Last Week in the ATmosphere – Oct 2024 week 4A new signup

Fediversity Fediverse Report
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Last Week in the ATmosphere – Oct 2024 week 4

A new signup wave for Bluesky with 2 million new accounts, a way to store arbitrary files on your PDS, the Japanese Bluesky apps continue to build interoperability with each other, and more.

The News

Changes to blocking on X, as well as removing the ability to opt out of having your data being used for AI training, have lead to a new signup wave on Bluesky. Over 2 million accounts in the last week, with now more than 13 million accounts total being created. The inflow of new users created a significant flow of traffic, putting Bluesky high up the top of app store rankings in various countries. The surge in traffic took down Bluesky for a while, which seemed to have been related to an app that helps you find your X followers on Bluesky. One notable aspect of this surge in signups is how global it was, with various new communities in Asia being onboarded. This is clearly visible in this data set that shows the language composition of Bluesky per week, and it shows drastic changes. Brazil went from the dominant language to the third language in the span of two weeks. Bluesky became much more popular in Japan again. There are also new Asian communities that were barely present on Bluesky before, with Korean and Thai becoming the fourth and fifth most popular languages, while Thai did not show up at all in the week before. Bluesky developer Jaz says that this new wave has a higher retention rate than other waves. The elevated signup numbers have dropped to more stable levels again, but there are still some new ways to keep a close track of the numbers with these two new counters, as well as better statistics on the languages used on Bluesky.

Bluesky developer Paul Frazee posted a thread explaining atproto, saying that every user on atproto is effectively a website. A practical application of the idea that every user is a website is the new application ATFile. ATFile allows you to store and retrieve any data files directly on your PDS. The idea is quite straightforward: a PDS can accept arbitrary data, in order to have other apps beyond Bluesky build on top of a PDS. ATFile makes use of this property of a PDS to transform it into a simple place to store and retrieve files. It does not need to be your a self-hosted PDS either, you can also store files on a Bluesky-powered PDS. It shows a future of atproto with interesting questions regarding accountability and responsibility for hosting data; while all (decentralised) social networking platforms have to deal with the issue of people using the platform to host unwanted content such as copyrighted material, ATFile pushes this question front and center. It also shows indeed that atproto can be much bigger than a protocol for microblogging, and that you can indeed treat atproto accounts as websites. It gives a glimpse of a design space that is yet unexplored, and I’m curious to see where people will take it.

The integration of various products build on top of atproto continues, and it seems to be mainly pushed by Japanese developers. Klearsky is a third-party client for Bluesky, and with it’s latest update it now shows you your Linkat (a linktree-like product on atproto) profile on your Bluesky profile. As both products use atproto this can be seamlessly integrated. The developer said they are working Frontpage integration as well, you can see here what this looks like. Atproto-powered blogging platform Whitewind is also trending in this direction, their latest update also adds integration with Linkat.

In Other News

BlueArk is a new paid service to migrate your tweets from your X account to Bluesky, with the posts in Bluesky being shown on the original date they were posted. They are working on a feature where you can upload the entire archive file of your X account to be imported into Bluesky as well. There is also another free tool available that imports your X archive into Bluesky, but this does require some technical knowledge to use.

Earlier this year the Bluesky team published a paper ‘Bluesky and the AT Protocol: Usable Decentralized Social Media’, this paper has been updated with some of the most recent statistics and developments.

Bluesky, and what Bluesky is not, is an article that explains atproto, and also compares to how it differs from ActivityPub. Some extra commentary and additions on the article by Bluesky engineer Bryan Newbold here.

For Developers

Bluesky published two new blog posts aimed at developers:

  • A blog to introduce Jetstreams; which is effectively a simpeler and more efficient way of the Relay (firehose), which gives speed and simplicity to the projects that need it, at the cost of validating every record (the ‘Authenticated’ part in AT Protocol). Bluesky notes that the Jetstream is suitable for more casual projects, while warning against using it for more formal or research based operations.
  • ‘Lexicons, Pinned Posts, and Interoperability’ is a reflection on the latest update to the Bluesky app, which caused some interoperability issues by third-party apps. Bluesky says that they are ‘planning to build an aggregator and automated documentation system for Lexicons’.

On the note of lexicon discoverability, Frontpage.fyi just published their lexicon.

The Links

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading! You can subscribe to my newsletter to receive the weekly updates directly in your inbox below, and follow me on Bluesky @laurenshof.online.

https://fediversereport.com/last-week-in-the-atmosphere-oct-2024-week-4/

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The rate of innovation in the BlueSky development community is amazing.

