Decentralized social network protocols aim to create open, user-controlled social media platforms by leveraging technologies like blockchains and distributed systems. These protocols enable users to own and manage their data and social connections, fostering censorship resistance and interoperability between different platforms. A key example is the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), designed to be an open standard for social networking.

OnAir Post: Decentralized Social Network Protocols

AI TO UPLIFT HUMANITY

One team. One tech stack. So many possiblities.

Common team and mission

A core team of AI visionaries leads each portfolio company from concept to development, and testing to early revenue.

Common vertical strategy

Each Soar AI portfolio company maintains a strategic focus and partners with recognized industry leaders.

Common core technology

Each portfolio company leverages the same, unified core technology stack, optimized for scalability and integration.

02: From Ancestry.com to AI: Paul Allen’s Vision for a Better Future
Expand X Podcast – 22/01/2025 (59:27)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtcNDg_fnrA&t=1s

In this conversation, Paul Allen shares his journey from being an accidental entrepreneur to founding Ancestry.com and later SOAR.

He discusses his early life, education, and the pivotal moments that shaped his entrepreneurial spirit.

The conversation delves into the challenges of securing venture capital, the evolution of MyFamily.com, and the vision behind SOAR, which aims to uplift humanity through AI by helping individuals discover and utilize their strengths.

In this conversation, Paul Allen discusses the potential of every child, the importance of personal reflection, and the innovative SOAR AI platform designed to enhance personal growth and wellbeing.

He emphasizes the significance of relationships, navigating the AI landscape, and the future of crowdfunding and community ownership.

Allen envisions a new model of capitalism that promotes distributed ownership and democratizes investment opportunities for all.

OnAir Post: SOAR AI

Mastodon

Mastodon gGmbH is a non-profit from Germany that develops the Mastodon software.

Mastodon started in 2016 as an open-source project by Eugen Rochko, who, as an avid user since 2008, was dissatisfied with the state and direction of Twitter.

Believing that instant global communications were too crucial for modern society to belong to a single commercial company, he sought to build a user-friendly microblogging product that would not belong to any central authority, but remain practical for everyday use.

The first public launch occurred in October 2016. The initial support the project received through Patreon ensured that Eugen could begin working on the project full-time post-graduation. In April 2017 it received its first big break and garnered world-wide attention and press coverage.

The project was officially incorporated as a gGmbH (a German form of non-profit LLC) in 2021.

How to use MASTODON: the COMPLETE GUIDE (join, use, find people to follow, etiquette...)
The Linux Experiment – 25/01/2023 (18:58)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ypCRB_3Q_k

Mastodon is a platform comparable to Twitter, but open source, and made of plenty of servers, that talk to each other to form a single social network.

So, how do you join? Well the first step is to pick a server. You have a handy short list on joinmastodon.com/servers.

Let’s look at the interface. The first thing is your profile. To edit and complete it, just tap your user photo, and click the edit button.

You can also add links to your various other socials, and you’ll notice that’s where you can be verified. This implies having your own website: you copy a link to your mastodon profile into the code of your website, and you add the link to your website in your mastodon profile, and it will show up in green with a checkmark.

By default, your timeline, in the “home” tab on the mobile app will show posts from everyone you follow. The “search tab” lets you look for people to follow.

Then you have your post button, the black button at the bottom.

Finally, you get your notifications tab.

In mastodon, you have 3 timelines: your home, where you’ll only see posts from people or hashtags that you follow, you have the local timeline, which is your community, all the people on YOUR specific server, and you have the federated timeline, which is a giant dump of everything that everyone has posted everywhere. I never use the latter, personally, but you might have a use for it.

When looking at what someone has posted, you have a few options. You can reply, you can boost, which is exactly like a retweet on Twitter: you’re posting to your followers the message you’re boosting, as is, without any commentary. Then you can “favorite” a post, which is that little star button.

Now, if you want to write a post, then you just hit the “post button” on the mobile app, or you start writing on the left column on the desktop.

Posts have a character limit, that your server sets. By default, it’s 500, but it can be more or less.

You can add hashtags like on Twitter, by just typing the hashtag symbol, and you can mention people by typing the @ symbol.

Of course, you can embed images, you can also add polls with up to 4 options, and you can add content warnings. These are basically a filter that will hide the content of your post behind blur and some text. People will only see the text you wrote in the content warning, and if they want to see the actual post, they can click on it.

Finally, you can also pick who will see your post, either only the people you mention, which is the only way to make a direct message on mastodon, all your followers, or everyone.

You can edit your posts.

When writing posts, if you add an image, use the description, and fill it in.

Second, use content warnings liberally.

