Laurens

FR#162 – EU Regulation Won’t Save Open Social Networks

The European Commission has decided not to extend the Digital Markets Act's interoperability rules to social media, closing off a potential pathway for adoption for open social networks.

FR#161 – Conference Edition

How the conferences FediForum and 2mr.social this week show how fediverse is trying to build connections with European politics, as well as with the atmosphere.

Federation Has a European Legal Problem

What the Russmedia ruling means for ActivityPub and atproto.

FR#160 – Everyone Wants Servers And Nobody Wants Servers

What makes a social network resilient?

FR#159 – Sovereign Tech Agency funds Mastodon

Mastodon has received a 600k grant by the Sovereign Tech Agency, and Surf has launched.

On verification and coordination authority

Who verifies the atproto developer community, and why can't it be the community itself?

FR#158 – What is Mastodon for?

On AI and place, and how Mastodon gives tools to create communities at the instance level, but people experience 'place' at the federation level.

FR#157 – Social Software Distribution

Open social protocols are expanding beyond social media into the infrastructure developers use to build, distribute, and discover software. Three recent launches show what that looks like in practice.

FR#156 – Share Where?

On Mastodon's new Share button, and protocol ownership.

FR#155 – Where Does Community Live – updates

A big grab bag of news, that ties into the question of 'Where Does Community Live?'

FR#154 – Search and Community

Fediverse search engine Holos Discover shut down this week, showing structural issues how to distinguish between individual and community consent.

Where Does Community Live? - some responses

Where Does Community Live?

ActivityPub and ATProto both promise to rebuild social life online, but they answer the question of where community actually forms in fundamentally different ways. Protocol design is institutional des…

FR#153 – What does a Discord replacement look like?

FR#153 – What does a Discord replacement look like?

With Discord announcing age verification globally, people are searching for alternatives. But a Discord alternative on the open social web might just look structurally quite different.

FR#152 – The DSA Needs Big Tech

On the tension in the DSA, that needs Big Tech platforms to exist so it can regulate them, while the fediverse does away with large platforms altogether.

FR#151 – TikTok Won’t Be Another Twitter

The conditions that made 'leaving Twitter' a meaningful part of the open social web's identity don't exist for TikTok. What happens when people can't see each other leave?

FR#150 – On ICE, Verification, and Presence As Harm

Bluesky built a verification system designed to distribute trust, and then didn't use it when it mattered.

Fediverse Report – #149 – On Protocol Governance

On the complexities of protocol governance.

X Is a Power Problem, Not a Platform Problem

Fediverse Report #148: X is not a just platform problem anymore, it's a power problem, and why you cannot compete as platforms with power.

ATmosphere Report #147 - Year's end reflections

Some themes I'm watching for 2026: censorship resistance, the politics of interoperable spaces, and who gets to shape how atproto talks about itself.

Fediverse Report -#147

Threads' fediverse integration is on maintenance mode, signalling the end to a tumultuous story and period for the fediverse.

Fediverse Report – #146

PeerTube releases their new annual software version update, and more on Bonfire.

The Digital Services Act and Theories of Power

The European Commission put a 120M EUR fine on X for DSA violations. But as the European politicians cannot get themselves to leave the platform, it shows the issues with how they understand how power…

Fediverse Report – #145

Holos is a new project to run an ActivityPub server on your mobile phone, more on Thread's user statistics, and an interview with Mastodon's creator Eugen Rochko.

Fediverse Report – #144

Newsmast launches news app that combines local news with fediverse integration, and the first Brazilian fediverse conference with WebSocialBR

ATmosphere Report - #144

Bluesky grants, on Eurosky conference, and how Gander is thinking about cultural sovereignty

Fediverse Report – #143

Mastodon has a new CEO as Eugen Rochko steps down.

ATmosphere Report 143 - Eurosky Live

on protocol architecture and power

Fediverse Report – #142

Some updates on Bonfire, and some questions on whether communities are still starting new servers. Mastodon shares some of the upcoming features they are working on.

