Finding Each Other: Discovery Without Walled Gardens

The European Open Source Academy Magazine presents a comprehensive exploration of how open source innovation, policy, and community leadership are driving Europe’s digital sovereignty, resilience, and technological independence. This article was published in its first issue (January 2026 edition).

The Last Open Frontier: How Podcasting Preserved the Original Internet Spirit

In an era where algorithms determine what you see and whom you reach, podcasting stands as an unlikely rebel. While social media evolved into walled gardens, podcasting preserved the open, interoperable architecture of the early internet.

Podcasting's origins are distinctly European. French entrepreneur Tristan Louis proposed the concept in 2000, the first podcast appeared in 2003, and UK journalist Ben Hammersley coined the term "podcast" in 2004. Built on RSS and open standards—the radical idea that anyone can publish without platform permission—podcasting predates and thus escaped the social media platform trap.

The numbers are remarkable. As of 2025, approximately 4.5 million podcasts reach 584.1 million listeners globally—projected to hit 651.7 million by 2027. The industry is valued at nearly $40 billion, with podcast advertising expected to reach $4.46 billion in 2025. Yet this ecosystem operates without central authority, algorithmic interference, or platform gatekeepers.

This openness isn't nostalgic—it actively shapes how communities form and discover content differently than platform-controlled media allows.

RSS as the Great Equalizer: Infrastructure for Discovery Without Gatekeepers

At podcasting's heart lies RSS—Really Simple Syndication. While tech platforms spent billions on engagement algorithms, RSS enabled a different model: listeners choose what they want, creators reach audiences directly.

RSS is a standardized format allowing any podcast app to access any feed. Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or an independent app—you're not trapped. The same feed works everywhere. This interoperability is fundamental yet revolutionary compared to platforms where content, audience, and identity are locked to a single company.

There's no algorithm deciding whether episodes reach subscribers. No platform arbitrarily changing policies. No company deciding podcasting isn't profitable and shutting down the system.

This foundation evolves. In summer 2020, Adam Curry ("The Podfather") and Dave Jones launched Podcasting 2.0 to extend RSS while maintaining openness. The transcript tag exemplifies this: embedding transcripts directly in RSS feeds enhances accessibility for deaf/hard-of-hearing listeners, improves discoverability, and enables new navigation.

Open-source platforms adopted it immediately—Castopod implemented transcript support in November 2020. When Apple Podcasts adopted it in March 2024, small open-source teams had influenced the largest tech company. Innovation came from community, not corporate headquarters.

Europe's Vision: Funding an Alternative Digital Future

While the United States built its internet on data extraction and surveillance capitalism, Europe has quietly funded a different vision. Since 2020, the European Commission's Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative has invested over €500 million in 500+ projects building blocks of a human-centric, privacy-respecting internet. This continues podcasting's European roots—from Tristan Louis's 2000 concept to Ben Hammersley's 2004 naming, European thinking has shaped open internet architecture.

Through NGI Zero, managed by Dutch foundation NLnet, the EU systematically supports the Fediverse—interconnected platforms using open ActivityPub protocol where users on Mastodon follow and interact with PixelFed, PeerTube, or any other ActivityPub platform through one account.

European funding supports: Mastodon (end-to-end encryption, moderation), Pleroma (lightweight servers), PixelFed (privacy-focused photos), PeerTube (Framasoft's video platform with live streaming), Lemmy (federated Reddit alternative, funded June 2020), Mobilizon (event planning, launched October 2020), Funkwhale (music streaming), XWiki (federated wikis), Misskey (Japanese microblogging), GoToSocial (lightweight deployment), GNU social (pioneering federation). Beyond platforms: ActivityPub bridges to XMPP/Matrix, WordPress/Drupal plugins, mobile clients like PixelDroid, interoperability testing frameworks.

This isn't rhetoric—it's systematic infrastructure building operating on entirely different principles than Silicon Valley: no data harvesting, no algorithmic manipulation, no vendor lock-in.

Beyond Broadcasting: The Fediverse Brings Two-Way Conversation to Podcasting

The Fediverse represents open protocols' next evolution. With over 11 million users across thousands of independent servers, ActivityPub creates true interoperability: Mastodon users follow PeerTube channels, comment on PixelFed photos, join Lemmy discussions, RSVP to Mobilizon events, and interact with podcast episodes—all from one account.

