Blaine
@blaine.bsky.social
Sociotechnologist, activist. First employee @ Twitter, built that and pioneered social decentralization, created OAuth. Shy cloud-observer, mostly. Building Roundabout for local communities at @newpublic.org.
Reposted by Blaine
Yes, we need rules to regulate social media, but new rules on old, Big Tech platforms can only go so far.
We need new platforms, new infrastructure, and a lot of ingenuity to make something better.
joinroundabout.com
We need new platforms, new infrastructure, and a lot of ingenuity to make something better.
joinroundabout.com
February 6, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Yes, we need rules to regulate social media, but new rules on old, Big Tech platforms can only go so far.
We need new platforms, new infrastructure, and a lot of ingenuity to make something better.
joinroundabout.com
We need new platforms, new infrastructure, and a lot of ingenuity to make something better.
joinroundabout.com
It's been basically a decade since I last rode BART, and it's awesome that they've kept the super robo-voice platform announcements. Feels especially nostalgic rn. 🤖👾
February 5, 2026 at 3:34 AM
It's been basically a decade since I last rode BART, and it's awesome that they've kept the super robo-voice platform announcements. Feels especially nostalgic rn. 🤖👾
Stoked that what we've built so far for Roundabout is almost precisely what @bnewbold.net is describing here.
I'm biased, but also very bullish on the future of small-world spaces built on atproto.
I'm biased, but also very bullish on the future of small-world spaces built on atproto.
February 5, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Stoked that what we've built so far for Roundabout is almost precisely what @bnewbold.net is describing here.
I'm biased, but also very bullish on the future of small-world spaces built on atproto.
I'm biased, but also very bullish on the future of small-world spaces built on atproto.
atproto folks with a special knowledge and interest in calendaring / events! I've got questions! 💜 discourse.atprotocol.community/t/recurring-...
Recurring Events
We’re about to start building recurring events for Roundabout, but before we do, I’d love to tap into the collective wisdom of the atproto community. Our existing events are stored as community.lexic...
discourse.atprotocol.community
February 3, 2026 at 1:52 AM
atproto folks with a special knowledge and interest in calendaring / events! I've got questions! 💜 discourse.atprotocol.community/t/recurring-...
The DWeb Virtual Meetup is happening today, 10am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET!
www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
January 28, 2026 at 3:54 PM
The DWeb Virtual Meetup is happening today, 10am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET!
www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
Reposted by Blaine
Financial security eats up so much of one’s productive capacity (and well-being). Imagine what Emelia could do in a safe and steady work environment.
I see her helping someone in the atmosphere every single day with anything from tech support on Discord to critical security disclosures. Hire her!
I see her helping someone in the atmosphere every single day with anything from tech support on Discord to critical security disclosures. Hire her!
So here's a short write up explaining what happened today and what I'm going through, at a high level. It does include some history too, but I tried to keep it brief.
On Financial Insecurity
thisismissem.leaflet.pub
January 28, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Financial security eats up so much of one’s productive capacity (and well-being). Imagine what Emelia could do in a safe and steady work environment.
I see her helping someone in the atmosphere every single day with anything from tech support on Discord to critical security disclosures. Hire her!
I see her helping someone in the atmosphere every single day with anything from tech support on Discord to critical security disclosures. Hire her!
Adding to Anil's reminder, as atproto becomes more robust, there's increasingly less reason for any "alt" social media site to build its own technical infrastructure from scratch.
Social interaction deserves to be built into the fabric of the web.
Social interaction deserves to be built into the fabric of the web.
A reminder — there are *millions* of social sites on the internet, like Storygraph for your reading and Ravelry for your knitting, etc. It’s only the biggest, run by the extremist fascists, that do these terrible things. Don’t define the internet by a handful of apps run by 5 sociopaths.
ATProto is the only way forward for social media
January 28, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Adding to Anil's reminder, as atproto becomes more robust, there's increasingly less reason for any "alt" social media site to build its own technical infrastructure from scratch.
Social interaction deserves to be built into the fabric of the web.
Social interaction deserves to be built into the fabric of the web.
Reposted by Blaine
We're thrilled to announce that New_ Public is supporting the upcoming #ATmosphereConf, the global conference for AT Protocol.
Join @atprotocol.dev on March 26-29 in Vancouver, BC – early bird tickets are still available!
Join @atprotocol.dev on March 26-29 in Vancouver, BC – early bird tickets are still available!