ATmosphere Report #142 - more new apps

The launch of knowledge sharing platform Semble, some thoughts on the evolving dynamics around moderation, and a whole lot of links

ATmosphere Report #142

The Canadian atproto-powered platform Gander raises of 1.3M in fundraising, atproto at the IETF and Bluesky is the baseball app

Fediverse Report – #141

Fediverse community platform Bonfire launches, together with a crowdfunding campaign. Mastodon now officially quote posts, and a fediverse client for the Media Liberation Day campaign.

Decentralisation and blogging on atproto

The space for blogging and long-form writing on atproto is rapidly developing, and it gives some interesting insight in what decentralisation on atproto looks like

Fediverse Report – #140

Mastodon is working towards making one of the longstanding pain points of the fediverse a thing of the past, with the new ability to show all replies to a post. Bonfire is making strides with their Op…

ATmosphere Report #140 - its still all politics

Comparing the Dutch election results with how active politicians are on Bluesky

On the coordination for better moderation systems

There is a need for better moderation systems on the fediverse. But getting people to coordinate to build and adopt such systems is proving to be a challenge.

Fediverse Report #139

On the changing environment that the open social web exists in, and how to build better places for communities.

ATmosphere Report #139 Link bag - politics, atproto, and some more links

The White House joins Bluesky

When a government joins a platform for the purpose of trolling

atproto news you might've missed last month

For You Feeds, music tracking with teal.fm, and fandom communities on atproto

Fediverse Report – #138

A closer look at the Tumblr-like platform Wafrn, and Loops is getting closer to federating.

Fediverse Report – #137

Alternative iOS app store AltStore joins the fediverse, with a 500k USD donation to various fediverse projects. Mastodon talks about their upcoming Starter Pack feature. Bounce your account from the f…

Fediverse Report – #136

White-label fediverse apps for news organisations with Newsmast, a paper exploring how harrassment on Mastodon works, and a new tool for easier fediverse interoperability.

Producer and Consumer apps

Leaflet test stream

This pages is for testing purposes

Leaflet stream

These are my posts that I published on Leaflet. See connectedplaces.leaflet.pub for comments and reposts.

Fediverse Report – #135

Mastodon launches a server hosting service, Gaza Verified is a project to verify Palestinians who need aid, and more.

atproto is wire services for user generated content

another way to explain atproto

‘Blueskyism’, Political Violence, and Open Social Networks Under Authoritarianism

After Kirk's murder, calls for censorship and the crackdown on political places started to include Bluesky. Open social networks must now fight political suppression as well as platform monopolies.

Fediverse Report – #134

Mastodon adds quote posts, Bridgy Fed DMs you for missing interactions and more.

ATProto Tech News - ATmosphere Report #134

The atproto tech news of the last week or so

NLnet

Articles sponsored by a grant from the NLnet foundation.  CC BY-SA 4.0 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025

Bluesky Report – #133

An update on Bluesky Report and how I'm writing about the news. Graze finds Bluesky to be great for paid promotion, and Nature talks about how Bluesky has become a great place for academic research.

On discourse and decentralisation

Over the last year, as Bluesky got more popular, conversations about whether Bluesky and ATProto are really ‘decentralised’ have gotten more “popular” as well. These conversati…

Fediverse Report – #133

The government of Nepal blocked most social media, including Mastodon. A statement on discourse and collaboration between the ActivityPub and ATProto community. Group system a.gup.pe shuts down after …

atproto tech news - ATmosphere Report 132

Recent updates in the ATmosphere - ATmosphere Report #132

Fediverse Report – #132

Next Sosyal is a new social media platform with close ties to the Turkish ruling party, that is based on Mastodon but does not federate.

This week's link bag - ATmosphere Report #132

Substack and the risk of disruption

Bounce, bridging and language

SocialHub and the Substrate of Decentralised Networks

SocialHub, one of the primary forums to talk about the fediverse and ActivityPub, has been struggling how to continue the operation. Decentralised networks need a coordination layer, but how to build …

Fediverse Report – #131

On understanding the fediverse as a plurality of places, and how that impacts compliance with age verification laws. In other news, CrowdBucks is a new crowdfunding platform for the fediverse, and Bou…

Some thoughts on Bsky, age verification and mississippi law

regulation of the open social web is accelerating

The Argument on staying on X

sure lets write about this

ATmosphere Report – #130

New ToS and Community Guidelines for Bluesky. Anisota is a new Bluesky client with a lot of new ideas, and a 1M grant announced to build a knowledge network for researchers on ATProto.

