I think it's a good time to explain how we see @badgefed and @fediprofile, how they work together, and how #badges can use #ActivityPub and the #Fediverse.

Also how this can help communities outside the fediverse!

This is a quick overview of the architecture and ideas behind it. 🧵 1/

(thanks @johannab for the ask ...)

I’m building a new tool and looking for volunteers to test it! A #fediverse linktree. (UPDATE: https://hub.vocalcat.com )

It’s designed for two types of people:

Normies / newcomers – Think of it like a free, privacy-respecting Linktree. No trackers, no ads. But here's the cool part: it's a Trojan horse for the fediverse. Your profile link is itself an ActivityPub actor. That means people can interact with it directly in the fediverse, and it encourages exploration of open platforms.

Fediverse users, If you have multiple accounts (#Mastodon, #Pixelfed, Loops, a federated blog…), you know the struggle: sometimes you just want one persona to follow. This tool gives you that. It doesn’t post on its own (read-only), but it boosts all your other accounts and even has its own #ActivityPub inbox. PLUS it can receive and show your badges issued by @badgefed !

Interested in testing? Right now it only supports mastodon authentication, so if you have a mastodon account reach out in private mention for the invitation code.

RE: https://stefanbohacek.online/@stefan/116114454315002327

There are many great explainers for the fediverse, and they all fit different scenarios.

But the best way to invite someone to the fediverse is to tell them about a specific community that you think they should join.

My latest tool may help you do that.

#fediverse #mastodon #SocialMedia

RE: https://social.lol/@adam/116092553780763323

Absolutely love this initiative that lets you sponsor people from marginalized communities and cover their annual omg.lol fee, a service that offers you your own website, email, a fediverse account, and a *ton* more.

Hey Fediverse! 👋

We just wrapped up an amazing FediForum June 2025 a week ago, and BadgeFed was right in the thick of it! Here’s a recap of what we did, what we learned, and what’s next for decentralized badges.

BadgeFed at FediForum: Unconferences & Speed Demos

BadgeFed had the honor of presenting and hosting two unconference sessions and showing off our work in one speed demo slots (watch the demo). The energy was fantastic; lots of curiosity, sharp questions, and a real hunger for open standards in the credentialing space.

Community Feedback: Standards, Docs, and Openness

A big theme at FediForum was specs and open standards. We’re right there with you! That’s why we’ve enhanced our technical documentation to explain exactly how BadgeFed uses ActivityPub and OpenBadges together:

• Issuers are ActivityPub actors, each instance can federate and follow others.
• Badges are ActivityPub Notes with OpenBadge 2.1 attachments for maximum compatibility and verifiability.
• Strict linking between issuer and badge, and between badge and recipient, to prevent spoofing.
• Signature validation for both ActivityPub and OpenBadge data.
• Federation: badges propagate via follows, and a special announcer actor helps with discoverability.
• Comments and interactions: badges can be discussed and shared across the Fediverse.

Read more in our DETAILS.md.

Making BadgeFed Easier to Try

We heard you: people want to try BadgeFed! Right now, it’s a solo setup (one admin, one Docker container), but we’re working hard to make it easier for others to deploy, configure, and even federate their own instances. Stay tuned for updates on multi-admin support and streamlined onboarding.

Feedback: Discoverability vs. Spam

One of the most important pieces of feedback we received was about badge discoverability vs. timeline spam (see the issue). We want badges to be easy to find and share, but we also don’t want to flood the Fediverse with unwanted posts. This is now our top priority, we’re rethinking how verbose BadgeFed should be, and exploring opt-in/opt-out models for badge visibility and hashtag use.

What’s Next: Embedding & Profile Badges

We’re also working on ways to let you embed badges in your blog or add them to your Mastodon profile. More news on that soon!

FediForum was a fantastic experience, huge thanks to everyone who attended, gave feedback, and showed interest in decentralized credentials. Let’s keep building a more open, verifiable, and user-empowered Fediverse!

Badge up, and see you in the timeline! 🏅

You can read the article "BadgeFed @ FediForum June 2025: Unconferences, Demos, and Community Feedback" by @mapache here as well.