Early Bird Tickets and Speaker Announcement - ATmosphereConf News
Buy your tickets now to join us in Vancouver, March 2026
news.atmosphereconf.org
January 27, 2026 at 7:43 PM
We're thrilled to announce that New_ Public is supporting the upcoming #ATmosphereConf, the global conference for AT Protocol.
Join @atprotocol.dev on March 26-29 in Vancouver, BC – early bird tickets are still available!
Join @atprotocol.dev on March 26-29 in Vancouver, BC – early bird tickets are still available!
Reposted by Blaine
Twitter died a long time ago and X isn't worth it. Before I made the jump, my ego was holding me back. I was too concerned with vanity metrics. I finally realized if you're posting stuff people want to follow, then they'll follow you, even when you leave. www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/k...
Open-source champion Kelsey Hightower on the promise of Bluesky
Ann O’Dea spoke to US software engineer and open-source champion Kelsey Hightower about the promise of the AT protocol.
www.siliconrepublic.com
January 26, 2026 at 5:23 PM
Twitter died a long time ago and X isn't worth it. Before I made the jump, my ego was holding me back. I was too concerned with vanity metrics. I finally realized if you're posting stuff people want to follow, then they'll follow you, even when you leave. www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/k...
Reposted by Blaine
Today, your most-used interoperable protocols are probably smtp, delivering your email, and https, loading web pages
Interoperability means you can use Gmail and Outlook, or Chrome and Firefox, to access the data that's moving over the same agreed-upon (protocol) rails
ATProto does that for social
Interoperability means you can use Gmail and Outlook, or Chrome and Firefox, to access the data that's moving over the same agreed-upon (protocol) rails
ATProto does that for social
Correct. We refer to that as "interoperability". It works because Blacksky and Bluesky operate on the same protocol which is a social contract on how data should be shared so that all of our apps can work the same or similarly and users have familiar experiences while benefiting from more choice.
January 26, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Today, your most-used interoperable protocols are probably smtp, delivering your email, and https, loading web pages
Interoperability means you can use Gmail and Outlook, or Chrome and Firefox, to access the data that's moving over the same agreed-upon (protocol) rails
ATProto does that for social
Interoperability means you can use Gmail and Outlook, or Chrome and Firefox, to access the data that's moving over the same agreed-upon (protocol) rails
ATProto does that for social
Reposted by Blaine
Join Blaine Cook, New_ Public’s Principal Software Engineer for Roundabout, at a @getdweb.net virtual meetup this Wednesday from 1-2pm EST
Blaine will present on Roundabout, our new local community app! Folks from @awana.digital and @dod.ngo will also present.
Blaine will present on Roundabout, our new local community app! Folks from @awana.digital and @dod.ngo will also present.
DWeb Virtual Meetup—The Latest in the DWeb Ecosystem (January 2026)
Join us at our next virtual meetup and hear our speakers share updates on some latest DWeb releases and community organizing efforts.
www.eventbrite.com
January 26, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Join Blaine Cook, New_ Public’s Principal Software Engineer for Roundabout, at a @getdweb.net virtual meetup this Wednesday from 1-2pm EST
Blaine will present on Roundabout, our new local community app! Folks from @awana.digital and @dod.ngo will also present.
Blaine will present on Roundabout, our new local community app! Folks from @awana.digital and @dod.ngo will also present.
I would love to see this in my hometown! We're a ~12k person community, and if we had ~250 shared cars, that's at least one car on every other block, so "runabout" cars would be widely accessible, but biking would feel much safer, and we could support higher density (no parking minimums!)
In case you missed it, Utrecht, Netherlands has begun building the largest Dutch “car-free” neighbourhood.
12K people
6K homes
1.8K social rental homes
1.5 mid-range rental & affordable owner-occupied homes
21.5K bike parking spaces
250 shared cars
2 parcel hubs
Parking structures on the edge.
12K people
6K homes
1.8K social rental homes
1.5 mid-range rental & affordable owner-occupied homes
21.5K bike parking spaces
250 shared cars
2 parcel hubs
Parking structures on the edge.
Utrecht to start construction on largest car-free neighborhood in the country next week
Construction of a new neighborhood is set to begin in Utrecht next week. The neighborhood, called Merwede, is scheduled to be the largest car-free district in the Netherlands, with 6,000 homes. The ar...
nltimes.nl
January 26, 2026 at 8:10 PM
I would love to see this in my hometown! We're a ~12k person community, and if we had ~250 shared cars, that's at least one car on every other block, so "runabout" cars would be widely accessible, but biking would feel much safer, and we could support higher density (no parking minimums!)