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Can we stop pretending that Bluesky is not a #dotcons mess being pushed into our “commons” building, please.

bluesky has been partially bought by a cryptocurrency company “Blockchain Capital” and appointed a blockchain / cryptocurrency guy to their board:

BlueSky calls the tie-up with Blockchain Capital as a “natural partnership” yes this is a mess, and people who keep pushing this are creating #techshit

Don’t get me wrong, am not saying this is not native #techshit, but i am saying we, who ever “we” are, need to compost it.

UPDATE: it clarifies this issue at least.

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Are you talking about this “guy”?

In any case, at least BlueSky is relatively transparent about their funding sources, compared to the Meta-supported “Social Web” Foundation.

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Agreed all around. There really is a remarkable amount going on there, from multiple countries – it’s so much easier to get something up and going on ActivityPub. Sure, they’re a venture-funded company and may well wind up with an exploitative business model at some point (I don’t think anybody’s pretending otherwise) … but then again they’re not Meta (and I see a lot of people pretending that Meta might have fedi’s best interest at heart).

And as for the “blockchain guy” on their board gosh I wonder why the Fediverse has a reputation for sexism and racism?

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Can we stop playing the - identity politics card, guys - it’s not helping anyone look good. Used “guy” as a unisex term, and it should be clear we are not children to hit each other all the time. I hope to see better behaver please.

We have had the victim card The victimhood narrative needs composting – Hamish Campbell the race card and now the identity politics card played.

Let’s please focus on the subject of the post: “Can we stop pretending that Bluesky is not a #dotcons mess being pushed into our “commons” building, please.”

Focusing on this subject, is the VC funded Bluesky now a #dotcons masquerading as a openweb project? If we can get a consensus that it is, we should remove the #ATmosphere posts from this forum?

We could do a PROPOSAL about this and try for a consensus?

The consensus process is about us being the community we talk about - it’s likely the only thing that can work at the moment-can we focus, please.

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I hope to see better behaver.

I agree. We should strive for clear and accurate communication. For example, blockchains are not synonymous with cryptocurrency. AFAICT, Blockchain Capital is a VC firm that invests in a wide variety of companies using decentralized technologies. Some of the investments are in cryptocurrency companies and some, like BlueSky, are not.

You seem be using language like “#dotcons mess”, (native) “#techshit” and “cryptocurrency guy” as a technique to get an emotional reaction from the reader (FUD) rather than providing clear rationale to support those feelings. Of course, you’re free to communicate that way, but I tend to discount this style of communication, especially if there are inaccuracies. It feels a bit manipulative to me.

I don’t know exactly what the #dotcons hashtag means to you in this context. In any case, no, I do not see any evidence of “masquerading”. Do you have any?

They seem to be quite open about VC funding, creating optional paid tiers, and so on, while keeping access free. Like I said in my previous post, at this point they seem more transparent about their business-related ambitions than the “Social Web” Foundation. Even so, I don’t recommend banning discussions about the Foundation either.

No, I see no good reason to remove them. I find these news updates very informative and well-written. If nothing else, knowing about ATmosphere development puts pressure on the ActivityPub spec owners to more aggressively fix and improve that “protocol”.

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https://hamishcampbell.com/parasite-ngo-and-fashionista-tech/

It’s clear there are differing perspectives on whether BlueSky, now backed by Blockchain Capital, aligns with the values of openweb or is moving to the #dotcons path. Blockchain Capital’s focus on decentralized technologies includes investments beyond cryptocurrency, yet the question remains about how much this continuing VC involvement influences BlueSky’s direction. In the hashtag story the “#dotcons” refers to corporations profiting under a facade of openness, potentially undermining grassroots and community-led standards.

Good to understand removing posts isn’t the goal; instead, fostering, community, transparency and critical dialogue around these paths is crucial. Ensuring open communication about motivations and funding helps prevent co-option by profit-centric interests—something I am arguing the openweb aims to avoid. Yes, not everyone agrees on this, so we need to hold a balance, where this balance is, is a consensus, we need to find if we are to hold this community together.

The core issue isn’t blockchain technology itself but its common role in enabling corporatization within decentralized tech, shifting focus from community control to venture-driven paths and how these goals align or diverge from openweb principles shapes the ongoing debate.

OK, this is a bit off subject. So back to the actual thread: “The consensus process is about us being the community we talk about - it’s likely the only thing that can work at the moment-can we focus please.”

The focus on consensus in SocialHub is embodying the collaborative, community-driven spirit native to grassroots and openweb paths. In discussions about governance and decision-making, consensus helps ensure that the process reflects shared values rather than any single, dominant voice. It’s practical, particularly now, as it aligns with the decentralized nature of the projects within SocialHub. Staying focused on building consensus is a path to achieving functional, inclusive community, reflecting the community “ethos” rather than replicating corporate or hierarchical structures we are so used to work in.