Third, use the “sensitive content” filter for images liberally as well.

If you had a Twitter account, use Movetodon: you login with your twitter account, then your mastodon account, and it will look at your Twitter follows, find the ones that are on mastodon, and offer you to follow them individually, or follow them all in one click.

You can also use the local timeline, using the “local” tab on the web, or in the Search, then Community tab on the mobile app.

Next is using hashtags: you can follow hashtags on mastodon. Click on the hashtag, and then on the follow button.

OnAir Post: Mastodon

Bluesky

Bluesky is a social app that is designed to not be controlled by a single company. We’re creating a version of social media where it’s built by many people, and it still comes together as a cohesive, easy-to-use experience. We’ve done this by building Bluesky on the AT Protocol, an open source toolbox for building social apps that can all talk to each other.

We want modern social media and public conversation online to work more like the early days of the web, when anyone could put up a blog or use RSS to subscribe to several blogs. We believe this will unlock a new era of experimentation and innovation in social media. Researchers and communities will have the ability to jump in to help solve the problems social networks currently face, and developers will be able to experiment with many new forms of interaction.

Traditional social networks are often closed platforms with a central authority. There’s a small group of people who control those companies, and they have total control over how users can use the platform and what developers can build. On these platforms, as a user, if you try to leave, you have to start over from scratch without the connections you built there or the content you made. As a developer, if you try to build a new app, you have to overcome network effects to rebuild the social graph from scratch, and if you try to build on the APIs of these companies they can cut you off and kill your company in the blink of an eye. As a creator, you might spend years building an audience only to lose access to it when the platform changes the rules on you.

Source: Bluesky Website

Bluesky's CEO on the Future of Social Media | SXSW LIVE
SXSW – 10/03/2025 (56:27)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7OwcXCE5Rg

SXSW 2025 Livestream and On Demand Keynotes & Featured Speaker Sessions + VOD Portuguese and Spanish language translations presented by Itaú (these will be available within 48 hours of VOD publishing).

Every few years, we scramble to set up new accounts on another platform just to rebuild our audiences or keep in touch with our friends online. Private platforms have locked users in for too long, contributing to a lack of innovation and competition in social media. Bluesky, an open network surging in popularity, aims to fundamentally change this and return choice to users. Join Jay Graber, Bluesky’s CEO, for a conversation on how we can take control over our experience online.

About SXSW:

SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film, and music industries. An essential destination for global professionals, SXSW features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, professional development and a variety of networking opportunities.

For more information, please visit sxsw.com.

OnAir Post: Bluesky

WeAre8

Project Liberty // Summit on the future of the internet // Zoe Kalar, WeAre8
WeAre8 – 27/11/2025 (08:23)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z7JDkVynGw

It was great to have our founder Zoe Kalar speak at the Project Liberty Summit on the Future of the Internet last week in Washington. Together, WeAre8, Project Liberty and the Frequency Network Foundation are forging a powerful partnership to supercharge our people-first social media revolution.

Project Liberty // Summit on the future of the internet // Zoe Kalar, WeAre8
WeAre8 – 05/11/2024 (00:51)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40lHz7P6UJU

It’s here – finally, a social home with a conscience, sign me up!

Join us on ‪@WeAre8App‬. Together we can bring love to the world and shift the power from big tech to the people.

OnAir Post: WeAre8

MeWe

We are a privacy-first social network with over 20 million users worldwide and more than 700,000 interest groups that is committed to giving our users control, protecting their data and providing a great user experience. MeWe contains no ads, no targeting, and no newsfeed manipulation. It is available on iOS, Android and desktop in more than 20 languages and over 200 countries worldwide.

Our journey began in New Mexico in 2011 when co-founders Mark Weinstein and Jonathan Wolfe began dreaming of the next generation of social media. The duo were disillusioned with big-tech’s disregard for personal privacy and its willingness to target, track and sell our data. They envisioned a new experience built on safety and respect and one that would bring people together while making social networking fun again. After several years of testing and a public beta, MeWe was officially launched at the SXSW.

Interactive Media festival in 2016 where we were honored as a finalist for their ever “Innovative World Technology” award.

In the years that followed we continued to refine both our free and subscription offerings while staying true to our ethos of privacy and user control. In March 2021 long time entertainment and technology executive Jeffrey Edell was named Chairman and CEO. Under Edell’s leadership we made considerable progress in improving our user experience, growing our membership and doubling down on our privacy-first message.

