Because #Bluesky and #ATproto keep getting lumped in with #ActivityPub under the easy label of “open protocols’ yay”… and that’s just not true, yes they are both native #openweb, but there are a real problem we keep seeing – the problem, made visible.
At AtmosphereConf, the signal was stark:
“Why would anyone fund an Atmosphere project if Bluesky, with $100 million in the bank, might ship a competing feature at any moment?”
That’s not an ecosystem, it’s a platform using gravity strong enough to crush its own edges, and people are noticing, the old pattern is back:
- invite the community in
- let them build the value
- then absorb and replace them
Same playbook we’ve seen again and again, not new – it feels open – but the centre still holds the power, the exact same play of twitter – you can see the DNA.
The difference really does matters as #ActivityPub was built as a common’s path from the start. Messy, flawed, but native open. #ATProtocol is something else: a platform-first model with openness as a layer on top, that’s why it keeps drifting this way. It’s not a bug, it’s the design.
And yes, this creates a bigger problem, it’s a mess that keeps coming back, and as normal we’ll be the ones left to compost it: underfunded, unrecorded and unthanked. Too much #techshit, and everything starts to stink, why would anyone step into the #openweb if that’s the smell?
We’ve been here before – with the #encryptionists and the #blockchain mess. Big promises, lots of noise, overlapping hype cycles, now there’s a clear overlap with #Bluesky and #AI. The risk isn’t just that this fails, it’s that when it fails, it leaves a miasma behind, making it harder for people to trust the actually working open paths, that’s the real damage.
I’ve been trying to find a way to express my view of the people who took over the outreach of the #Fediverse, and in doing so shaped the #openweb reboot we helped co-create.
DRAFT: Naive, controlling, and self-interested. They’ve left a mess that those they pushed aside will now have to compost. How we ended up here is a question worth talking about more.
We don’t fix this by arguing harder, we fix it by building and holding open spaces that don’t follow this pattern.
In the early years, outreach on #fediverse was organised by a real, diverse, native crew. It was a good time, our highlight was even getting the EU to adopt the stranded.
But after that, this group was exhausted. They began to splinter, self-interest creeping in, driven by the need to maintain control of resources. The balance shifted, and grifters gradually outnumbered them, ultimately tearing it apart.
In the space left open, our current crew stepped in, filling every space with power and influence. And that’s where we are today.