Jack Dorsey skipped ActivityPub, built AtProto, lost Twitter, funded Bluesky, watched it become a company with VCs and a board, said it was "repeating all the mistakes," left, and now funds Nostr.
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@evan @reflex @wjmaggos @sheislaurence @dansup @quillmatiq
Evan, it is not at all clear who owns Bluesky, or even how much money they have raised and from whom.
More about the mystery here...
Mastodon Migration (@mastodonmigration@mastodon.online)
Who owns Bluesky? The curious mystery of the Bluesky Series B funding round. Did it happen? If you look at pitchbook (https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/484831-81) it seems Bluesky closed a whopping $97 million funding round resulting in a $700M valuation in January 2025. VCpedia lists Greylock, alumni ventures and Skyseed as participants (https://vcpedia.com/rounds/5195). The interesting thing is there are no press releases or other media coverage confirming this financing. Read on... 1/2 #Bluesky #WhoOwnsBluesky
Mastodon (mastodon.online)
@mastodonmigration @evan @reflex @wjmaggos @dansup @quillmatiq it's interesting that the #transparency report #Bluesky posted less than a month ago doesn't mention anything about investors. Having personally worked in the transparency sector, it is the first time I see a company suggest the word doesn't relate to financial transparency 🫣. https://bsky.social/about/blog/01-29-2026-transparency-report-2025
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@thisismissem @mastodonmigration @baralheia @cwebber
I would argue that neither the AP nor atproto are built directly for patterns of human communication that exist in the real world.
The "everyone messages everyone else and must have access to any message from anyone at any time" pattern embodied by the present Bluesky is not a real human way of communicating and forming communities, it is a figment of tech companies' imaginations and represents a massive amount of over-indexing that relies on, and therefore tends towards, centralized platforms.
The "everyone preferentially messages people in their nearby vicinity but sometimes people further away" view embodied by most present Fediverse software assumes a flat social network in which "non-local" is functionally the same in all cases and does not model human social networks very well.
AP assumes you are building bunch of villages with a flat road network between them. atproto assumes you are building Saudi Arabia's The Line.
@ricci @thisismissem @mastodonmigration @baralheia @cwebber
The atproto model is in the lineage of the web 1.0: everyone has their own website and google indexes them all for everyone to "see" the network. Wherever Google, and the tech industry following its steps, went is the exact direction bluesky is going to go.
I'd really love to know why you think the AP model doesn't map human societies ? Maybe a concentric model of trust, from closer to larger, is something you have in mind ? -
@ricci @thisismissem @mastodonmigration @baralheia @cwebber
The atproto model is in the lineage of the web 1.0: everyone has their own website and google indexes them all for everyone to "see" the network. Wherever Google, and the tech industry following its steps, went is the exact direction bluesky is going to go.
I'd really love to know why you think the AP model doesn't map human societies ? Maybe a concentric model of trust, from closer to larger, is something you have in mind ?@rakoo @ricci AP as implemented places you on a server which is your identity, that server is a specific vertical of a online social presence (microblogging, images, videos, short videos, articles, forums, link aggregator)
The AP C2S model separates to a degree the identity from the application. You do still only have one social graph and inbox/outbox, so it's not ideal, most people have different social groups on different verticals of platforms.
But as long as AP is deployed in the topology and systems it is today, it does not do the "thing" that people do socially.
Mastodon doesn't give you a "community" just because you're on the same server (no local only posting, local feed is too noisy on larger servers), Loops arguably removes all local community thanks to algorithmic feed – I don't think they've a local feed that I've seen in press.
AT Protocol makes getting into social spaces in different verticals easy. Conceptually AP C2S is very similar: you have a place that is your identity + data, and then you join places with that identity (maybe customising the identity or social graph for that vertical application)
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@rakoo @ricci AP as implemented places you on a server which is your identity, that server is a specific vertical of a online social presence (microblogging, images, videos, short videos, articles, forums, link aggregator)
The AP C2S model separates to a degree the identity from the application. You do still only have one social graph and inbox/outbox, so it's not ideal, most people have different social groups on different verticals of platforms.
But as long as AP is deployed in the topology and systems it is today, it does not do the "thing" that people do socially.
