Liz Hammond
Taylor LorenzI wrote about FreeOurFeeds, a new $30M plan to take back social media from billionaires https://www.usermag.co/p/freeourfeeds-a-30m-plan-to-take-back-social-media-from-billionaires
chris overcash@taylorlorenz seems like a colossal waste of money. Clearly Mastodon, Pixelfed, Loops, etc. are already perfectly viable platforms that achieve the technical goals of FreeOurFeeds, why not use the money and reach to spread the word and move users over? Just today Pixelfed was blocked by Meta, so clearly they see it as a potential threat to IG.
Marc Trius@taylorlorenz
This is great, but I'd like to hear more about the choice of AT Protocol vs AP, which is already supported by many diverse apps and platforms, with more underway.
This is great, but I'd like to hear more about the choice of AT Protocol vs AP, which is already supported by many diverse apps and platforms, with more underway.
@taylorlorenz
Ah:
"The Social Web Foundation focuses on the network of platforms connected via ActivityPub. We also support efforts to make other distributed social networking protocols more open and equitable. For this reason, we are excited to support the #FreeOurFeeds campaign launching today. This campaign is an opportunity to develop the capacity needed for the open social web protocols– ActivityPub along with Bluesky’s AT Protocol– to better interoperate, leveraging the entire open social ecosystem to create a working demonstration of algorithmic pluralism at scale."
https://socialwebfoundation.org/2025/01/13/free-our-feeds-and-algorithmic-pluralism/
Ah:
"The Social Web Foundation focuses on the network of platforms connected via ActivityPub. We also support efforts to make other distributed social networking protocols more open and equitable. For this reason, we are excited to support the #FreeOurFeeds campaign launching today. This campaign is an opportunity to develop the capacity needed for the open social web protocols– ActivityPub along with Bluesky’s AT Protocol– to better interoperate, leveraging the entire open social ecosystem to create a working demonstration of algorithmic pluralism at scale."
https://socialwebfoundation.org/2025/01/13/free-our-feeds-and-algorithmic-pluralism/
Dimitri Dhuyvetter@taylorlorenz I don’t really understand why they use the AT protocol instead of ActivityPub. As far as I can tell, everything they want to build already exists. Why reinvent the wheel just because Bluesky is using the AT protocol?
BronMasonBecause #BlueSky is where all the “kool kids” want to be (probably cuz it originated as an exclusive invite only & they weren’t invited).
Also,those $30 mil aren’t gonna spend themselves…
#activityPub #mastodonMigration
Meanwhile, mastodon made this announcement 👇🏽
Mike Fraser@taylorlorenz I'll take reinventing the wheel for 200 Alex.
Nathan A. Stine@mike @taylorlorenz imagine what Mastodon or Pixelfed or Frendica could do with $30 million.
@stinerman @taylorlorenz I know right. If the goal was to make a kick ass micro blogging destination and I received 30 mil to do it, 10 goes to @Gargron and the rest goes to a pro moderation and IS team to run a killer Mastodon instance. All the protocol/engine wotk is 90% done..
MylesRydenIs it just me but do neither of these guys actually look human to you?
Ev DelenNotably, BlueSky is not decentralized. Parts of the protocol require BlueSky's servers even if you're running your own instance.
It's not decentralized, It's *less-centralized*.
Oneironaut@taylorlorenz so they want $30M to reinvent mastodon?
Ray@taylorlorenz It's pretty obvious why they're going with AT. It's easier to monetize and enshittify.
The problem here is, of course, mostly social, not technical.
It is similar to the "Year of the Linux Desktop" that never actually comes. There might be some tiny element that Linux is somehow technically "inferior" or "more difficult" than M$, but the real reason Windows maintains its position is the various forms of lock in they have. But a laptop and Windows is already on it. Windows is used at work. You have 10 years of Word documents. Etc. etc. etc.
Even more so with social media. As long as her friends and family are on FB, my SO will be on FB. She already knows Zuck is a Nazi, but every week has her FB Messenger session with her sisters, buys and sells her hobby stuff on FB marketplace, scrolls Reels constantly.
I assume that FB will collapse suddenly when some other massive tech company sets up a similar one stop service that is non-Nazi and everyone jumps at once. Frankly, I think this is a huge opportunity for Apple, but I digress.
