Among the fediverse there are microblogs (your Mastodons, Misskeys(+forks), etc.

Then there are the long form peeps. We managed to all find each other at FOSDEM 2025.

Pictured is @matt@writing.exchange (Write freely), @pfefferle@mastodon.social (WordPress), and yours truly (NodeBB). We also had some good conversations with @johnonolan@mastodon.xyz (Ghost), but I wasn't quick enough with my camera

Let's move the state of long-form text on the open social web, forward!

I should also mention that we had great conversations with the Mastodon team (hi @renchap@oisaur.com and @dave@upp2.com!), and their commitments to working towards better support for long-form text is evident.

Good vibes all around.

@julian @matt @pfefferle @johnonolan does masto count if we set our max toot length to 99999999999?

@esk@hachyderm.io obv. yesssss join us

@julian @renchap @dave Thanks for growing the options for communication and making free and interconnected communities possible.

@julian @matt @pfefferle @johnonolan I cannot read all the comments of this post… Could you help me with this?

@tommi@pan.rent let's all just give up and keep pressing this button

Lastly, there are so many others in the long-form text space who were not at FOSDEM, but are open and willing to work together!

@rimu@mastodon.nzoss.nz (PieFed), @scott@authorship.studio (Hubzilla), Mike MacGirvin (whose handle I forget at the moment) and so many more.

Just because you weren't here does not mean you were forgotten. Your software was mentioned and discussed too!

@julian @rimu @scott @mikedev

@julian @pfefferle Hey, hope I'm not jumping in the middle of something.

I really want to find something in-between Mastodon and WordPress, but it's hard to find turnkey solutions for hosts. For instance, I host at www.mythic-beasts.com (they are a great host, IMHO), and they have a turnkey WordPress install.

I'm a tech writer, not a server admin, Jim!

I am okay with WP, but it's getting harder for me to admin as I am old and enfeebled.

Should I stay w/Masto? Or what?

@jiejie@mastodon.social good question! The answer ultimately lies in how you want to communicate with your audience. Each option is different and it's hard for you to know which software is the best fit.

That's why even when I say NodeBB sits somewhere in between microblogs and blogs, NodeBB might not be the right solution, yeah?

What kind of site do you want to build, how in depth do you want to go, etc.?

@julian Thanks.

I am a big believer that the journey is the destination, and so when I think of these things, I think of usability and configurablity to meet my needs as an artist.

In addition to long form, I also am an illustrator. I also write code. I also talk to thejshatbots about this and that and am eager to embrace — and more importantly, be a part of defining — whatever new UX-metaphors are going to be a part of the next user interface.

In short. I don't know. LOL

@julian So the Ghost person was "too fast for the camera" huh? eminently sus.

@matt @pfefferle @johnonolan

Thanks Julian for sharing this. Getting federated comments on my long form blog posts is where I really want to move most of my fediverse activity in the medium term.

@jiejie@mastodon.social good I have a feeling WriteFreely might be what you're after, or when they finish their ActivityPub implementation, Ghost.

So the Ghost person was "too fast for the camera" huh?

Everyone knows it's hard to photograph Ghosts

@julian @tommi

@julian @matt @pfefferle THE LONGFORMERS

@julian Mike is at @mikedev

@julian @matt @pfefferle I heard @johnonolan is related to Sonic The Hedgehog, he's fast (... at shipping great code and designs). Big fan of all y'all long form peeps are bringing to the Fediverse!

@julian @tommi nooooooooooooooo

@johnonolan @julian @matt @pfefferle more than meets the eye