Mastodon doesn't give you a "community" just because you're on the same server (no local only posting, local feed is too noisy on larger servers), Loops arguably removes all local community thanks to algorithmic feed – I don't think they've a local feed that I've seen in press.
AT Protocol makes getting into social spaces in different verticals easy. Conceptually AP C2S is very similar: you have a place that is your identity + data, and then you join places with that identity (maybe customising the identity or social graph for that vertical application)
@rakoo @ricci have a read of Lauren's article: https://connectedplaces.online/where-does-community-live/
Yes, community on AT Protocol is a nascent concept still, but the separation of identity + data from applications makes it possible to experiment and have one social graph or many.
One project doing community spaces on AT Protocol is: https://github.com/collectivesocial/open-social
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@ricci @thisismissem @mastodonmigration @baralheia @cwebber
The atproto model is in the lineage of the web 1.0: everyone has their own website and google indexes them all for everyone to "see" the network. Wherever Google, and the tech industry following its steps, went is the exact direction bluesky is going to go.
I'd really love to know why you think the AP model doesn't map human societies ? Maybe a concentric model of trust, from closer to larger, is something you have in mind ?@rakoo @baralheia @thisismissem @mastodonmigration @cwebber
Yeah great question! It's that everything past the local level is flat from a network/protocol level - all communities are 'equidistant' at the network layer, which isn't how it works for human communication and society.
So I'm agreeing with your point about circles of trust, but down a layer at the protocol - and I don't think it's an accident that Mastodon and other fedi software have not really gone very far in implementing such things given that - while it's certainly possible - it's not inherent in AP.
But yeah I think AP is far *closer* to how humans actually communicate than atproto
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@rakoo @ricci have a read of Lauren's article: https://connectedplaces.online/where-does-community-live/
Yes, community on AT Protocol is a nascent concept still, but the separation of identity + data from applications makes it possible to experiment and have one social graph or many.
One project doing community spaces on AT Protocol is: https://github.com/collectivesocial/open-social
@thisismissem @ricci
yes, if we're looking at mastodon and the model it has created that all microblogging apps have copied, then community doesn't really exist in the technical parts but must be artificially built up. The more interesting example is the threadiverse where communities are literal spaces: people congregate towards one or any number, they are independent from your server and from your identity. This, to me, feels closer to how communities start to create: pick an obvious topic, make obvious-y rules about what is on-topic or not to guide what people can talk about, then possibly graduate from there to another form (maybe a specific, closed community with your people). I do think more visibility should be given to the threadiverse rather than microblogging, or even mastodon, because of all the problems you have listed. And the future direction of AP should definitely split the server from the usage and build apps on the client only ! -
@thisismissem @ricci
yes, if we're looking at mastodon and the model it has created that all microblogging apps have copied, then community doesn't really exist in the technical parts but must be artificially built up. The more interesting example is the threadiverse where communities are literal spaces: people congregate towards one or any number, they are independent from your server and from your identity. This, to me, feels closer to how communities start to create: pick an obvious topic, make obvious-y rules about what is on-topic or not to guide what people can talk about, then possibly graduate from there to another form (maybe a specific, closed community with your people). I do think more visibility should be given to the threadiverse rather than microblogging, or even mastodon, because of all the problems you have listed. And the future direction of AP should definitely split the server from the usage and build apps on the client only !@rakoo @ricci @thisismissem this makes the most sense to me. I think "we" on the AP have a hard time with this because we alternate between servers describing themselves as neutral providers a la email or already being community focused (like the Indieweb server I'm on).
PS by the Threadiverse do you mean Threads and some other assortment of apps?
I think the way Laurens described reddit as
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@rakoo @ricci @thisismissem this makes the most sense to me. I think "we" on the AP have a hard time with this because we alternate between servers describing themselves as neutral providers a la email or already being community focused (like the Indieweb server I'm on).
PS by the Threadiverse do you mean Threads and some other assortment of apps?
