𝕮
@chrisshank.com
𝒻𝑜𝓁𝓀𝒾𝒻𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 how we create and commune on the web with @folkjs.org
The foundation of personal computing is the filesystem.
The foundation of the internet is a networked filesystem.
The foundation of a new social web will likely be a social filesystem. (It remains an ope question if atproto is such a foundation)
The foundation of the internet is a networked filesystem.
The foundation of a new social web will likely be a social filesystem. (It remains an ope question if atproto is such a foundation)
It seems a fork lies ahead, is atproto a portable database for a bunch of apps or a new type of post-app, social filesystem?
January 13, 2026 at 6:23 AM
Just to clarify, is this in relation to atproto being fully public atm?
January 13, 2026 at 5:40 AM
Just to clarify, is this in relation to atproto being fully public atm?
Not that surprised that that is the case. “Freely addressable surfaces” is a direct reference to this paper about the open authorial principle! Such surfaces are far and few in computing.
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
bsky.app/profile/chri...
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
bsky.app/profile/chri...
The filesystem of the personal computer is a freely addressable surface for accessing data saved in memory. Desktop applications used to be the ways that we interact with such data. Such a filesystem symbolizes *your* data.
January 13, 2026 at 5:29 AM
Not that surprised that that is the case. “Freely addressable surfaces” is a direct reference to this paper about the open authorial principle! Such surfaces are far and few in computing.
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
bsky.app/profile/chri...
dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
bsky.app/profile/chri...
Reposted by 𝕮
I've made a lot of progress since last year, excited to share more soon!
would love to chat with others who are interested in a PDS for private data, related projects, etc
who should I speak to?
would love to chat with others who are interested in a PDS for private data, related projects, etc
who should I speak to?
As part of preparing for #ATmosphereConf in Vancouver March 2026, we're republishing the videos from Seattle March 2025, along with transcripts.
Here's @raz.lol with a talk on Extending ATproto for private data.
Here's @raz.lol with a talk on Extending ATproto for private data.
Rashid Aziz: Extending ATproto for private data
atprotocommunity.leaflet.pub
January 12, 2026 at 11:07 PM
I've made a lot of progress since last year, excited to share more soon!
would love to chat with others who are interested in a PDS for private data, related projects, etc
who should I speak to?
would love to chat with others who are interested in a PDS for private data, related projects, etc
who should I speak to?
Certainly a important gap that becomes apparent!
January 12, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Certainly a important gap that becomes apparent!
As implied i think it‘s a flaw for every app creator to take their best guess what everyone might want for their app.
Let’s make the happy paths a few clicks and the rest reasonably possible for everyone.
Let’s make the happy paths a few clicks and the rest reasonably possible for everyone.
January 12, 2026 at 9:04 PM
As implied i think it‘s a flaw for every app creator to take their best guess what everyone might want for their app.
Let’s make the happy paths a few clicks and the rest reasonably possible for everyone.
Let’s make the happy paths a few clicks and the rest reasonably possible for everyone.
We need to figure out how materialize social graphs across the network and provide better computational affordances for exploring/searching/grouping/sorting/filtering/projecting/combining social graphs. They can't remain computationally passive lists.
January 12, 2026 at 8:49 PM
Let's create a tldraw or something and riff on it
January 12, 2026 at 7:55 PM
Let's create a tldraw or something and riff on it
The foundation of personal computing is the filesystem.
The foundation of the internet is a networked filesystem.
The foundation of a new social web will likely be a social filesystem. (It remains an ope question if atproto is such a foundation)
The foundation of the internet is a networked filesystem.
The foundation of a new social web will likely be a social filesystem. (It remains an ope question if atproto is such a foundation)
It seems a fork lies ahead, is atproto a portable database for a bunch of apps or a new type of post-app, social filesystem?
January 12, 2026 at 7:55 PM
would love to see any posts so i can link them in the future!
January 12, 2026 at 7:53 PM
would love to see any posts so i can link them in the future!