But whatever it is, surely FB (and Xhitter) will collapse suddenly when they reach some kind of Malcolm Gladwell type tipping point when "everyone" decides that "everyone" is "over there" now.
eobet@taylorlorenz wait, @pluralistic is supporting this and it's NOT based on #ActivityPub? What is the reason for that decision?
Cory DoctorowAs I have repeatedly written, I would LOVE to use Bluesky but will not until they make good on their promise of adding federation, so that I can costlessly leave if they mismanage the service. This letter calls on them to do so. I like Activitypub because it's federated, not because it's Activitypub. I would like any other service if they were also federated a la Activitypub.
Alfredo Natale@pluralistic @eobet @taylorlorenz I don't understand if federation is really possible between AT relays. Each relay should contain a copy of the whole network, but how ?
william.maggos@pluralistic @eobet @taylorlorenz
I don't think that's clear but seeing your name made me think again about what I was reading and this reasoning popped up. I have a hard time believing that most of the others joining this effort make that distinction. any chance of working within the group to get it to focus on AP instead, since there'd be a lot less effort involved? you'd just have to promote AP instead of getting AT folks to do so much tech revision (against invested VC interests)?
EpicBear 
@wjmaggos @pluralistic @eobet @taylorlorenz Yeah I don't get the buy in to Bluesky at the moment considering we already have a federated technology in #ActivityPub. I just don't see how Bluesky meets the main goal of taking back our public square considering both the underlying AT protocol and their overall current direction of pushing effectively a single instance that's still "too big to fail".
Marcos Lobo 💙💛@taylorlorenz This a big challenge that I fully support.
What do you think about Mastodon as a solution for this problem?
Leefeller Guy@taylorlorenz Not sure taking back is correct? Taking back suggests previous ownership?Could be me and my semantics?
clacke: exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛@Leefellerguy @taylorlorenz When our social networks online were blogs, UseNet and email, they were not exclusively owned by billionaires.
Jenica@taylorlorenz what do you think about this being a non-profit as 45/47 declared he will sue or shut down non-profits that fight against him?
Michael Harrison@taylorlorenz You had me at "non profit foundation"
Tom Schmidt #DEI 🥄🇺🇸
@taylorlorenz Why? When Mastodon is already built out…
gumbario@taylorlorenz So they want to build basically another social media what is like Mastodon. It would make much more sense to support Mastodon and help that grow. Honestly I think it’s a horrible stupid idea of them.
Chris Ferguson@gumbario @taylorlorenz Not to mention, you didn't even mention ActivityPub, the Fediverse, or Mastodon in the article as an example of an existing version of what they are looking to build.
You (Taylor) post here, but you clearly don't give it enough thought to even mention it in your reporting when relevant?
Kaito@taylorlorenz this is just sad. Supporting ATproto instead of ActivityPub would just lead to further friction.
Woozle Hypertwin@taylorlorenz I'm told that Mastodon has been mentioned as part of this plan, or invited to participate, but I'm not seeing that in the UserMag article, the project site front page or the GoFundMe campaign -- can you clarify? Thanks. ^.^
cc: @pluralistic (...the only signatory listed who seems to have a fedi account, though I could easily be missing someone)
Bruce Acton 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦@taylorlorenz we should start lobbing our governments ( I’m in Canada) to build out government sites.
wraptile@taylorlorenz VC funded is such a 🚩 how are they going to pay back that 30,000,000 USD with interest without selling out? Bet they're incorporating as for profit but "good for society" meme too.
That being said, I hate being pessimistic here and hope I'm just wrong.
Brendan Kinney@taylorlorenz Wondering if this could be expanded to incorporate the decentralized Activity Pub protocol (upon which Mastodon is built)?
smeg@taylorlorenz I want to know why they've chosen the AT Protocol (BlueSky's protocol) instead of the already-open ActivityPub as their chosen standard.
obscurestar@taylorlorenz Sorry Bluesky. There's an old adage that goes 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice.. Hard pass'
Spy Stuff@taylorlorenz FreeOurFeeds sounds like a breath of fresh air—finally, a plan to put control of social media back into the hands of the people instead of billionaires. A $30M investment in transparency and fairness could reshape the digital landscape. Count me in!