I think the way Laurens described reddit as
@McNeely @ricci @thisismissem No, it's the reddit-like: lemmy, mbin, piefed, nodebb and even discourse. Basically forums -
@thisismissem @ricci
yes, if we're looking at mastodon and the model it has created that all microblogging apps have copied, then community doesn't really exist in the technical parts but must be artificially built up. The more interesting example is the threadiverse where communities are literal spaces: people congregate towards one or any number, they are independent from your server and from your identity. This, to me, feels closer to how communities start to create: pick an obvious topic, make obvious-y rules about what is on-topic or not to guide what people can talk about, then possibly graduate from there to another form (maybe a specific, closed community with your people). I do think more visibility should be given to the threadiverse rather than microblogging, or even mastodon, because of all the problems you have listed. And the future direction of AP should definitely split the server from the usage and build apps on the client only !@rakoo@blah.rako.space completely right.
The "community" aspect on microblog UI is shallow at best. Instance names and domains are signalling community, but you're still screaming into a public town square about anything and everything.
Threadiverse absolutely does it better, but the crossover between it and the wider fediverse is minimal at best (I am posting on NodeBB right now.)
I'm going to be talking about this next week at FediMTL!
FediMTL - Digital Sovereignty Conference
A Canadian conference on digital sovereignty and the social web - February 24, 2026
FediMTL (fedimtl.ca)
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@rakoo@blah.rako.space completely right.
The "community" aspect on microblog UI is shallow at best. Instance names and domains are signalling community, but you're still screaming into a public town square about anything and everything.
Threadiverse absolutely does it better, but the crossover between it and the wider fediverse is minimal at best (I am posting on NodeBB right now.)
I'm going to be talking about this next week at FediMTL!
FediMTL - Digital Sovereignty Conference
A Canadian conference on digital sovereignty and the social web - February 24, 2026
FediMTL (fedimtl.ca)
@julian @rakoo @thisismissem I think it would be great to hear about how the experience could potentially be improved for communities. The local timeline exists but it certainly isn't prominently featured.
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@McNeely @ricci @thisismissem No, it's the reddit-like: lemmy, mbin, piefed, nodebb and even discourse. Basically forums
@rakoo @ricci @thisismissem thanks!
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@julian @rakoo @thisismissem I think it would be great to hear about how the experience could potentially be improved for communities. The local timeline exists but it certainly isn't prominently featured.
Even then, the local timeline is more of a "catch-all" bucket for discussing anything, not really topic-focused.
Which isn't wrong, per se, just a different way of presenting content, one that loses a lot of context (context collapse, one could call it
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Even then, the local timeline is more of a "catch-all" bucket for discussing anything, not really topic-focused.
Which isn't wrong, per se, just a different way of presenting content, one that loses a lot of context (context collapse, one could call it
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@thisismissem @ricci
yes, if we're looking at mastodon and the model it has created that all microblogging apps have copied, then community doesn't really exist in the technical parts but must be artificially built up. The more interesting example is the threadiverse where communities are literal spaces: people congregate towards one or any number, they are independent from your server and from your identity. This, to me, feels closer to how communities start to create: pick an obvious topic, make obvious-y rules about what is on-topic or not to guide what people can talk about, then possibly graduate from there to another form (maybe a specific, closed community with your people). I do think more visibility should be given to the threadiverse rather than microblogging, or even mastodon, because of all the problems you have listed. And the future direction of AP should definitely split the server from the usage and build apps on the client only !I think it's nuts that Masto doesn't have local-only posts, it would be the easiest thing in the world to do, it's entirely natural to the underlying data model. Good on blacksky for building it first.
Re: @thisismissem 's point AP not directly matching how communities form, this is the kind of thing I had in mind when I said that neither AP nor activitypub is directly modeling human interaction. But AP is closer because there are large chunks of the fediverse where it does actually fit community. The instance I'm on is one such example, the local feed is heavily slanted towards people who have interests related to me, we moderate based on our own community standards, and all that. Many of the people I interact with are on similarly-sized instances that have their own noticeable community.
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@rakoo @ricci AP as implemented places you on a server which is your identity, that server is a specific vertical of a online social presence (microblogging, images, videos, short videos, articles, forums, link aggregator)
The AP C2S model separates to a degree the identity from the application. You do still only have one social graph and inbox/outbox, so it's not ideal, most people have different social groups on different verticals of platforms.
But as long as AP is deployed in the topology and systems it is today, it does not do the "thing" that people do socially.
Mastodon doesn't give you a "community" just because you're on the same server (no local only posting, local feed is too noisy on larger servers), Loops arguably removes all local community thanks to algorithmic feed – I don't think they've a local feed that I've seen in press.