In 2022, we made the strategic decision to move to the blockchain and incorporate the Decentralized Social Networking Protocol (DSNP), an open internet protocol released by the Project Liberty Foundation. The foundation, launched in 2021 by Frank McCourt, and Frequency Labs, is part of the $500 million Project Liberty initiative, aimed at creating a better internet and a healthier digital ecosystem. DSNP has the potential to transform the internet by liberating social networking functionality from closed, proprietary platforms and integrating this functionality into the web itself.

With this move we put MeWe’s ethos into code and are completely solidifying our commitment to user protection and control.

We were honored again by SXSW in 2024 as a finalist for their Social Media Innovation Award and as of March have more than 670,000 active users on the blockchain, making MeWe the largest truly decentralized social network in the world.

MeWe has been supported by some of the most respected figures in tech, media/entertainment and finance, including Sir Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web), Steve Wozniak (co-founder of Apple), Divya Narendra (co-founder of Harvard Connection), Gavin Wood / Bjorn Wagner (co-founders of Polkadot/Parity / Web3 Foundation) and Frank McCourt (founder / chairman of McCourt Global & Project Liberty).

Source: MeWe Website

MeWe Social Network App – The Next Generation of User Privacy & Simplicity
Tito (08:03)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdxrBogit7E

MeWe : Come join me on MeWe! It’s the only social network built on trust, control and love.

If you like what you see, consider subscribing with notification turned on so you don’t miss a video or livestream. Email: tsc.collab@gmail.com

OnAir Post: MeWe

Summary

OnAir Post: Decentralized Social Network Protocols

News

Data Co-ops as a Scalable Alternative to the Centralized Digital Economy
Project Liberty – July 9, 2025

Today, Project Liberty Institute is proud to launch a new report: “How Can Data Cooperatives Help Build a Fair Data Economy? Laying the Groundwork for a Scalable Alternative to the Centralized Digital Economy,” in collaboration with the Decentralization Research Center.

Released during the UN’s 2025 International Year of Cooperatives, this report marks a pivotal moment to acknowledge the global impact of cooperatives and reimagine their role in shaping a more democratic and equitable digital future. It examines how the cooperative model with hundreds of years of legacy is evolving, highlighting a diverse set of models, from cooperative and hybrid approaches being tested today to startups and digital platforms, as well as legacy co-ops experimenting with new infrastructure and legal frameworks.

It includes case studies, authored by their founders and executive leaders, from across various sectors: from legacy cooperatives in agriculture and finance to emerging data cooperatives focused on digital art and online browsers. These examples range from long-established institutions to brand-new experiments, illustrating the flexibility and adaptability of cooperative approaches in the data economy.

Key Insights:

Data as a collective resource: Individual data rights and consent frameworks are not enough. Data’s real value comes from being pooled thus making collective models like co-ops a powerful alternative.
Scale out, rather than scale up: Co-ops grow through networks, not monopolies. This allows for decentralized, context-driven, and democratic governance that reflects the nature of data itself.
Quality data is needed for better AI: The shared ownership provided by the coop model ensures those who generate it share its benefits. Co-ops incentivize quality, trustworthy data, making them uniquely aligned with both ethical AI development and fairer outcomes for contributors.
Shaping markets, not just regulating them: Policy has supported cooperatives, making them a legacy model; it should do the same with data cooperatives. Governments must move beyond ex-post and punitive regulation only and act as proactive market shapers to support cooperative infrastructure.

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Source: Gemini AI Overview

Key Concepts

Decentralization
Unlike traditional social networks, decentralized platforms operate on a network of independent servers or nodes, rather than a single, centralized authority.
User Control
Users have greater control over their data, identity, and social connections, often through technologies like self-sovereign identity.
Interoperability
Decentralized protocols like DSNP aim to enable communication and data sharing between different platforms, creating a more connected ecosystem.
Censorship Resistance
The distributed nature of these networks makes it more difficult for any single entity to censor or control content.
Blockchain Integration
Some decentralized social networks utilize blockchain technology to secure and store data, ensuring transparency and immutability.

Examples of Protocols and Platforms

DSNP (Decentralized Social Networking Protocol)
Aims to be a foundational protocol for decentralized social networking, enabling interoperability and user control.
ActivityPub
A decentralized social networking protocol, enabling interoperability between different platforms.
The Fediverse
A collection of interconnected servers using protocols like ActivityPub, creating a network of federated social networks.
Lens Protocol

A decentralized social graph protocol, allowing developers to build social applications on top of it.
Mastodon

A popular federated social network based on ActivityPub.
Steemit
A blockchain-based social media platform where users can earn cryptocurrency for content creation.