This transforms one-way broadcasting into genuine community interaction. ActivityPub-enabled podcast platforms allow episodes to appear in Fediverse followers' timelines. Listeners comment, share, discuss—interactions flow back to podcasters without intermediary platforms controlling or monetizing conversation.

This differs fundamentally from Twitter or Instagram, where algorithms determine whether followers see announcements. On traditional platforms, audiences belong to the platform—rules change, reach is throttled, shutdowns happen. In the Fediverse, audiences follow directly via open protocols. Dislike your hosting provider? Move servers and keep your followers.

This architecture creates the conditions for genuine community formation rather than algorithmic engagement optimization. Without systems designed to maximize "time on platform" through controversy and outrage, conversations can form around shared interests, curiosity, and mutual respect.

Community-Centric vs. Platform-Centric: A Cultural Shift in Media

The technical architecture of open podcasting creates different cultural dynamics than platform-controlled media. Algorithms optimizing for "engagement" inevitably favor content triggering strong emotional responses—anger, fear, outrage. Communities forming around open protocols can develop their own norms based on shared values rather than platform metrics.
From my experience speaking at European conferences—FOSDEM, Open Source Conference Luxembourg, Journées du Logiciel Libre—I've observed how European digital sovereignty perspectives emphasize community autonomy and collective governance. These reflect fundamentally different assumptions about what the internet should be and whom it should serve.

Open infrastructure enables communities struggling on major platforms: niche interests, minority languages, accessibility features, local news, educational content. European funding for Fediverse platforms recognizes that healthy digital ecosystems require diversity, not just massive platforms optimized for data extraction.

When French municipalities deploy PeerTube for educational videos, when Polish towns replace YouTube with their own instances, when universities host Mastodon for academic discourse, when podcasters choose ActivityPub-enabled hosting—these are assertions of digital sovereignty and community autonomy. The European Commission operating its own Mastodon instances demonstrates that alternatives are viable even at governance's highest levels.

The Road Ahead: Can Open Protocols Compete with Platform Convenience?

The challenge facing open alternatives is real: competing with well-funded platforms spending billions on user experience and network effects. Mastodon's signup process has been criticized as confusing. Discovery mechanisms remain less sophisticated than algorithmic recommendations.
Yet opportunities are equally significant. Growing awareness of platform risks—privacy violations, algorithmic manipulation, arbitrary deplatforming, psychological toll of engagement-optimized feeds—drives users to alternatives. The Fediverse added over 2 million users following major platform controversies.

European NGI funding has proven remarkably efficient at supporting innovation across the entire spectrum, from experimental projects to established platforms. This diversity creates resilience—no single failure can collapse the ecosystem.

As more services adopt ActivityPub—Ghost, Tumblr, Threads, Flipboard, WordPress, Discourse—the open web strengthens. Each participant creates value for all without central permission. A PixelFed photographer, PeerTube video creator, WriteFreely blogger, Mobilizon event organizer, and ActivityPub-enabled podcaster all reach and interact with the same federated audience.

For podcasting, Fediverse integration opens new possibilities. Episodes become centers of cross-platform discussion. Comments from Mastodon, shares via Pleroma, discussions on Lemmy, video responses on PeerTube flow together around podcast content—rich community interaction with decentralized control. RSS that served podcasting for two decades now connects with social protocols designed for the internet we need.

Conclusion: Choosing Our Digital Future

The future of online community isn't predetermined. It depends on the choices we make—as individuals, communities, organizations, and societies—about which infrastructures we build, fund, and use.

In podcasting, we've seen that open architectures can not only survive but thrive for decades, creating vibrant ecosystems without centralized control. The question is whether we'll apply these lessons to the broader internet. Will we continue accepting that a handful of companies should control how we communicate, whom we reach, and what information we see? Or will we invest in alternatives that preserve the internet's original promise: a space for human connection, creativity, and community that serves people rather than exploiting them?

Europe's commitment to funding open source alternatives demonstrates that different futures are possible—and practical. The technologies exist. The communities are forming. The protocols work. What remains is choosing whether we want our digital public spaces to be shopping malls managed by corporations or commons maintained by communities.
Podcasting showed us the path. Now it's up to us to follow it.