Latest news with #fediverse
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Substack rival Ghost connects to the open social web with its latest public release
After months of beta testing, newsletter platform Ghost has shipped a new version of its software, Ghost 6, that allows its publishers to share their long-form content natively with the broader open social web. That means in addition to publishing their newsletters to the web, RSS, and sending them out via email, Ghost's users can also natively connect with services like the decentralized X rival Mastodon; Meta's Threads; Flipboard; WordPress sites that have integrated with ActivityPub, Surf, and WriteFreely; and others. While Ghost also mentions the ability to publish to Bluesky as a part of this release, that's made possible through an integration with Bridgy Fed, a service that connects the open social web known as fediverse to the one called the ATmosphere. The former is powered by an open standard for decentralized social networking called ActivityPub, whereas the latter works with the newer AT Protocol used by Bluesky and other apps. Manton Reece, the founder of the publishing platform pointed out the difference between his service and Ghost's, noting that has been working on direct AT Protocol integration while Ghost is using bridging. ActivityPub has long been used to power open, decentralized social media applications. But in the years after Twitter's acquisition by Elon Musk, there has been an increased interest in building with this protocol as competitors to Twitter (now called X) emerged. Meta launched its alternative to X in 2023 with Instagram Threads, which has been catching up to X on mobile devices. Meanwhile, blogging platform WordPress, including the hosted version now offers the ability to integrate with ActivityPub, allowing users to follow WordPress blogs on services like Mastodon. Other apps have integrated with the open social web as well, such as Flipboard's flagship app and newer app Surf, and publishing platform Medium. Ghost also touted the potential network effects of connecting with ActivityPub, because it allows people on federated apps to then follow a Ghost publisher's posts, as well as interact with them by liking, replying, or reposting. This potentially broadens the publishers' reach and expands their readership. In addition, Ghost's users can keep up with other long-form content in an 'Inbox' section of its software, where they can follow other articles published on Ghost or WordPress. Plus, from Ghost's admin screen, publishers will have the ability to post short-form content to the fediverse, allowing them to grow their following and connect with readers. Ghost 6 arrives shortly after a shameful incident from its top competitor, the newsletter platform Substack, which sent a push notification to users encouraging them to subscribe to a Nazi newsletter. Several authors already left Substack over its decision to host such content in the past, including Casey Newton of Platformer, a popular tech publication. Other notable Ghost publications include 404 Media, Spyglass, David Sirota's The Lever, Tangle, Jason Calacanis's Inside, SFist, and others. While the ActivityPub integration is a main selling point for Ghost 6, this major release includes a number of other changes and new additions. Notably, Ghost now ships with a native analytics suite that tracks performance, engagement, and conversions across the web, newsletters, and subscriptions in real time. The software also supports a variety of payment methods, tips and donations, branded newsletters, content that can be personalized to individual readers, and more. With the release, Ghost adjusted its pricing for its Pro (hosted) plans; its cheapest plans now start at $15 and $29 per month, up from $9 and $25 per month, respectively. Ghost publishers with a large number of subscribers, however, will now see reduced pricing.
TechCrunch
05-08-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Substack rival Ghost connects to the open social web with its latest public release
After months of beta testing, newsletter platform Ghost has shipped a new version of its software, Ghost 6, that allows its publishers to share their long-form content natively with the broader open social web. That means in addition to publishing their newsletters to the web, RSS, and sending them out via email, Ghost's users can also natively connect with services like the decentralized X rival Mastodon; Meta's Threads; Flipboard; WordPress sites that have integrated with ActivityPub, Surf, and WriteFreely; and others. While Ghost also mentions the ability to publish to Bluesky as a part of this release, that's made possible through an integration with Bridgy Fed, a service that connects the open social web known as fediverse to the one called the ATmosphere. The former is powered by an open standard for decentralized social networking called ActivityPub, whereas the latter works with the newer AT Protocol used by Bluesky and other apps. Manton Reece, the founder of the publishing platform pointed out the difference between his service and Ghost's, noting that has been working on direct AT Protocol integration while Ghost is using bridging. Ghost 6.0 has been released, adding ActivityPub. Big update. It's interesting how Ghost now talks about Bluesky compatibility, which works via Bridgy Fed, but they don't mention Bridgy Fed. This feels slightly wrong to me since I've spent so much time working on AT Protocol. — Manton Reece (@ 2025-08-04T15:21:13+00:00 ActivityPub has long been used to power open, decentralized social media applications. But in the years after Twitter's acquisition by Elon Musk, there has been an increased interest in building with this protocol as competitors to Twitter (now called X) emerged. Meta launched its alternative to X in 2023 with Instagram Threads, which has been catching up to X on mobile devices. Meanwhile, blogging platform WordPress, including the hosted version now offers the ability to integrate with ActivityPub, allowing users to follow WordPress blogs on services like Mastodon. Other apps have integrated with the open social web as well, such as Flipboard's flagship app and newer app Surf, and publishing platform Medium. Image Credits:Ghost Ghost also touted the potential network effects of connecting with ActivityPub, because it allows people on federated apps to then follow a Ghost publisher's posts, as well as interact with them by liking, replying, or reposting. This potentially broadens the publishers' reach and expands their readership. In addition, Ghost's users can keep up with other long-form content in an 'Inbox' section of its software, where they can follow other articles published on Ghost or WordPress. Plus, from Ghost's admin screen, publishers will have the ability to post short-form content to the fediverse, allowing them to grow their following and connect with readers. Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise on August 7. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW Image Credits:Ghost Ghost 6 arrives shortly after a shameful incident from its top competitor, the newsletter platform Substack, which sent a push notification to users encouraging them to subscribe to a Nazi newsletter. Several authors already left Substack over its decision to host such content in the past, including Casey Newton of Platformer, a popular tech publication. Other notable Ghost publications include 404 Media, Spyglass, David Sirota's The Lever, Tangle, Jason Calacanis's Inside, SFist, and others. Image Credits:Ghost While the ActivityPub integration is a main selling point for Ghost 6, this major release includes a number of other changes and new additions. Notably, Ghost now ships with a native analytics suite that tracks performance, engagement, and conversions across the web, newsletters, and subscriptions in real time. The software also supports a variety of payment methods, tips and donations, branded newsletters, content that can be personalized to individual readers, and more. With the release, Ghost adjusted its pricing for its Pro (hosted) plans; its cheapest plans now start at $15 and $29 per month, up from $9 and $25 per month, respectively. Ghost publishers with a large number of subscribers, however, will now see reduced pricing.
