Free Our Feeds, backed by Jimmy Wales and others, aims to raise $30M by 2028 to billionaire-proof the AT Protocol by making it easier for Bluesky users to leave
The non-profit social media foundation space is really heating up. Ciarán Mather / Silicon Republic : Campaign aims to protect Bluesky's tech from billionaires Thomas Claburn / The Register : Hulk smash Musk and Zuck! Actor Mark Ruffalo and non-billionaire pals back network tech underpinning Bluesky Madison McLauchlan / BetaKit : Canadian tech advocates join movement to free social media feeds from billionaire control Bluesky: Haniya Rae / @haniyarae : There's this but it's getting buried I guess: freeourfeeds.com?utm_source= s... @prettyarbitrary : Well hot damn. Things really are moving. Jay / @jay.bsky.team : Exciting to see new, independent projects spin up to decentralize the atproto ecosystem! Building alternative infrastructure is a big step towards giving users more choice and making the network billionaire-proof. [embedded post] Mike Masnick / @mmasnick : One of the coolest things about the announcement about @freeourfeeds.com, which aims to build a network based on ATprotocol that is wholly independent of Bluesky, is *how excited all the Bluesky folks are about this*. — This is what they were building for from the start. [embedded post] Paul Frazee / @pfrazee.com : 📢 This is the big goal of Bluesky! 📢 — Social networks should not be owned by own company! They should be a shared commons! Nobody should have sole power over them. Paul Frazee / @pfrazee.com : Free Our Feeds! What is it! @freeourfeeds.com — F.O.F. is an independent group with the goal of running THIS👇 social network totally outside of Bluesky. — It's not us. It's a fully independent version of the network. All the same users and posts. Running cooperatively with us and others. @loukas : I don't think millionaires are going to save us from billionaires, but having two BlueSky relays is far better than depending on just one - and it also makes it clearer to the rest of us how we'd make our own. [embedded post] Danilo / @daniloc.xyz : The Divorcelord tech plutocrats falling all over themselves to destroy their incumbent value might be the most exciting opportunity for the web in a generation [embedded post] @newpublic.substack.com : Bluesky CEO @jay.bsky.team tells @fortune.com why she's supporting the #FreeOurFeeds project: — fortune.com/2025/01/13/m... [image] @freeourfeeds.com : “This is the moment to reclaim social media,” said @robin.berjon.com. “As we did with the creation of public roads and shared spaces in our towns, we must invest in digital infrastructure that operates under a social contract — benefiting everyone, not just the few.” — www.usermag.co/p/freeourfee... Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz : “This is the moment to reclaim social media. As we did with the creation of public roads and shared spaces in our towns, we must invest in digital infrastructure that operates under a social contract — benefiting everyone, not just the few.” Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz : FreeOurFeeds aims to build a new social media ecosystem on top of the AT Protocol, an open, decentralized framework designed to enable interoperable social platforms. — They basically want to build Bluesky out from one company into a whole ecosystem of different apps. Read my story 👇 Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz : A group of former Twitter users who are fed up by the platform's decline under billionaire control, are launching a new campaign to transform social media into a public good, free from profit-driven incentives, venture capital pressure, and politically-motivated censorship. Robin Berjon / @robin.berjon.com : Mark Ruffalo says #FreeOurFeeds! — fortune.com/2025/01/13/m... Jordan Uhl / @jordanuhl.com : Today, former Twitter users who are fed up by X's decline under billionaire control, are launching a new campaign to transform social media into a public good, free from profit-driven incentives, venture capital pressure, and politically-motivated censorship. — www.usermag.co/p/freeourfee... David Meyer / @dmeyer.eu : Big news! There's a new project that's raising cash to build out AT Protocol infrastructure that isn't dependent on venture-funded Bluesky, to stimulate the development of new social networks using that infrastructure, and to make the protocol's governance more democratic fortune.com/2025/01/13/m... Mastodon: @muiiio@mst.muiiio.com : Why AT Protocol and not #ActivityPub? I find it strange the #Fediverse isn't mentioned at all — https://www.usermag.co/... Anil Dash / @anildash@me.dm : This is a monumental day for the future of the social web, though it might not be obvious for a while. Mastodon matures its governance model with a great, solid non-profit https://blog.joinmastodon.org/ ... and a coalition of independents push to open up Bluesky's AT Protocol: https … @mergesort@macaw.social : This is exactly the kind of cooperation we need to build a better open social web, really hopeful that it will help steward new platforms built atop the AT protocol. — https://freeourfeeds.com Tim Chambers / @tchambers@indieweb.social : @tchambers@indieweb.social boosted the following from https://mastodon.social/@wearenew_ public/113821474097496150 — Billionaires and corporations have taken over our digital social spaces, making the rules for where we work, play, and live our lives. … Mathew Ingram / @mathewi@journa.host : FreeOurFeeds seems like a worthwhile effort, but I don't know why they include Mark Ruffalo and Alex Winter at the top of their signatories - I mean, I'm sure they are both nice people, but why do I care what they think about a new social network or an open internet? https://freeourfeeds.com/ Threads: Eli Pariser / @elipariser : Today's one for the history books: Mastodon is becoming an independent non-profit, and Bluesky is supporting #FreeOurFeeds taking their AT Protocol in the same direction. — https://freeourfeeds.com/ RE: https://www.threads.net/... @shoqv4 : BREAKING: #FreeOurFeeds is a $30M plan to take back social media from billionaires. This is the model many of us had seen possible since Bluesky was launched. It was about “ATProto”, not building another Twitter-clone. And @elipariser, Ron Berjon and others have the credentials to make it real, big, and accountable. … @ben.werdmuller : Interesting new AT Protocol based non-profit with involvement from Nabiha Syed, Robin Berjon, Mark Surman, Mallory Knodel, Eli Pariser and others. Fediverse https://freeourfeeds.com/ X: Dave Winer / @davewiner : “FreeOurFeeds is a $30M plan to take back social media from billionaires.” It's really a half-baked plan to subsidize Bluesky over years. There isn't enough time. Maybe they should get some actual technologists involved in their program. https://www.usermag.co/... @bmlto : Former Twitter users, disillusioned by the platform's decline under billionaire control, are launching #FreeOurFeeds. This campaign aims to reshape social media as a public good, free from profit motives, venture capital influence, and politically-driven censorship. Taylor Lorenz / @taylorlorenz : I wrote about FreeOurFeeds, a new $30M plan to take back social media from billionaires https://www.usermag.co/... William Fitzgerald / @william_fitz : For the cost of a blue tick on X, you can safeguard the future of social media, one that's independent of the whims of billionaires. With your support, the Free our Feeds project could build out a new social media ecosystem. Give $8 now: https://www.gofundme.com/... LinkedIn: William Fitzgerald : “Free our Feeds” is a really promising new campaign just launched this morning. We worked closely with the team to make it happen. … See also Mediagazer