Fediverse Report – #129

Fediverse servers might be scraped by Meta for AI training, the SocialHub ActivityPub forum might shut down and more.

Bluesky Report – #128

38 million accounts on Bluesky, Vox Media is building a new social platform for sports that will integrate with Bluesky in the future, and more in streaming software Streamplace.

Fediverse Report – #128

Newsletter platform Ghost ships their fediverse integration to the public, and FediCon 2025 was this week.

Bluesky Report – #127

The impact of the Online Safety Act on Bluesky, E2EE messaging using your ATProto account, various news around PDSes, and more.

Fediverse Report – #127

A closer look at ecosystem of clients for the fediverse.

Funding Update and Summer Schedule

Some practical updates for Connected Places: I’m happy to announce that I’ve gotten a grant from NLnet’s Open Social Fund! The goal of the Open Social Fund is to promote and support the growth of…

Fediverse Report – #126

Bandwagon allows artists to sell music albums and share exclusive content with paying members, and Bonfire keeps adding working on more features for their upcoming platform.

Bluesky Report – #125

Bluesky announces age verification system for UK users, Eurosky is a new project that works on a shared content moderation system, and more collaboration between Bluesky and US soccer.

Test 2

Test page for testing new aspects and functions for Connected Places, These are the posts and reports with tab NLnet.

Fediverse Report – #125

Mastodon's new 4.4 update brings new customisation features, the UK's Online Safety Act comes closer with not a lot of clarity within the fediverse about it, more updates for PieFed and much more.

Age Verification Laws: Are the New Social Networks Different, Or Not At All?

Bluesky and Mastodon have drastically different perception on Age Verification Laws: either just as the Big Tech platforms, or so different to be out of scope for the laws.

ATmosphere Report – #124

Bluesky adds more notification settings, on chatbots and Bluesky, and a proposal for Auth Scopes brings new questions on sources of authority.

Growth narratives on the new social networks

The narratives that networks like the fediverse and Bluesky have about themselves how their network grows are a snapshot of a specific moments in time. How do these narratives evolve as the circumstan…

Bluesky Report – #123

Bluesky is slowly growing into a destination for sports, questions on the impact of Brazils Supreme Court ruling on Bluesky, and connecting your ATProto account with an Ethereum wallet.

Fediverse Report – #123

Tumblr will not connect to the fediverse over WordPress after all, new grants with NLnet and Mastodon 4.4 gets closer to release.

ATmosphere Report – #122

Zeppelin is a new full-network AppView for Bluesky, combining ATProto with OpenID Connect to let you log into other websites with your ATProto account, and more.

Fediverse Report – #122

Mastodon announces and retracts a new ToS for mastodon.social, Threads continues their streak of implementing ActivityPub in the most confusing way possible, and Wanderer is a new fediverse platform f…

Welcome to Connected Places

Fediverse Report has relaunched as Connected Places!

Bluesky Report – #121

Media discourse about how Bluesky is dying, a new type of moderation relay by Blacksky, and backing up your ATProto account with bsky.storage.

Fediverse Report – #121

Developers of the WordPress ActivityPub talks about how they plan to make WordPress websites a full member of the fediverse, videos of FediForum available, and bridging to Bluesky op a per-server basi…

Fediverse Report - #117

ATmosphere Report – #120

WordPress plugins on ATProto, managing digital badges and attestations, and more.

Fediverse Report – #120

Fediforum happened this week, porting your social graph cross-protocol with Bounce, Bonfire gets closer to release, a prominent Lemmy server shuts down, and much more.

Bounce, and how the Open Social Web is continually changing

The Open Social Web is an ongoing debate about what open social networks should look like. New tools like Bounce change how we think about this space.

