Jon Lebkowsky is a prominent figure in the realms of digital culture, activism, and technology. He is an internet pioneer and writer who has been actively involved in discussions around technology and society since the early days of the web. Jon co-founded the influential company FringeWare and its publication, FringeWare Review, which focused on cyberculture, fringe technology, and digital activism during the 1990s.
Jon’s writing and work has focused on computer-mediated communications, virtual communities, cyber liberties, and online social networks. He has been a writer, editor, publisher and digital culture maven. He also worked in various capacities as a project manager, systems analyst, technology director, and online community developer. He was president for many years of EFF-Austin and still serves on its Board of Directors. He’s a greybeard, a meditator, and wishes he could play the saxophone.
He is also known for for advocating the potential of the internet to foster positive social change, and still believes that’s possible despite the now-obvious contrary uses of the technology.
Jon has written extensively on topics like the digital divide, net neutrality, and the implications of emerging technologies. He has also been involved with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other organizations dedicated to defending digital rights.
He continues to be active in online communities, exploring the intersection of technology, culture, and social activism.
Jon is cofounder, co-host, editor and sometimes blogger at Plutopia News Network, which is a freewheeling independent media organization co-operated with cofounder Scoop Sweeney.
LinkTree | Mastodon | Tumblr | Facebook | LinkedIn | Wikipedia | Flickr | Bluesky
Other current projects…
- Cofounder of the Plutopia News Network. Cohost of Plutopia News Network Podcast, Radio Free Plutopia, and Plutopia Live.
- Cofounder, former President, and member of the Board of Directors of EFF-Austin, an organization that’s been supporting digital freedom in Texas since 1990. EFF-Austin was originally founded to become a chapter of the national Electronic Frontier Foundation, but when EFF decided not to have chapters, the already robust local organization continued as an ally of EFF, but with no formal connection.
- the WELL (as community host)
Past projects…
- FringeWare (as CEO and as publisher and sometimes editor of FringeWare Review)
- Whole Earth (as a writer, and as “Consciousness” subdomain editor for the Millennium Whole Earth Catalog)
- WorldChanging (as blogger and co-author of the Worldchanging Guide to the 21st Century)
- Viridian Design Movement (as website manager)
- Mondo 2000 (as a writer)
- Boing Boing (as writer and associate editor)
- Factsheet Five (as book review editor)
- the Austin Chronicle (as writer)
- Society of Participatory Medicine (as cofounder and former board member)
- Extreme Democracy (as co-editor)
- Wireless Future (as project manager)
- Digital Convergence Initiative (as former board member)
- Plutopia Productions (as cofounder and Chief Digital Officer)
- Polycot Consulting (as cofounder and CEO)
- Social Web Strategies (as cofounder and social media consultant)
There’s more information at Wikipedia.
“Folding the Fringes” – TeamHuman conversation with Doug Rushkoff:
Future Fossils #0033: Jon Lebkowsky on Pluralist Utopias & The World Wide Web’s Wild West