Reposted by Blaine
Many Europeans want to be free of American and Chinese Big Tech apps.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
🇪🇺🌐 The future of social media may be decided in Europe
A survey of European AT Protocol projects, including 4 mini case-studies
newpublic.substack.com
January 26, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Many Europeans want to be free of American and Chinese Big Tech apps.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
Open, decentralized protocols like ActivityPub (powering Mastodon) and AT Protocol (powering Bluesky) may be the key to a new sovereign social media infrastructure.
Reposted by Blaine
DWeb Virtual Meetup: Latest from the DWeb Ecosystem — featuring @mauve.moe of @awana.digital, @blaine.bsky.social of @newpublic.org, & @l5y.tech of @dod.ngo
Join us next week, Wed Jan 28 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET
Register here >>> www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
Join us next week, Wed Jan 28 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET
Register here >>> www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
January 22, 2026 at 11:15 PM
DWeb Virtual Meetup: Latest from the DWeb Ecosystem — featuring @mauve.moe of @awana.digital, @blaine.bsky.social of @newpublic.org, & @l5y.tech of @dod.ngo
Join us next week, Wed Jan 28 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET
Register here >>> www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
Join us next week, Wed Jan 28 10 am PT / 1pm ET / 19 CET
Register here >>> www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-virtu...
Reposted by Blaine
The Internet is alive! @chezpanique.bsky.social builds on her viral newsletter and takes us on a tour of the indie web.
These are hand-coded, independent websites, outside the walled gardens created by tech giants.
“It’s a canvas for boundless creativity and really you can be yourself.”
These are hand-coded, independent websites, outside the walled gardens created by tech giants.
“It’s a canvas for boundless creativity and really you can be yourself.”
A tour of the indie web
YouTube video by New_ Public
www.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:36 PM
The Internet is alive! @chezpanique.bsky.social builds on her viral newsletter and takes us on a tour of the indie web.
These are hand-coded, independent websites, outside the walled gardens created by tech giants.
“It’s a canvas for boundless creativity and really you can be yourself.”
These are hand-coded, independent websites, outside the walled gardens created by tech giants.
“It’s a canvas for boundless creativity and really you can be yourself.”
Reposted by Blaine
Why are we disconnected, and how could we reconnect?
The US Chamber of Connection just released the Social Connection Index, a “practical, data-backed blueprint for rebuilding social bonds, trust, and belonging across communities.”
Take a closer look at the full report:
The US Chamber of Connection just released the Social Connection Index, a “practical, data-backed blueprint for rebuilding social bonds, trust, and belonging across communities.”
Take a closer look at the full report:
The Six Points of Connection Report — Chamber of Connection
www.chamberofconnection.org
January 14, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Why are we disconnected, and how could we reconnect?
The US Chamber of Connection just released the Social Connection Index, a “practical, data-backed blueprint for rebuilding social bonds, trust, and belonging across communities.”
Take a closer look at the full report:
The US Chamber of Connection just released the Social Connection Index, a “practical, data-backed blueprint for rebuilding social bonds, trust, and belonging across communities.”
Take a closer look at the full report:
Hmong families didn't walk across a border to find a better life. Their homeland was bombed to hell by the United States, who they fought alongside in the Vietnam war. They escaped Vietnamese retribution through legal refugee pathways 50 years, almost three generations ago.
"“They specifically asked me if I knew where the Hmong families lived on my street & in the neighborhood.” Lugert-Thom responded, “I don’t know anything about that” & she said they then asked, “Well, what about the Asian families?”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
A St. Paul resident says federal officers knocked on her door and asked her to identify Hmong and Asian households in her North End neighborhood last week.
January 14, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Hmong families didn't walk across a border to find a better life. Their homeland was bombed to hell by the United States, who they fought alongside in the Vietnam war. They escaped Vietnamese retribution through legal refugee pathways 50 years, almost three generations ago.
Reposted by Blaine
Have you heard about Gander? I can't wait to ditch Facebook here in Canada & switch to this new social app.
We spoke to Gander's co-founder/CEO on this week's new ep of The AmberMac Show podcast (available everywhere now, also below):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2iD...
cc @jeffmacarthur.bsky.social
We spoke to Gander's co-founder/CEO on this week's new ep of The AmberMac Show podcast (available everywhere now, also below):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2iD...
cc @jeffmacarthur.bsky.social
Is Gander a "Facebook Killer" for Canada? [The AmberMac Show Ep047]
YouTube video by Amber Mac
www.youtube.com
January 8, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Have you heard about Gander? I can't wait to ditch Facebook here in Canada & switch to this new social app.