TechCrunch
01-07-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Automattic puts Tumblr migration to WordPress on hold
In Brief Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg confirmed that the company is no longer working on migrating its Tumblr blogging platform to WordPress, as previously announced. The exec shared the news on The Verge's Decoder podcast, published on Monday, saying that the project is 'on hold' for an indefinite period. 'What we decided is that we want to focus as much on the things that are going to be noticeable to users and that users are asking for,' he told the site. 'This was more like an infrastructure thing, kind of like any big re-architecture. I still want to do it. It's just cleaner. But right now, we're not working on it.' The announcement also raises questions about what this means for Tumblr's integration with the open social web, known as the fediverse. By migrating its infrastructure to WordPress, it would have become a federated app. Mullenweg admits that was one of the arguments for making the move, but hints that it's no longer a priority. '…in the meantime, I think if there was a big push to implement fediverse, we would just do it on the Tumblr code base,' he said. Mullenweg also reiterated that Tumblr is not profitable, and is sustained from the profits of other Automattic products. Still, he said he believed in Tumblr's future and plans to give it the runway it needs to figure things out.
The Verge
30-06-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Tumblr's move to WordPress and fediverse integration is ‘on hold'
Automattic's plan to move Tumblr's backend over to WordPress is now 'on hold,' Automattic founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg says in a Decoder episode published today. The company announced the plan to move over the more than half a billion blogs on Tumblr last year, saying that the change would 'make it easier to share our work across platforms.' But Mullenweg says on Decoder that, 'what we decided is that we want to focus as much on the things that are going to be noticeable to users and that users are asking for.' It seems as if the move might be on the table in the future, though. 'I still want to do it,' Mullenweg says. 'It's just cleaner. But right now, we're not working on it.' The decision to halt the change also appears to mean that Tumblr posts won't be available in the fediverse in the near future. currently offers an ActivityPub plug-in, so Tumblr moving onto WordPress would theoretically let people bring Tumblr posts to the fediverse. 'That would've been a free way to get it,' Mullenweg says. 'And so that was one of the arguments for migrating everything to WordPress.' In the meantime, however, 'I think if there was a big push to implement fediverse, we would just do it on the Tumblr code base,' according to Mullenweg. Automattic purchased Tumblr from Verizon in 2019.
Malay Mail
18-06-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Threads embraces ‘fediverse' as Meta adds new search and cross-platform post visibility
SAN FRANCISCO, June 18 — Meta yesterday gave posts from apps or servers synched to the 'fediverse' a dedicated feed at Threads, its challenge to the X platform originally known as Twitter. The fediverse allows users to stay in one platform to look at cross-platform content — which means Meta gets to keep users on their product to view content posted to Mastodon or other participating platforms, and vice versa. Meta also added the ability to search for profiles at platforms in the fedivserse from within the Threads app. 'Our new search feature and dedicated fediverse feed help you discover more perspectives from people outside of Threads,' Meta said in a blog post. 'You don't have to miss out on anyone's posts just because they happen to post on different platforms.' Threads embraced the fediverse about a year ago, allowing users to see posts from accounts they follow at other connected platforms, such as Mastadon, Bookwyrn, WriteFreely and others. 'This allows you to see a broader range of views, no matter where they're posted,' Meta said, adding 'and we hope others will join as time goes on.' Threads was among the social networks that took interest in being more open as Twitter users sought alternatives after billionaire Elon Musk bought that platform in late 2022. Meta described the fediverse as an open global network of interconnected, yet independent, social media servers, each with its own users, content and rules. Meta compared it to the way people using different email services are able to message one another because platforms conform to common protocols behind the scenes. Unlike email, though, shared posts are public. 'The new fediverse feed and the ability to search for fediverse users in Threads are one more step in our journey to make this social platform fully interoperable,' Meta said. 'We'll continue to collaborate with developers and policymakers to make progress in this space.' — AFP
