I don't think it takes billions to build a platform but it does seem that it usually requires millions to get more than a few people using it. I have accounts on loops, lemmy/piefed, mastodon, element and more. I've never met a person IRL that uses them and I've never gotten to know anyone in an online community (gaming, interest forums, etc.) that use them. Viewing my loops app makes me feel like I'm alone on an island. The communities I follow on Lemmy/Piefed will go weeks without a post. The communities I manage will go the same without a submission from the community. Now that my immediate family have grown tired of the bugs on element after I forced them to use it to chat with me, I am literally the only person I know on the messaging platform. I love open source but if I were the type of person that required a true sense of a well-rounded social community, I would use something like tiktok to scratch that itch.

Plot twist: TikTok's "secret sauce" is recommendation ML + video encoding (likely ffmpeg like the rest of us). They built their empire on open source foundations. We're doing the same with @loops but keeping it open, federated, and yours. The magic was open source all along. Who's really disrupting who?https://joinloops.org/why-loops-matters#loops #fediverse #tikTok #activityPub

blog! “Now witness the power of this fully operational Fediverse!”How can you measure the popularity of a social network site? Perhaps by counting the number of active accounts, or the quality of the discourse, or even how many people reply to your witty memes.Me? I prefer to look at how many people visit my blog… Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2025/11/now-witness-the-power-of-this-fully-operational-fediverse/⸻#ActivityPub #BlueSky #fediverse #mastodon #statistics

How to Install #Pixelfed on #Ubuntu VPS (8 Step Quick-Start Guide) This article provides a guide for how to install Pixelfed on Ubuntu VPS.What is Pixelfed?PixelFed is a decentralized, open-source photo-sharing platform similar to Instagram but built on the #Fediverse (federated social networks using the #ActivityPub protocol). It allows users to host their own instances and interact with users across ...Continued https://blog.radwebhosting.com/how-to-install-pixelfed-on-ubuntu-vps/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon.social #selfhosted #installguide #selfhosting #vpsguide

Just had dinner – Manchurian and Noodles. My brother’s exams got over today so a party of sorts. Tomorrow we have a ritual at home so wondering how it will all go as it will be fully packed and the meal prep has already started for tomorrow. By 3 pm I will be free. This morning felt a bit cold like again but not very much. Ugh! The weather! I hope it fades away quick whatever it is – the remaining. Tomorrow there are going to be ladies arriving for Pooja and then all family members to pray to goddess. I find all of the jazz so overwhelming and tiresome lord. I just want to rest and chillax. But obligations etc. Ugh! I hope strings of moments will pass through and I’ll be in Monday awaiting the November months weekend …Le sigh! I did my new moon journaling today. Late but did it. Tried to get off AI features on gmail etc and had lots of emails in my inbox stacked. Unsubscribed to tons! What the hell is going on with giant companies. Holy cow!

Entweder übersehe ich was. Aber wenn ich bei Hashtags in meinem #Wordpress Blog brav auf CamelCase achte, wie z.B. #BlueBeanieDay dann macht das #ActivityPub Plugin daraus im Fediverse ein #bluebeaniedayKann ich da irgendwas machen @pfefferle

#datocurioso¿Sabías que Funkwhale es un proyecto del fediverso diseñado para ser la alternativa libre a #Spotify?Permite crear tu propia plataforma de streaming de música descentralizada, conectándose con otras instancias. Opera bajo el protocolo #ActivityPub, integrándose con Mastodon y otras redes.#Funkwhale #SoftwareLibre #OpenSource #fediverso #música

#datocurioso¿Sabías que Loops es la alternativa a TikTok que se está integrando al fediverso?Es una aplicación diseñada para vídeos breves (hasta 60 segundos) que busca recuperar la filosofía original de TikTok, pero operando bajo los protocolos abiertos del fediverso, como #ActivityPub, permitiendo la interoperabilidad.#Loops #Fediverso #SoftwareLibre #OpenSource #TikTok

Kennt sich jemand mit dem Selbsthosten von #Ghost und #ActivityPub aus? Gibt es Fallstricke, auf die man achten muss?#Blogging #Fediverse

@pfefferle @svenkaemper Zeitzonen, und wie die Plugins damit umgehen ist leider der Horror! Wenn du mir sagst, welches Plugin ihr nutzt, in welchen Versionen, welche Zeitzone in eurem WordPress eingestellt ist, dann kann ich mich schon morgen auf die Fehlersuche machen, und vll gibts auch gleich im Anschluss einen Patch Release