Bluesky Report – #119

Answer anonymous questions with Navyfragen, more academic research on Bluesky, and view cool art on Bluesky in a 3D gallery.

Fediverse Report – #119

A quiet news week, with some more updates from PeerTube and PieFed.

ATmosphere Report – #118

Making custom feed building blocks with Surf, transfer your account to a new PDS in style with ATP Airport, and Bluesky expands their verification system.

Fediverse Report – #118

The Surf app goes even deeper on building custom feeds for the fediverse and Bluesky, a crowdfunding campaign for the PeerTube mobile app, and updates to the bridge between the fediverse and Bluesky.

Bluesky Report – #117

Bluesky begins rolling out support for livestreaming on other platforms, Leaflet is a blogging and publishing platform that has added ATProto integration, easier bridging between ATProto and other pro…

Fediverse Report Newsletter essay - #114

Fediverse Report Newsletter essay - #115

Fediverse Report Newsletter essay #116

Fediverse Report – #117

Keynote speakers for FediForum announced, some new interesting updates for PieFed, and 15 years of the software group of Hubzilla, Friendica and others.

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Decentralisation as a mental framework

In the Fediverse and Bluesky decentralisation is a very relevant shared mental framework. Communities take on a shared mental framework to understand a technology. This essay shares some thoughts on t…

ATmosphere Report – #116

Resilient relays, a web interface to manage your ATProto account directly on your PDS, and a new upcoming ATProto platform with Speakeasy.

Taking Control of Your Timeline – in Different Ways

Examining the different approaches taken by platforms in the fediverse and ATmosphere shows that both networks take quite different approaches. Moreover, these approaches seem compatible with each oth…

Fediverse Report – #116

FediForum will be next month, Discourse talks about their fediverse integration, and an update on Bonfire.

Bluesky without Bluesky PBC

The ATProto protocol takes the software that runs a social networking app, and splits that up into separate components. We are now seeing the first results of this.

Bluesky Report – #115

Independent ATProto infrastructure has been rapidly expanding recently, experiments with games on ATProto, and Graze offers developer grants.

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ATmosphere Report – #114

Bluesky launches a checkmark verification system, streaming software Streamplace gets 500k USD in funding, and much more!

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Many thanks for supporting Connected Places! It is much appreciated, and helps me continue the work that I do. Thank you again!

The open social web – a quick intro

Connected Places is about understanding the vague group of social networks. The protocols are open and they interact with each other, and are not centralize owned and governed.

Jay Graber's speech at ATmosphere Conference

Why I care about social networks

I care so much about social networks is because I view social networks as collective sense-making tools. And different social networks have different views

What are Connected Places?

Welcome to Connected Places, a place for news and analysis about the new generation of social networks, build on open protocols, such as Bluesky and the fediverse. The site is named Connected Places, …

Glossary of social networks

In decentralised social networks, many terms can be confusing for people. Some words are technical and difficult to understand. People new to this technology often get lost in the special vocabulary. …

Test

nlnet test Tekst voorstel Dit is de tekst van voor de credit voor NL net. Als er een tag nlnet zit op een post , dan is de tekst over NLnet te zien. Is deze tag er niet, dan is er geen tekst te zien. …

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User agency and governance

Fediverse Report is a blog about federation, it is right there in the name. I say that I write about decentralized social networks. But why do I care about the concepts of decentralization and federat…

The Artwork

ATmosphere Report #33

Bluesky PBC shares their protocol roadmap, and a way to indicate user preference to how external parties can handle their data. Tangled is a newly launched Git collaboration platform built on ATProto,…

Fediverse Report #107

Pixelfed raises 138k Canadian dollars for their project, and a new way to connect researchers to the fediverse with an upcoming ORCID bridge.

Newsletter subscriptions

Newsletter signup What is Connected Places? Connected Places is the best place to understand the world of the new generation of social networks. I’m Laurens Hof, and on Connected Places I report…

FR #106 email intro

ATmosphere Report #32

Frequency is a new project for a decentralised relay using a blockchain. The Bluesky clients ecosystem keeps developing.

