What is the ‘open social web’?

The open social web is a growing network of social media tools running on open-source software which, as a result, cannot be owned or controlled by big corporations.

These social tools – run by nonprofits, communities and sometimes individuals – work a bit like email: no one owns ‘email’, and you can send an email to anyone, no matter whether you’re on Gmail, Hotmail or Protonmail’s servers. Platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky and Threads are part of this growing network.

Our role is to help people engage in that ecosystem by packaging it within our user-friendly apps, so organisations can engage with open social without needing to understand the technical bits. This video, by filmmaker and open social advocate Elena Rossi, and this blog post by technologist and open social veteran Ben Werdmuller, are great resources if you want to learn more.