We spoke to Gander's co-founder/CEO on this week's new ep of The AmberMac Show podcast (available everywhere now, also below):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2iD...
cc @jeffmacarthur.bsky.social
We spoke to Gander's co-founder/CEO on this week's new ep of The AmberMac Show podcast (available everywhere now, also below):
www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2iD...
cc @jeffmacarthur.bsky.social
Reposted by Blaine
Technologist/podcaster @rabble.nz calls Roundabout, our new local community app in closed beta, “the Good Place version of Nextdoor.”
In an interview with Bluesky’s @jay.bsky.team, they talk about how New_ Public is moving from research & critique ➡️ building flourishing digital public spaces.
In an interview with Bluesky’s @jay.bsky.team, they talk about how New_ Public is moving from research & critique ➡️ building flourishing digital public spaces.
January 7, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Technologist/podcaster @rabble.nz calls Roundabout, our new local community app in closed beta, “the Good Place version of Nextdoor.”
In an interview with Bluesky’s @jay.bsky.team, they talk about how New_ Public is moving from research & critique ➡️ building flourishing digital public spaces.
In an interview with Bluesky’s @jay.bsky.team, they talk about how New_ Public is moving from research & critique ➡️ building flourishing digital public spaces.
Reposted by Blaine
Also, full-length pasta-level chewy French Fries would be horrible and do not exist, despite the existence of 刀削面. Thus, French Fries cannot be pasta, QQED.
December 28, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Also, full-length pasta-level chewy French Fries would be horrible and do not exist, despite the existence of 刀削面. Thus, French Fries cannot be pasta, QQED.
Reposted by Blaine
We've been working hard over the past six months to ship Roundabout to our pilot communities. It's amazing to see them come to life, and I'm so excited to keep building & learning to support healthy online spaces for local communities. 💖
With Roundabout, our new local community app, we’re reimagining a lot of familiar surfaces and features of “social media.”
Here’s how Roundabout is different:
Let’s dive in! 🧵
Here’s how Roundabout is different:
Let’s dive in! 🧵
December 17, 2025 at 2:08 AM
We've been working hard over the past six months to ship Roundabout to our pilot communities. It's amazing to see them come to life, and I'm so excited to keep building & learning to support healthy online spaces for local communities. 💖
We've been working hard over the past six months to ship Roundabout to our pilot communities. It's amazing to see them come to life, and I'm so excited to keep building & learning to support healthy online spaces for local communities. 💖
With Roundabout, our new local community app, we’re reimagining a lot of familiar surfaces and features of “social media.”
Here’s how Roundabout is different:
Let’s dive in! 🧵
Here’s how Roundabout is different:
Let’s dive in! 🧵
December 17, 2025 at 2:08 AM
We've been working hard over the past six months to ship Roundabout to our pilot communities. It's amazing to see them come to life, and I'm so excited to keep building & learning to support healthy online spaces for local communities. 💖
Canadians: am I out of line for thinking that an NDP (union-left, for those outside of Canada) politician probably shouldn't re-post Theresa May talking about the lack of civil discourse being the result of digital platforms, and positing that what we need is more gatekeeping of who gets to speak? 🫣
December 16, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Canadians: am I out of line for thinking that an NDP (union-left, for those outside of Canada) politician probably shouldn't re-post Theresa May talking about the lack of civil discourse being the result of digital platforms, and positing that what we need is more gatekeeping of who gets to speak? 🫣
Reposted by Blaine
We waited for nearly an hour. Just as we were losing hope, we spotted a dark spot in the bushes.
And then it dropped to the ground.
And then it dropped to the ground.
December 15, 2025 at 12:31 AM
We waited for nearly an hour. Just as we were losing hope, we spotted a dark spot in the bushes.
And then it dropped to the ground.
And then it dropped to the ground.
This was a pretty amazing morning hike.
This morning we woke up just before 4am and drifted over shallow coral reefs into Waigeo Island. We hiked up through jungle in the dark, past frogmouths and sleeping cockatoos.
Just before sunrise, we got to a hide where we waited patiently for one of the strangest birds in the world...
Just before sunrise, we got to a hide where we waited patiently for one of the strangest birds in the world...
December 15, 2025 at 1:04 AM
This was a pretty amazing morning hike.