whose votes are silenced in high-cost ecosystems. Our openness makes us stronger!
In addition, because some governments fund and use matrices, they often have strong provisions about accessibility: this can help with all implementers with high standards.
However, we have a number of significant problems.
The area where the matrix is lacking
- Low contributor diversity – Along with many open source communities, Matrix lost many people from its community. Many contributors, like me, have a very special background so it is difficult or impossible to serve the needs of people who are less represented. Unless we provide space and opportunities for people who have been marginalized to lead, we will fail, repeatedly, to fulfill our ambitions to become universal platforms.
- Security content and inappropriate – Many public matrix servers accidentally host illegal, offensive, and inappropriate content, and are not always a safe place for people of all ages. Although the safety team works hard (too little thank you!) Every day to deal with this, the tool to work in this field is very lacking, making work more difficult than it should, and the team is too small.
- Lack of funds – Foundations and companies that work in Matrix do not have enough money to deal with the above problems. We need more funds from donations, companies, and government to pay jobs with various contributions, safety equipment, and safety staff. So please donate to the foundation and persuade your organization to fund the matrix. How about paying an outreachy internship like the element in 2022?
Please do a comment below or contact me on the matrix (directly at @andybalaam: matrix.org or in public spaces such as #foundation-office: matrix.org) if you want to discuss more!