Are we decentralized yet? (arewedecentralizedyet.online)

Article summary

The article discusses the decentralization of social networks, specifically the Fediverse and the Atmosphere, and measures the concentration of user data on various systems using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index and the Shannon Index. The article also explores the differences between the Fediverse, which uses the ActivityPub protocol, and the Atmosphere, which uses the ATProto protocol. The author provides data on the distribution of user accounts and activity across different servers and platforms. The article concludes by noting that decentralization can be measured in various ways, including network structure, legal exposure, and concentration of social and technical power.

Main themes

• Decentralized social networks
• Fediverse and Atmosphere comparison
• ActivityPub and ATProto protocols
• User data concentration
• Decentralization measurement
• Network structure and governance

What commenters say

• The cost of running ATProto servers and relays is prohibitively expensive for smaller players, which could lead to centralization.
• The ATProto protocol is designed to allow for federation and decentralization, but its implementation may not be perfect.
• The Bluesky platform's reliance on a centralized service for identity verification could undermine its decentralization goals.
• The use of venture capital funding for decentralized platforms can lead to conflicts of interest and undermine their long-term sustainability.
• Decentralized platforms like Mastodon have successfully avoided centralization, but may face scalability issues.
• The ATProto protocol's design allows for flexibility and community-run projects, which can help reduce costs and increase decentralization.
• Running a Personal Data Store (PDS) server can be done at a relatively low cost, but running a relay or AppView can be more expensive.
• The choice of protocol and implementation can have significant consequences for the decentralization and scalability of a social network.