StrypeyMar 5

In that piece, I posited that the Indymedia network of activist news sites was a counterculture, and the fediverse is network of subcultures. From what Laurens and the BS FAQ describe, it sounds like the ATProto network is native to what Chapman calls the "atomized mode of meaningness".

https://meaningness.com/atomized-mode

Chapman posits that the only way out of the incoherent idea-salad of atomization is to move to something he calls the "fluid mode". What might a fluid digital protocol look like?

(2/2)

Atomization: the kaleidoscope of meaning | Meaningness

The global internet atomizes cultures, societies, and selves into tiny brilliant shards. Meaning has lost context and coherence. Now what?

Meaningness
Show threadStrypeyMar 5

"[BlackSky's] recent work on private posts represents the most explicit departure from ATProto’s default assumption that all data is public, carving out enclosure where the protocol assumes openness."

@laurenshof, 2026

https://
connectedplaces.online/where-does-community-live/

This reminds me of Mastodon's arrival in the GNU Social-dominated fediverse a decade ago. Shoehorning DMs and Followers-only posts into an OStatus network which had previously only supported public posts

#OStatus

Show threadStrypeyMar 5

"Again Blacksky provides the example, building not just an appview, but also PDS hosting, a relay, a moderation system, and eventually private posts. Community, in their model, is not a single layer but an assembly data hosting, moderation, application experience, and boundary enforcement."

@laurenshof, 2026

https://connectedplaces.online/where-does-community-live/

In other words, what BlackSky have done - painfully, with significant cost - is reinvent the fediverse server on top of ATProto.

Where Does Community Live?

Connected places: understanding how the new social web works

connectedplaces.online
Show threadStrypey

That was a fantastic piece @laurenshof! Possibly the best I've read on the cultural implications of the social web. It's a rare writer who has a deep grasp of both the network topologies defined by protocols, and the common governance insights of Elinor Ostrom, but you're clearly one of them.

I have an anthropologist friend who's getting interested in UX, and I'll definitely be sending a link, to see if they have any thoughts.

Mar 5 at 5:48pmWeb
Show threadLaurens HofMar 5
@strypey aw thanks for the kind words, much appreciated!