Destroying Autocracy – November 20, 2025Welcome to this week’s “Destroying Autocracy”.It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting it. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists. Fuck ’em.The Programmer’s Fulcrum is the future (and smaller) home for a fusion of Symfony Station and Battalion. Its tagline is Devs Defending Democracy, Developing the OMN.You can sign up now and for 2025 get an email with links to each week’s Symfony Station Communiqué and Battalion “Destroying Autocracy” post along with their featured articles. And you’ll be set with TPF after the fusing in January.We are posting on the Fediverse now at @thefulcrum @thefulcrum.dev and original website content will start in 2026.Featured Item(s)Muni Town writes:I’ve been trying to write this piece for years, really ever since I finished the first version of Open Source Explained (a v2 will drop early next year). Every time I get started I’m just overwhelmed with paralyzing visions of the commentariat accusing me of WrongThink.So I drop it, because I’m tired to the bone of debating the minutae of open source definitions when the conversation we ought to be having is about power: who has it? (oligarchs), how did they get it? (monopolies & corruption), why is that a problem? (platform autocracy), and how do we the people take that power back? (protocols and open software).Understanding ownership is powerIt’s important to understand the codes in your life, because your life is made up of them. Once you understand which codes you already have access to and even the right to inspect, you can see more clearly which other codes you ought to have insight into.Nothing makes me more anxious than writing about open source licensing because nothing brings out more opinion-havers, the vast majority of whom are speaking from a point of privilege-blindess in the western world. The widespread ignorance of the deeper power struggle at play (which we’re losing) has brought the free world to the very brink, so I’m pushing past the discomfort to honor the urgency of our moment.Open Source PowerWe start and end with good news to make the middle bearable.The response to Russia’s War Crimes, Techno Feudalism, and other douchebaggery404 Media reports:Ukraine Is Jamming Russia’s ‘Superweapon’ With a SongRadio Free Europe reports:How Britain’s Disposable Vape Ban Has Boosted Ukraine’s War EffortTechCrunch reports:Five people plead guilty to helping North Koreans infiltrate US companies as ‘remote IT workers’Surveillance Tech Provide Proteir Was Hackeda16z-backed super PAC is targeting Alex Bores, sponsor of New York’s AI safety bill — he says bring it onSoftware Maxims has:How FOSS Won and Why It MattersOpen Future announces:Open Future Joins the European Network for Technological Resilience and Sovereignty404 Media reports:Airlines Will Shut Down Program That Sold Your Flights Records to GovernmentFramasoft has:Renforcez l’internet du partage en contribuant à la robustesse de FramasoftSupport our 2026 campaign!The Register reports:Latest Servo release hints at a real Rust alternative to ChromiumBrussels eyes AWS, Azure for gatekeeper tag in cloud clampdownGame over: Europol storms gaming platforms in extremist content sweepThe Guardian reports:French authorities investigate alleged Holocaust denial posts on Elon Musk’s Grok AITechPolicy Press reports:Brazil Supreme Court Ruling Redefines Framework for Platform LiabilityNeutralTechCrunch reports:Databricks co-founder argues US must go open source to beat China in AIThe Guardian reports:AI firms must be clear on risks or repeat tobacco’s mistakes, says Anthropic chiefThe Center for Democracy and Technology reports:Architects of Online Influence: How Creators, Platforms, and Policymakers Shape Political SpeechTechPolicy Press says:If Europe Wants Digital Sovereignty, It Must Reinvent Who Owns TechMIT Technology Review reports:Quantum physicists have shrunk and “de-censored” DeepSeek R1The Evil Empire (AKA Autocracy) Strikes BackCorporate Europe reports:Preparing a roll-back of digital rights: Commission’s secretive meetings with industryThe Brussels Times reports:Secret EU plans to allow Big Tech to train AI with our personal dataThe Guardian reports:Dark forces are preventing us fighting the climate crisis – by taking knowledge hostage404 Media reports:This App Lets ICE Track Vehicles and Owners Across the CountryIRS Accessed Massive Database of Americans Flights Without a WarrantThe Register reports:Palantir plots NHS skills drive for its controversial data platformPariah StatesTechCrunch reports:US, UK, and Australia sanction Russian ‘bulletproof’ web host used in ransomware attacksForbes reports:Has Samsung Installed ‘Unremovable Israeli Spyware’ On Your Phone?The Register reports:Tens of thousands more ASUS routers pwned by suspected, evolving China operationBig MediaTBDBig TechThe Guardian reports:White nationalist talking points and racial pseudoscience: welcome to Elon Musk’s GrokipediaThe Register reports:Researchers find hole in AI guardrails by using strings like =coffee404 Media reports:A Researcher Made an AI That Completely Breaks the Online Surveys Scientists Rely OnThe ACLU reports:Your Smartphone, Their Rules: How App Stores Enable Corporate-Government CensorshipYep.TechPolicy Press reports:How Tech Oligarchs Profit from the Logic of ‘Finitude Capitalism’ and What to Do About ItCybersecurity/PrivacyPrivacy Guides has:Email Security: Where We Are and What the Future HoldsDarkReading asks:Can a Global, Decentralized System Save CVE Data?Heise reports:3.5 Billion Accounts: Complete WhatsApp Directory Retrieved and EvaluatedSignal or Delta Chat peeps.FediverseBen Werdmuller reports on:The State of the Open Social WebGreat Stuff as usual from Ben.ForBetter explores:The future of hope on the Social WebConnected Places has:Fediverse Report – 142Laura Hargreaves has:Ghost v6 Upgrade + Docker Migration: What I Learned (So You Don’t Have To)Big news with Mastodon this week:My next chapter with MastodonThe Future is Ours to Build – TogetherHopefully the new regime (foundation vs. benevolent dictator) will focus on trust & safety and not trying to be Twitter 2.Chris Sturmsucht shares:Fediverse: a new open and social webSlightly Decentralized Social MediaTBDCTAs (aka show us some free love)That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Destroying Autocracy.Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS. Or even our future home in 2026, if you want a head start.Keep fighting!Ringleader, BattalionReuben Walker Follow me on the Fediverse#activitypub #ai #autocracy #bigJournalism #bigTech #democracy #fascism #fediverse #ghost #mastodon #stopChina #stopIsrael #stopRedAmerica #stopRussia #supportUkraine #technoanarchism #technofeudalismhttps://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=3954