Fediverse Report #106

IFTAS shutting down most of its services following a lack of funding. Fediverse tumblr-like platform Wafrn has a native Bluesky integration.

Fediverse Report – #106

IFTAS shutting down most of its services following a lack of funding. Fediverse tumblr-like platform Wafrn has a native Bluesky integration.

Fediverse Report’s deep research on Deep Research’s fediverse report

ChatGPT released a new mode, called Deep Research. Tech writer Casey Newton asked Deep Research to write a report about the fediverse. But how good is the quality of the report that ChatGPT puts out? …

ATmosphere Report #31

Tech-focused update on everything that is happening on Bluesky and the wider ATmosphere. The theme continues to be: "can ATProto scale down"?

Fediverse Report #105

A variety of smaller news updates this week.

ChatGPT Conversation Casey Newton Fediverse

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Newsletter #104 introduction

ATmosphere Report #30

Social platforms are not, and can not, be neutral in a context of authoritarianism, and Bluesky cannot avoid this dynamic either. On a lighter note, many experiments with building image and video clie…

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Fediverse Report #104

Mastodon has announced it will add quote posts to the platform, and some other news.

ATmosphere Report #29

A new P2P group chat with Roomy, Microcosm makes ATProto even more modular, other new tools and much more!

About

Connected Places is a blog and newsletter that helps readers understand the world of decentralised social networks. With weekly reports that explain the regular ongoings, as well as in-depth analysis,…

Fediverse Report #103

This week I'm zooming in on the culture of the fediverse, prompted by the Superbowl halftime show. IFTAS announces they'll run out of funding soon, indicating the challenges with funding Trust & Safet…

Home

Connected Places because I care about the open social web Featured: Click here to read more analysis. Subscribe to my newsletter: Connected Places is the best way to stay ahead and be informed of ever…

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Your privacy is critically important to me. I collect as little private data as possible, according to the following principles: What this policy covers This Privacy Policy applies to the Connected Pl…

ATmosphere Report #28

The ongoing coup in America shifts the framing of 'credible exit' on ATProto. More video and images apps for Bluesky.

Fediverse Report #102

Large interest for the fediverse at FOSDEM, more conversations about data usage and consent, and multi-platform client Openvibe gets 800k in funding.

ATmosphere Report #27

People are experimenting with a wide variety of new apps on ATProto, ranging from P2P group chats to live streaming to TikTok clones.

Fediverse Report #101

Its another massive week for Pixelfed, growing by another 100k active users and doubling their Kickstarter goal, raising over 100k CAD. Tumblr confirms they still intend to join the fediverse.

ATmosphere Report #26

The temporary TikTok ban in the US results in new video products. The moderation report for Bluesky for 2024. The NFL is not allowed to be on Bluesky.

ATProto Explained – Lexicons and video

A deep dive into how Lexicons work on ATProto, and how it impacts the different ways people are building video apps on the network.

Fediverse Report #100

Pixelfed sees massive growth, NodeBB officially launches ActivityPub support, and Threads will not commit to a timeline on account portability.

ATmosphere Report #25

Free Our Feeds is a new initiative for ATProto governance, Mark Cuban is open to investing in a TikTok alternative on ATProto, and a large interest in Instagram alternatives on ATProto with newly anno…

Fediverse Report #99

Last week in the Fediverse with some news on governance and Mastodon

ATmosphere Report #24

Bluesky rumoured to be valued at 700M USD, adds Trending Topics, Graze talks about how to monetise custom feeds, and a persistent bot problem on Bluesky.

Fediverse Report #98

Mastodon's 2023 Annual Report with more insights into the organisation, Surf is a new browser for the social web, and some considerations about the federation between Mastodon and Misskey

Links - 2025/01/06

Fediverse Report – #97

A new non-profit for governance of Bridgy Fed, PeerTube releases their yearly update with a complete redesign, and the organisation behind Mammoth and sub.club winds down due to a lack of funding. Edi…

How to build a competing version of Bluesky that does better moderation.

Quick Thoughts on Christine's article on Bluesky and decentralisation

picosky backlinking test

on lexicons

blog test

blog test