Tumblr so as to add help for ActivityPub, the social protocol powering Mastodon and different apps • TechCrunch

Tumblr will add help for ActivityPub, the open, decentralized social networking protocol that’s at present powering social networking software program like Twitter different Mastodon, the Instagram-like Pixelfed, video streaming service PeerTube, and others. The information was revealed in a response to a Twitter consumer’s criticism about Mastodon’s complexities. Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg — whose firm acquired Tumblr from Verizon in 2019 — suggested the consumer “come to Tumblr” as the positioning would quickly “add activitypub for interconnect.”

“Don’t stress,” he said, earlier than clarifying that Tumblr first has to take care of the waves of recent customers coming in proper now from Twitter, however that help for “interop and activitypub” had been attributable to come “ASAP.”

Briefly, this announcement means Tumblr would transfer from being solely a distinct segment running a blog platform to as an alternative turn out to be part of a bigger, decentralized social community of types — and one whose consumer base has grown in dimension in latest days as individuals flee Elon Musk’s Twitter looking for new communities.

The ActivityPub protocol, its web site explains, offers a client-to-server API for creating, updating, and deleting content material in addition to a federal server-to-server API for delivering notifications and subscribing to content material. In observe, which means Mastodon customers can work together and observe customers on different cases (independently run nodes), in addition to with customers on different social apps (like PeerTube), which additionally help the implementation of ActivityPub. It makes for an internet of social networks the place customers can discover and observe one another with out having to arrange new accounts on every new service.

That is the alternative strategy to at present’s “walled backyard” social networks, the place a publish on one platform can’t be seen by these on others, until you re-upload or repost the content material straight or share a hyperlink to the opposite website the place the content material will be discovered.

If Tumblr had been so as to add ActivityPub help, it means customers on Mastodon might observe Tumblr customers’ posts from their very own Mastodon occasion — with out having to make use of the Tumblr app. It might additionally present Tumblr customers with an entry level into the so-called “fediverse” with out having to face among the complexities which might be concerned with signing up for Mastodon for the primary time.

Tumblr was already benefitting from the Twitter exodus, having grown its U.S. app installs 7% week-over-week from the week previous to the acquisition and the 7 days after, information.ai had reported earlier this month. And, as of 12 days after Twitter’s acquisition, Tumblr’s worldwide downloads surged 77% to 301,000 up from 170,000 within the 12 days earlier than the acquisition, Sensor Tower lately mentioned.

Even earlier than Musk took possession of Twitter, Mullenweg had been serious about how Tumblr might higher compete with Twitter sooner or later. As a longtime open-source advocate, it is smart that he would embrace such a transfer.

Automattic, we must always observe, already has some expertise with ActivityPub.

Along with Tumblr, Automattic runs the running a blog service WordPress.com and contributes to the open-source WordPress running a blog software program platform. The latter at present gives an ActivityPub plug-in for self-hosted WordPress websites. This enables a WordPress weblog’s readers to observe their posts on Mastodon and different federated social platforms. One might think about the same state of affairs for Tumblr, if ActivitiyPub help was added.

Mullenweg didn’t supply an ETA as to how “ASAP” this help can be added.

Tumblr was not capable of present a direct remark when reached.