Elena Rossini ⁂

My blog post that explains the latest #WSocial controversy is up: 🔗: blog.elenarossini.com/public-by-de... Disclaimer for W folks: this work is entirely self-funded, with childcare help courtesy of my family so I could write the first full draft on Sunday 💁‍♀️ #WIdentity #WSocialFacts #privacy

The Call for Participation for AT Protocol Devroom at #FOSDEM 2027 is open! 🥳 We invite builders, operators, researchers, skeptics and community members alike, regardless of background and past speaking experience, to submit a talk. More info 👇 discourse.atmosphere.community/t/call-for-p...

Check out oso.social an amazing new addition to the Atmosphere coming from @waag.org in the Netherlands. We’re delighted to have contributed to its inception. The future of social media won’t be one app to replace X or Instagram but a multitude of apps that work together. waag.org/en/article/w...

Happy "end of Daylight Saving Time" aka "child wide awake at 6:30am on a Sunday" to those who celebrate it 🫠

🥳We're turning 5!🥳 Join our biggest gathering yet to celebrate what we've accomplished and hear what's next. More exciting details to come 👀 RSVP on Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.com/e/dairs-5th-...

I downloaded the latest dataset of #WSocial 's verified records. I found: - records showing the legal name, nationality and approx. date of birth of 2457 users - 8 birthdays in the name field (their real birthdays, probably) - the two minors are still there But it's all public by design, remember?

Just putting this here... hmmm the story reminds me of something else? Like a #EUBigTech project maybe? www.bbc.com/news/article... #Privacy #PrivacyWashing #Consequences

My dear friend @samvie.eurosky.social is speaking live at #MatrixConf right now on the topic of "Open protocols unite: Common goals in advocating?" watch it here: conference.matrix.org/watch/peter/

This is fantastic.

Folks, please stop saying that @wsocial.eu is a ghost town 👻 just in time for Halloween comes the revelation that just 18 accounts post half of everything on W social. lol #NoGhostTown

“The internet is a store but it used to be a library” hits me like a slug to the chest

Don't let billionaires convince you slop is the future. They're used to managing & directing, not making things themselves. Of course they can't see the difference. They don't understand your love for the craft. Keep making personal, beautiful games. You've got my support 💖

Sunday October 18th – 8:40am 15 minute firehose comparison between #WSocial (48.2k accounts) and #Eurosky (36.9k accounts). Please DO NOT call W a "ghost town", it really triggers their leaders and MEGA fans, ok? They plan to monetize their platform in 2027, ok? Ok?!? 👻 #NOGhostTown #WSocialPics

Ahhhh, there is nothing better than having lunch with @wsocial.eu’s favourite bot 💕 Thank you @elenarossini.com 🌻 #TencoTecnoTrip #Paris #Fediverse #ATmosphere #WSocial

I just booked train tickets for @atmosphereconf.org 🚄🌷🇳🇱 I look forward to hanging out with Atmosphere friends and watching inspiring presentations ✨

Asking for a friend: is there a Clubhouse alternative in the Atmosphere? You know, an audio platform for live, participatory discussions? I couldn’t find anything... I love the concept of @stream.place but I’m thinking audio only. My “friend” could surely make great use of it these days 🤭

In case it wasn't obvious to some, I'll state it: releasing people's email addresses in public is not a requirement of the protocol. What W is doing is called "lying".

The goose has the mic: our Call for Talks is open! AtmosphereConf 2027, the Netherlands, Apr 29-May 2. Builders, artists, journalists, moderators, researchers: doing something real on atproto? Tell us about it. First-time speakers welcome. Round 1 closes November 30. atmosphereconf.org/speak

This is just the demo (come see us presenting it with @vdbdavid.eurosky.social at www.vlaanderen.be/trefdag-vlaa... next week!) but: - Optional ID verification - Only showed my ID to the government, super easy with myGov.be - My details aren't stored on protocol

I'm just pinning this here as a heads-up. I have honorable intentions: I am sharing facts in the hope that people truly make an informed decision when they verify their identity on #WSocial. Privacy is a fundamental human right.

Oh lol, I misunderstood this dialog at first, so there's actually *no option* to not make your nationality & age public?… 🫠

🎉 Privacy win: The Norwegian Authority has fined Microsoft’s Xandr € 8.5 Million. The online advertising company has violated the GDPR by processing personal data, including sensitive information on sexual orientation, without a valid legal basis. 👉 noyb.eu/en/privacy-w...

@palle.eurosky.social just published a powerful exposé about the #WSocial "it's not a leak if we intentionally publish it" ID data controversy. I highly recommend you read it (it's in German, but you could use your browser's translation tool): www.metacheles.de/w-social-dat... #WIdentity #GDPR

Dear Ingmar: some people do things without financial incentives. I have been writing about #WSocial because I find the discrepancy between the media hype and reality fascinating. I suspect many of your verified users are not aware that their details are published on the open web, outside of W

This thread is a must read 🔥

Dear friends who don't speak German: Go to YouTube ASAP, turn on subtitles → autogenerated translation and watch this video! TL;DR: #WSocial is posting legal names, nationalities and approx. birthdays of verified users as a public record on the Atmosphere. Confronted, they claim it's "by design" 🤯

An example of FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference) in action at the @disinfo.eu conference? Apparently someone in the U.S. did not agree with the topic of a session named "USA as a FIMI threat: acknowledge, adapt, push back" and applied pressure on the sponsors...

Ceci est un subskeet 🤭

New day, new #WSocial controversy 🚩 They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well, W Social appears to be pulling a card out of the U2/Apple playbook: almost all new accounts now automatically follow @wow.wsocial.eu... an empty account that never posted! 👻 #NOGhostTown #WSocialFacts

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My optimistic take is that human voices are becoming more important than ever, and that will eventually lead to more blogs and weirder personal websites 💚

Earlier this week I was a guest speaker for @suse.com : I gave a talk about my journey of tech empowerment (my discovery of the open social web in 2022-2023, self-hosting in 2024-2025 and #MeshCore this year). This slide about my LEGO mesh setup got amazing reactions ☺️

#WSocial 's tagline is "Trust Your Feed" – ironic, considering that the company's co-founder and most of its acolytes routinely publish misrepresentations about the state of the network. Second largest platform on ATproto? Matching Bluesky's KPIs? With these numbers?!? #WSocialFacts #WSocialPics