Joe Basser points out that publishing longform on the Atmosphere works as intended: "interoperability [means] ... The writer chooses where to publish. The reader chooses where to read. Neither needs to accept one company’s version of the entire experience", but he has a question: "Now imagine the article costs twenty cents. Who gets paid?"Obviousl…

Interesting post on WSocial's announcement and its aftermath: "The contrast between the media hype and the reality was so jarring, that I decided to start collecting evidence and share what I found". An accurate summary of the "disbelief and a touch of anger" created by the launch, particularly how they presented Bluesky as American whilst not men…

New_ Public "is creating Roundabout... help ... you start a healthy online space... in rural and suburban towns, and city neighborhoods — areas with about 10,000-50,000 people."Features include:event calendarlocal guideshelps and recommendationsinformation and updatebusiness openingseducationparentinga newcomer's guide to town.An alternative to "N…

"My personal path through AtmosphereConf 2026 was all about making the web social; streams, gardens and communities; and science, AI & news. Welcome to the linkfest"

As my ATScience workshop in Vancouver wasn't streamed, I thought I'd throw together a quick video and publish some first thoughts and supporting notes, just to get a record of the content online before I turn to the rest of what was probably the best conference I've ever attended.

"the most enduring social networks ... [are] the ones that empower organizers... coaches, teachers, volunteer coordinators, union stewards, event planners, health workers, running club hosts, activist organizers, and owners of community-based businesses ... making decisions on behalf of a group ... turn a collection of individuals into a functi…

Joe Basser, Spark founder, is also one of the best explainers on the Atmosphere.Building on his previous post, which explains that "When users can leave without losing [everything]... platforms lose the ability to quietly tighten the screws forever", Basser explores what happens as a result: "What does social media look like when anti-enshittifica…

A perfectly brilliant way to introduce AT protocol."What do files have to do with social computing? Historically, not a lot—until recently."Dan first reintroduces files: how they were not originally intended "to live inside the apps... [but] somewhere that you control. Apps create and read your files on your behalf, but files don’t belong to the a…

"I was in Berlin last November to present at a satellite event around the Summit on European Digital Sovereignty. The two posts which resulted are below, followed by the latest from the growing ATProto4Science movement."

"What happens when you put politicians, media businesses and protocol engineers in the same room to discuss European sovereignty?" - my post following Eurosky.Live in Berlin, November 2025.

Newsletter as I head off to Berlin to talk about digital sovereignty, social media and ATprotocol.

"A journalist gets blocked by Bluesky, but her Bluesky posts can still be seen via Blacksky. This apparent contradiction goes to the heart of resilient social media, where businesses must support their users to stay in business"

"For a while, social media tried to be politically neutral. Moderation is difficult as a practical task, and fighting over the decisions ... is bad business. But it was somewhat obvious to everyone that social platform neutrality was a performative fiction, even before Musk discarded the norm."Whatever you do, social media can't be neutral: "Even …

"log in to your existing accounts on the supported networks. Afterward, you’ll instantly be following all your friends in a combined timeline. The app also features a combined trending section and cross-posting support.... will later introduce a subscription plan to generate revenue."

"Middleware, third-party software intermediaries between users and platforms, has been broached as a means to decentralize the power of social media platforms and enhance user agency... widespread adoption of open middleware has long hinged on the cooperation of established major platforms; however... Mastodon and Bluesky, has led to increased off…

The always good Laurens on the ActivityPub-ATproto open letter: "There is a large group of people who are actively moving the space forward, and who have signed the open letter that calls for mutual respect and working together for a better open social web. The number of people who voiced objections and concerns is minimal, but by focusing on proc…

"The first thing I noticed is how strange it felt to use... strange and empty, every interaction felt like it took an eternity... any interaction with others to require multiple levels of intentional actions".After acclimatising, however, "I began to feel comfortable ... very calming... [then] I ran out of stamina" - the site ceased 'working', so …

When this was written there were 23m Bluesky users: "Some publishers report traffic and conversion rates three to four times higher compared with platforms like Threads and X, despite Bluesky’s smaller user base.... EUobserver received 3,800 unique visitors from Bluesky (with 3,300 followers) compared to 1,320 from X (with 203,000 followers)...Fo…

"Europe’s systemic dependency on Big Tech’s social-media platforms threatens the continent’s digital sovereignty" - perhaps nothing new, but well argued nevertheless:"Just as the European Union seeks to reduce its reliance on external providers for semiconductors... it must do the same for social media. dominant platforms extract value from Europe…

"Let's build a tool to help large organisations coordinate their Bluesky footprint, helping them get the most out of the platform" - One of my suggested conversation topics at the Ahoy conference, April, 2025.

Renée DiResta, "Invisible Rulers" author, on why "user exodus to smaller platforms has become increasingly common... What ultimately splintered social media wasn’t a killer app or the Federal Trade Commission — it was content moderation. Partisan users clashed with “referees”; ... Principles like “freedom of speech, not freedom of reach” ... attem…