A social filesystem for a new social web is a freely addressable surface for *our* data and relationships. Applications will be the default way to interact with such data, but I think will ultimately reduce such potential. Such a filesystem should symbolize our interconnected identifies.
January 12, 2026 at 7:51 PM
A social filesystem for a new social web is a freely addressable surface for *our* data and relationships. Applications will be the default way to interact with such data, but I think will ultimately reduce such potential. Such a filesystem should symbolize our interconnected identifies.
The Internet’s networked filesystem is a freely addressable surface for accessing other people’s files. HTML pages are the default applications to interact with such files. Such a filesystem has come to symbolize destinations to visit.
January 12, 2026 at 7:48 PM
The Internet’s networked filesystem is a freely addressable surface for accessing other people’s files. HTML pages are the default applications to interact with such files. Such a filesystem has come to symbolize destinations to visit.
The filesystem of the personal computer is a freely addressable surface for accessing data saved in memory. Desktop applications used to be the ways that we interact with such data. Such a filesystem symbolizes *your* data.
January 12, 2026 at 7:46 PM
The filesystem of the personal computer is a freely addressable surface for accessing data saved in memory. Desktop applications used to be the ways that we interact with such data. Such a filesystem symbolizes *your* data.
The foundation of personal computing is the filesystem.
The foundation of the internet is a networked filesystem.
The foundation of a new social web will likely be a social filesystem. (It remains an ope question if atproto is such a foundation)
The foundation of the internet is a networked filesystem.
The foundation of a new social web will likely be a social filesystem. (It remains an ope question if atproto is such a foundation)
It seems a fork lies ahead, is atproto a portable database for a bunch of apps or a new type of post-app, social filesystem?
the whole point of atproto is Authenticated Transfer, I think at least. For others its just data portability
January 12, 2026 at 7:44 PM
The foundation of personal computing is the filesystem.
The foundation of the internet is a networked filesystem.
The foundation of a new social web will likely be a social filesystem. (It remains an ope question if atproto is such a foundation)
The foundation of the internet is a networked filesystem.
The foundation of a new social web will likely be a social filesystem. (It remains an ope question if atproto is such a foundation)
EARTH'S GREATEST ENEMY | OFFICIAL TRAILER
YouTube video by Empire Files
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by 𝕮
The fundamental flaw here is that an everything protocol needs a private social graph. Otherwise many use cases are simply ruled out legally.
A new framing for people trying to understand atproto is a post-app protocol is the idea that bluesky determines the single social-graph of the entire network.
January 12, 2026 at 10:48 AM
The fundamental flaw here is that an everything protocol needs a private social graph. Otherwise many use cases are simply ruled out legally.
indeed a favorite paper, it's unfortunate open source is stuck on licensing as a theory-of-change as opposed to figuring out a intersectional, emancipatory politics
January 12, 2026 at 7:57 AM
indeed a favorite paper, it's unfortunate open source is stuck on licensing as a theory-of-change as opposed to figuring out a intersectional, emancipatory politics
We'll have this working on Linux one day
It exposes accessibility trees via a websocket server, so you'll be able to create your own overlays from HTML files
bsky.app/profile/chri...
It exposes accessibility trees via a websocket server, so you'll be able to create your own overlays from HTML files
bsky.app/profile/chri...
What would it look like if accessibility infrastructure became the foundation of malleable computing? Here's a demo by @orionreed.com that adversarially adds find and replace functionality to a hermetically sealed messaging app.
January 12, 2026 at 7:51 AM
We'll have this working on Linux one day
It exposes accessibility trees via a websocket server, so you'll be able to create your own overlays from HTML files
bsky.app/profile/chri...
It exposes accessibility trees via a websocket server, so you'll be able to create your own overlays from HTML files
bsky.app/profile/chri...
Another aspect of social graphs is understanding how you've interacted with someone in the past.
bsky.app/profile/pevo...
bsky.app/profile/pevo...