Benefits of Decentralized Social Networks

Increased user privacy and security
Decentralization can enhance user anonymity and reduce the risk of data breaches.
Greater user control over data and identity
Users can choose which platforms to use and how their data is shared.
Censorship resistance
Decentralized networks are less susceptible to censorship attempts.
Interoperability
Users can interact with others across different platforms, breaking down silos.
Potential for new business models
Blockchain-based platforms can offer new ways for users to monetize their content and contributions.

Challenges

Decentralized social networks (DeSoc) aim to address the limitations of centralized platforms by emphasizing user control, privacy, and censorship resistance. However, they face several significant challenges that hinder their widespread adoption and success.

Initial Source for content: Gemini AI Overview 7/23/25

[Enter your questions, feedback & content (e.g. blog posts, Google Slide or Word docs, YouTube videos) on the key issues and challenges related to this post in the “Comment” section below. Post curators will review your comments & content and decide where and how to include it in this section.]

1. User experience and adoption

Complexity
Many decentralized platforms require users to understand technical concepts like blockchain technology, digital wallets, and private key management, which can be daunting for mainstream users.
Onboarding Friction
The process of joining decentralized networks, including setting up wallets, acquiring crypto, and navigating different layer-2 solutions, can be cumbersome compared to the seamless experience offered by centralized platforms.
Network Effects
Attracting a critical mass of users to achieve the network effects that drive value and adoption is a major hurdle for new decentralized platforms, according to Smart Sight Innovations.
Competition
DeSoc platforms face intense competition from established centralized platforms with vast user bases and refined user interfaces.

2. Scalability and performance

Decentralization vs. Scalability
Achieving both decentralization and high performance (speed and throughput) is a fundamental challenge, often referred to as the blockchain trilemma.
Transaction Processing
Blockchain-based platforms, on which many DeSoc networks are built, can struggle to handle a large volume of transactions, leading to slow processing times and high fees, says Built In.
Data Management
Storing and managing vast amounts of user-generated content in a decentralized network presents complex issues related to storage redundancy, data availability, and efficiently synchronizing data across nodes.

3. Content moderation and governance

Balancing Freedom and Safety
While promoting free speech is a key objective, decentralized networks face the challenge of moderating harmful content (like hate speech and misinformation) without resorting to centralized control.
Fragmented Moderation
The distributed nature of some platforms, where different servers (instances) might have their own moderation rules, can lead to inconsistencies and confusion for users, according to FeedHive.
Effective Governance
Establishing governance mechanisms that are both decentralized and effective in making decisions, resolving disputes, and enforcing policies is a complex task.

4. Interoperability

Siloed Blockchains
The lack of standardized protocols and diverse technical architectures between different blockchains hinders seamless communication and interaction between decentralized applications.
Cross-Chain Challenges
Enabling assets and data to be transferred easily and securely between different networks requires overcoming technical, security, and potential regulatory hurdles.

5. Privacy and security

User Data Control
While users have more ownership of their data on decentralized platforms, they also bear greater responsibility for securing it, as there’s no central authority to manage or recover lost data.
Decentralized Identity Management
Relying on private keys for account access means users risk losing access to their accounts permanently if they lose their keys.
Smart Contract Vulnerabilities
Flaws in smart contract code can create security loopholes that malicious actors could exploit.

6. Regulatory uncertainty

Evolving Regulations
The regulatory landscape surrounding decentralized technologies is still developing, creating uncertainty for platform developers and users.
Jurisdictional Differences
Regulations and legal frameworks can vary significantly across different jurisdictions, complicating compliance and accountability, according to Agility PR Solutions.

7. Financial sustainability

Monetization Models
Developing sustainable business and monetization models that don’t compromise decentralization principles is a key challenge, particularly for platforms seeking to compete with ad-revenue driven centralized networks.
Market Volatility
Platforms reliant on cryptocurrencies may face challenges due to market fluctuations and bear markets, impacting the value of incentives and rewards.

Innovations

Decentralized Social Network Protocols (DSNPs) like the DSNP aim to address concerns about data ownership, privacy, and censorship in traditional social media platforms. While promising, DSNPs face challenges that researchers and innovators are actively working to overcome.

Initial Source for content: Gemini AI Overview 7/23/25

[Enter your questions, feedback & content (e.g. blog posts, Google Slide or Word docs, YouTube videos) on innovative research related to this post in the “Comment” section below. Post curators will review your comments & content and decide where and how to include it in this section.]

1. Scalability and performance

Challenge
As the number of users grows, DSNPs struggle to maintain performance due to high transaction costs and data processing demands.
Solutions
- Layer 2 Solutions
  Techniques like sharding and off-chain transactions are being explored to enhance transaction throughput and reduce costs.
- Optimized Protocol Design
  Protocols like DSNP are designed for efficient data storage and retrieval, and the development of specialized blockchains like Frequency aim to support high-volume social applications.
- Distributed Storage
  Utilizing networks like IPFS, Filecoin, and Arweave helps distribute data storage, improve resilience, and potentially lower costs.