AT Protocol makes getting into social spaces in different verticals easy. Conceptually AP C2S is very similar: you have a place that is your identity + data, and then you join places with that identity (maybe customising the identity or social graph for that vertical application)
I'll say that the verticals are one of the aspects of atproto that I am *least* excited about. I am extremely unexcited about the idea that takedowns on my social media account could also take down my git hosting repos and my blog and my instant messaging and my ....
But hey, 'login with facebook' does exist, and I guess a lot of people must use it? so I guess there is some revealed preference there.
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I think it's nuts that Masto doesn't have local-only posts, it would be the easiest thing in the world to do, it's entirely natural to the underlying data model. Good on blacksky for building it first.
Re: @thisismissem 's point AP not directly matching how communities form, this is the kind of thing I had in mind when I said that neither AP nor activitypub is directly modeling human interaction. But AP is closer because there are large chunks of the fediverse where it does actually fit community. The instance I'm on is one such example, the local feed is heavily slanted towards people who have interests related to me, we moderate based on our own community standards, and all that. Many of the people I interact with are on similarly-sized instances that have their own noticeable community.
@ricci @thisismissem local-only posts is something that people have beel asking for for ages and Gargron has always fought against it. That led to the creation of the beautiful Hometown, along with a beautiful guide on how to make your own community: https://runyourown.social/ . Gargron has always said that this is not the kind of community they wanted, they want a distributed twitter. So, blacksky is only doing what others that are not mastodon have been doing for some time now -
I think it's nuts that Masto doesn't have local-only posts, it would be the easiest thing in the world to do, it's entirely natural to the underlying data model. Good on blacksky for building it first.
Re: @thisismissem 's point AP not directly matching how communities form, this is the kind of thing I had in mind when I said that neither AP nor activitypub is directly modeling human interaction. But AP is closer because there are large chunks of the fediverse where it does actually fit community. The instance I'm on is one such example, the local feed is heavily slanted towards people who have interests related to me, we moderate based on our own community standards, and all that. Many of the people I interact with are on similarly-sized instances that have their own noticeable community.
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@ricci @thisismissem local-only posts is something that people have beel asking for for ages and Gargron has always fought against it. That led to the creation of the beautiful Hometown, along with a beautiful guide on how to make your own community: https://runyourown.social/ . Gargron has always said that this is not the kind of community they wanted, they want a distributed twitter. So, blacksky is only doing what others that are not mastodon have been doing for some time now
@rakoo @ricci now that Gargron is out of the way, I really hope @mellifluousbox and @renchap bring local-only posts to mainline Mastodon. It'd be such a huge help to moderators & server admins, it's not funny, and that's before you even get to the needs of server-local communities that you *don't* want federating.
Also, custom collections support to support addressing for Groups would be fantastic. I know Jesse from Frequency already has an implementation of that on top of a mastodon codebase
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@thisismissem @rakoo I'm using AP to mean ActivityPub. I was agreeing with your point that in many spaces, AP doesn't necessarily line up with community boundaries - but also pointing out that sometimes it does, and this happens much more naturally with AP than atproto
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I'll say that the verticals are one of the aspects of atproto that I am *least* excited about. I am extremely unexcited about the idea that takedowns on my social media account could also take down my git hosting repos and my blog and my instant messaging and my ....
But hey, 'login with facebook' does exist, and I guess a lot of people must use it? so I guess there is some revealed preference there.
@ricci @rakoo that shouldn't happen!
It's a bug, at least, that's how it's described today.
This is how it's envisioned to work: https://whtwnd.com/bnewbold.net/3m2j6ccx2bs2t
Essentially, if you're on a bsky PDS, and you act poorly on bsky.app, as long as you've not done anything strictly illegal or network abuse, the ban should only be on bsky.app — though they could also tell you: hey, we don't want to host your repo/account anymore, please find another PDS host (and provide instructions and state "even though we're asking you to move, moving will not change you being banned from bsky.app"
The only time your repo should be taken down is *if* you post strictly illegal content that your PDS host has liabilities for (CSAM, TVEC, etc), and bsky.app would send your PDS admin a notification informing them that bsky has detected that content on their server.