Reupping a 🧵 from this summer:
This product is supposedly about conversations, but it's missing a key feature which highlights the interactions we've had
The most useful tab I could have when viewing your profile is a timeline focused on *our* conversations:
quotes, replies, reposts, likes, etc.
This product is supposedly about conversations, but it's missing a key feature which highlights the interactions we've had
The most useful tab I could have when viewing your profile is a timeline focused on *our* conversations:
quotes, replies, reposts, likes, etc.
For example, what if MY view of YOUR profile included an affordance which let me chronologically browse the intersection of:
- everything you posted + I liked, or
- vice versa
Would those two be separate timelines, or just a single conversational flow of all our mutual interactions?
Hmmm...
- everything you posted + I liked, or
- vice versa
Would those two be separate timelines, or just a single conversational flow of all our mutual interactions?
Hmmm...
January 11, 2026 at 9:51 PM
Another aspect of social graphs is understanding how you've interacted with someone in the past.
bsky.app/profile/pevo...
bsky.app/profile/pevo...
This shouldn't be another app, it should be embedded everywhere in the network.
bsky.app/profile/boss...
bsky.app/profile/boss...
I think you do need a universal graph somewhere, and a well-defined interface for leveraging it - but it doesn't have to be that it gets used as the follow graph everywhere
you could have it permissioned to each app e.g. and present a 'follow here', 'follow everywhere' concept
you could have it permissioned to each app e.g. and present a 'follow here', 'follow everywhere' concept
January 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
This shouldn't be another app, it should be embedded everywhere in the network.
bsky.app/profile/boss...
bsky.app/profile/boss...
We need to figure out how materialize social graphs across the network and provide better computational affordances for exploring/searching/grouping/sorting/filtering/projecting/combining social graphs. They can't remain computationally passive lists.
January 11, 2026 at 8:39 PM
We need to figure out how materialize social graphs across the network and provide better computational affordances for exploring/searching/grouping/sorting/filtering/projecting/combining social graphs. They can't remain computationally passive lists.
A new framing for people trying to understand atproto is a post-app protocol is the idea that bluesky determines the single social-graph of the entire network.
the idea of a singular universal “following” list is misguided — if you’re fixated on this, your brain is still too conditioned and attached to the dying era of traditional social media
where we’re going we don’t need “following” and “followers”
where we’re going we don’t need “following” and “followers”
“should my atproto app re-use Bluesky’s follow/profile lexicons?”
my 2 cents: in your onboarding flow, let users choose to “connect” an existing social graph & set it as the default, or start fresh w/ a new social graph
like feeds, users should be able to choose their social graph & use multiple
my 2 cents: in your onboarding flow, let users choose to “connect” an existing social graph & set it as the default, or start fresh w/ a new social graph
like feeds, users should be able to choose their social graph & use multiple
January 11, 2026 at 8:31 PM
A new framing for people trying to understand atproto is a post-app protocol is the idea that bluesky determines the single social-graph of the entire network.
Reposted by 𝕮
the idea of a singular universal “following” list is misguided — if you’re fixated on this, your brain is still too conditioned and attached to the dying era of traditional social media
where we’re going we don’t need “following” and “followers”
where we’re going we don’t need “following” and “followers”
“should my atproto app re-use Bluesky’s follow/profile lexicons?”
my 2 cents: in your onboarding flow, let users choose to “connect” an existing social graph & set it as the default, or start fresh w/ a new social graph
like feeds, users should be able to choose their social graph & use multiple
my 2 cents: in your onboarding flow, let users choose to “connect” an existing social graph & set it as the default, or start fresh w/ a new social graph
like feeds, users should be able to choose their social graph & use multiple
January 11, 2026 at 6:57 PM
the idea of a singular universal “following” list is misguided — if you’re fixated on this, your brain is still too conditioned and attached to the dying era of traditional social media
where we’re going we don’t need “following” and “followers”
where we’re going we don’t need “following” and “followers”