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The #OMN Framework: The Five Functions (#5F)
The Open Media Network (#OMN) is not a platform. It’s a human-scale, federated media infrastructure built on #FOSS practices and the #4opens:
- open data
- open source
- open process
- open standards
It doesn’t start with features, apps, or ideology, it starts with flows.
Think in Flows, Not Platforms
Imagine the network as:
pipes and holding tanks
Content (objects) flows through them. Communities decide how that flow is shaped.
Nothing magical. Nothing hidden.
This matters because:
If people can’t picture how a system works, they can’t govern it. And when systems become opaque, power centralises.
So #OMN reduces everything to five simple functions:
1. Publish
(Add a drop to the flow)
Publishing is simply adding an object:
- a story
- a post
- media
- data
to a stream.
- No automatic amplification
- No built-in authority
- No algorithmic boost
Publication is contribution, not domination.
2. Subscribe
(Connect the pipes)
Subscription is how flows connect:
- people
- groups
- topics
- instances
This replaces:
- platform logic → “you are inside us” with
- network logic → “this connects to that”
No opaque ranking, you decide which pipes you connect.
3. Moderate
(Filter and route the flow)
Moderation is not censorship. It’s sieving.
Flows can:
- pass through
- be filtered
- be slowed or prioritised
- be contextualised
Trust is:
- local
- visible
- reversible
Different communities can apply different filters to the same flow.
This is a feature, not a bug.
4. Rollback
(Drain and reset the flow)
Rollback is how systems recover:
- remove past content from your stream
- undo aggregation decisions
- correct mistakes
- respond to abuse
Without rollback:
- errors become power struggles
With rollback:
accountability becomes procedural, not punitive.
5. Edit Metadata
(Shape meaning downstream)
Content is not rewritten - it is contextualised.
Metadata can include:
- tags
- summaries
- trust signals
- warnings
- translations
- relationships
This is where meaning is created.
Not by algorithms, but by people.
The Holding Tank
Underneath it all is:
a simple storage layer
- a database
- stored objects
- moving through flows
No “AI brain” or hidden feed logic, just data shaped by social processes.
Why This Matters
Most current systems bundle everything together:
- identity
- publishing
- distribution
- moderation
- monetisation
This creates centralised control, even when systems claim to be “open”.
#OMN does the opposite:
It separates the core functions.
This makes the system:
- understandable
- auditable
- forkable
- governable
#NothingNew by Design
This model isn’t new, it mirrors systems we already understand:
- plumbing
- electrical grids
- packet-switched networks
- version control
That’s intentional.
Systems people understand are systems people can govern.
From Platforms to Commons
The #5F is the smallest possible set of actions needed to run a media network:
- Publish
- Subscribe
- Moderate
- Rollback
- Edit
Everything else:
- feeds
- timelines
- notifications
- UI/UX
…is just interface, nice to have but not essential.
The Point
#OMN is not about building a better platform.
It’s about building:
infrastructure for a democratic digital commons
Simple flows. Social mediation. Human control.
Not control systems, but trust systems.
In One Line
#OMN is plumbing for the #openweb. #KISS