The streak for Nov https://autumnstuff.wordpress.com/2025/11/20/presence-november-tales/#blog #fediverse #activitypub #wordpress #blogpost #journal #reading #smallweb #indieweb #mastodon

UPDATE: It's not only Google Gemini AI, some people tried out others and it also pulled information out. From describing people's profile to sometimes even going deeper in detail (giving email out) or making shit up.RE: https://app.wafrn.net/fediverse/post/794cc26f-c768-4566-afc5-c7ea59a9d007#fedi #fediverse #activitypub

That won’t help im afraid I ca look into a “require login to see posts” feature#I-think-it-was-somewhere

I don't care if Michelle Obama runs your instance, if you don't have sufficient upstream bandwidth no one can see the media you post.#Mastodon #Activitypub

La piattaforma @mirlo, è una piattaforma molto simile a bandcamp che sta crescendo dal basso. Ha ottenuto 40000 euro per sviluppare la sua decentralizzazione.-- ENGMirlo platform, a platform very similar to Bandcamp which is growing from the bottom up. It has obtained €40,000 to develop its decentralization.#mirlo #activitypub #decentralization

Looks like @todd won the #ActivityPub experiment.

重箱の隅をつつくようで恐縮ですが、しゅいろさんと村上さんの「Misskey(.io)は連合を軽視していない」という一連の投稿は、「ActivityPubによる連合を」とは言われてない点には注意が必要だと思います。11月17日の村上さんの投稿では、次のように書かれていました。"連合をすぐに辞めることは無いけど、MisskeyHQがこれから作ろうとしてる負荷の少ない連合システムに移行して、その連合システムと互換性ないサーバーは将来的にやり取りできなくなるかも"ioの開発方針は、サーバーソフトウェアのMisskeyや、他のMisskeyサーバーに与える影響も小さくないので、ioという単独のサーバーだけに限定される問題ではないと考えます。#Misskey #ActivityPub #Fediverse #Fedibird [参照]

In terms of the social web, IndieWeb, atproto, and ActivityPub all seem great and I've been trying to learn more about them.https://indieweb.orghttps://atproto.comhttps://activitypub.rocks#socialweb #indieweb #atproto #activitypub

The Powered by #Pixelfed is lame af.This is not a #Cloudflare update btw.#ActivityPub #SocialMedia #News