It’s a path for us to become what we often say we want to be.

This is what I am talking about, the rest, the “subject” is food for this path.

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Thanks for the clarifications.

and previously…

I don’t believe it is, based on your definition and what I currently know. However, I might change my mind in the future, given some solid evidence. Vague fears about blockchains and corporate misbehavior, in general (not specific to the current context), isn’t enough for me.

Unless I’m mistaken, this thread is about the “Last Week in the ATmosphere” news. I support the suggestion to focus, but maybe the consensus process is something you can focus on in one of the other threads you’ve started on that topic?

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I was thinking of a second consensus, to build on the flow. But the blocking of this flow is the normal admin/mod issue we have, I messaged all the modes and admin about adding a proposal category and pining the “proposals” for a time to bring focus - no reply back on this, so holding off this second one till we can move on the first. Yes it’s a mess we have all been trying to compost, and the “proposal” path is a way of unblocking this, so we have a bit of chicken-and-egg issue.

chickin

On the second part

This is a fair point, personally I am not pushing for blocking, I am pushing for a consensus process so we can clectively decide if we remove the #ATmosphere posts from syndicating here. Am in two minds on this as well, though the is such a history to this mess making that, am more on the un syndicating side of the balance.

Is bluseky a #dotcons mess, its looking more and more like one… is it native to the openweb yes I think it is. Should we LINK to it, i don’t know - but i think we should take a moment to get a feeling for this and if there is a clear feeling we should act on it #KISS

The consensus process is about building community, but only works if people wont to build a community, which currently we have no consensuses about :slight_smile:

UPDATE: the consensus building is about trust building, do i “trust” the people on this forum to act reasonably, how people engage says a lot about this. All grassroots projects are in the end trust networks, as are all good wider societys. Can post links if you like.

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@well-being I flagged the post I’m replying to. Objecting to being called out for a racist, sexist comment as “playing the - identity politics card” and talking about how “We have had the victim card [ the race card and now the identity politics card played” is racist af.

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The distinction between bluesky and ActivityPub is a fundamental contrast in values: BlueSky, backed by venture capital, aligns with a profit-powered approach that prioritizes monetization and control, much like traditional #dotcons. On the other hand, ActivityPub is a people-powered protocol rooted in #FOSS open-source principles and community development, to foster decentralized, #4opens #DIY paths. This contrast underscores the differing paths each protocol envisions for the future of the openweb—profit-driven versus community-driven—each with its implications, economic, social and political.

UPDATE: the names are just paths, this is clear on the last line.

Thinking about the wider issues We need to compost the current culture of lying – Hamish Campbell

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I think this is a problematic comparison. Comparing BlueSky to ActivityPub doesn’t make sense. One is a company and the other is documentation of a protocol-ish something. Comparing the Mastodon AP-based federation protocol and associated FOSS with AT Protocol and related FOSS is a somewhat better comparison.

In my opinion, ActivityPub isnot people-powered or community-driven. It’s owned by the W3C and even their SocialCG cannot make changes to the Recommendation, much less any “community” external to the W3C. Fortunately, there are efforts like the FEP process to compensate for this protocol “walled garden”.

The AT Protocol and related software is open source, Given the rate of evolution of the platform and the level of community involvement, I think one could claim that it is more community-oriented than ActivityPub.

Just because a for-profit company is involved in the development doesn’t necessarily imply malicious intent. There are more than a few for-profit companies involved with ActivityPub implementation, including Meta (but not protocol development because of the tightly-controlled AP spec).

I’m not trying to claim that one is better than the other, but I don’t see the same distinctions that you do.

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I did a post that touches on this Building #FOSS bridges – Hamish Campbell and the proposal process

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I’d like to chime in here for a second with a clarification:

I do not post any of the Fediverse Report articles that I write here to the SocialHub. Instead, they show up here because Discourse can federate with WordPress, and the SocialHub team decided to follow @laurenshof@fediversereport.com with from this Discourse category, which means that posts I write on my own website get crossposted here automatically.

I do not object to this (I think I actually suggested it as an option? not sure anymore lol), but that was when I was not writing a weekly article about atproto as well. I can totally understand if the community feels that the SocialHub is a place for a specific protocol, and thus articles about another protocol are not suited. In that case I’d recommend either that the admins filter out posts with the hashtag Bluesky (if that’s possible), remove the posts manually (its one a week every wednesday) or just unfollow the wordpress site altogether. All options are totally fine with me.

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I’d like to hear about ATProto, and I consider it part of the Fediverse and certainly the Social Web. The Fediversity category is then a good place for cross-posts to end up.

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