2. Content moderation and governance

Challenge
The absence of a central authority makes it difficult to moderate content, address hate speech and misinformation, and manage disputes effectively.
Solutions
- Community-Driven Moderation
  DSNPs are exploring models where users participate in moderation through voting mechanisms, flagging systems, and community-set guidelines, according to a study.
- Reputation Systems
  Implementing reputation systems that track user behavior and engagement can help identify and mitigate malicious actors.
- Moderation Tooling
  Research focuses on developing tools and interfaces that empower communities to manage moderation effectively.

3. User experience and adoption

Challenge
Technical complexities and a lack of user-friendly interfaces hinder broader adoption of DSNPs.
Solutions
- Simplified Interfaces
  Developers are working on creating intuitive and familiar user interfaces for DSNPs to reduce the learning curve.
- Seamless Integration
  Enabling easier migration from centralized platforms and integrating DSNP functionalities into existing applications can facilitate adoption.
- Education and Awareness
  Efforts are being made to educate users about the benefits of DSNPs, such as enhanced privacy and control, says www.finatech.io.

4. Interoperability

Challenge
The fragmented nature of DSNPs can create silos, limiting the ability of users and applications to interact seamlessly.
Solutions
- Open Protocols and Standards
  DSNPs like the DSNP aim to create open protocols that allow different applications and services to interoperate, enabling a unified social experience.
- Cross-Chain Compatibility
  Building solutions like Chainlink that bridge different blockchains can foster interoperability and enhance data accessibility.
- Universal Identities
  Developing decentralized identity solutions like DIDs and VCs can allow users to maintain a single, self-sovereign identity across different platforms.

Projects

Initial Source for content: Gemini AI Overview 7/23/25

[Enter your questions, feedback & content (e.g. blog posts, Google Slide or Word docs, YouTube videos) on current and future projects implementing solutions to this post challenges in the “Comment” section below. Post curators will review your comments & content and decide where and how to include it in this section.]

1. Addressing Scalability

Lens Protocol
Built on the Polygon blockchain, Lens uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) model to handle transactions efficiently and is working on scaling solutions like sharding and layer-2 scaling technologies.
Bluesky (AT Protocol)
Focusing on building an open and federated protocol for large-scale distributed social applications, according to Coinbound, Bluesky emphasizes user-friendly interfaces to encourage wider adoption and alleviate usability challenges associated with decentralized platforms.

2. Enhancing User Experience

Bluesky (AT Protocol)
Actively tackling usability issues with user-friendly interfaces and features like “starter packs” to guide new users, says www.hireawriter.us.
Lens Protocol
Its modular framework allows developers to easily build and extend functionalities, creating a more adaptable and user-friendly experience.

3. Improving Content Moderation and Governance

DSNP (Decentralized Social Networking Protocol)
Aims to decouple applications and data, creating a universally accessible social graph. This allows for diverse applications with varying moderation systems and user personalization algorithms, reducing reliance on a single platform’s content policies.
Farcaster
Focused on protocol-first development, allowing developers to build various clients on top of it. This fosters client diversity, potentially enabling a marketplace where different moderation and recommendation systems compete for users’ preferences.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)
Some platforms like Mirror are using DAOs to empower communities in decision-making and content governance, according to Coinbound.

4. Fostering Data Ownership and Privacy

Mastodon, Minds, Diaspora, Peepeth, and others
These projects empower users to own and control their data, choose what information to share, and with whom, notes Shardeum.
Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology
Underpin many DSNPs, ensuring data security through immutable ledgers and reducing the risk of data breaches and manipulation.
Privacy-Centric Innovations
Platforms like Minds integrate cryptocurrency tokens for private transactions and focus on minimized data collection and encryption techniques.

5. Incentivizing Creators and Users

Steemit
Was one of the first platforms to reward users with tokens (Steem) for creating and curating content, according to Coinbound.
Lens Protocol
Allows users to earn MATIC tokens for active participation and transactions within the ecosystem.
Taskon
Rewards users for completing various Web3 tasks in a decentralized way.

6. Promoting Interoperability

DSNP
Aims to provide a shared social layer, analogous to SMTP for email, allowing for an open ecosystem of interoperable apps and services that can connect to the underlying social graph.
Protocols enabling DSNPs to connect
Under development to allow seamless user engagement across different decentralized platforms.