The open social web

On the open social web, your data isn’t sold to the highest bidder to manipulate you. There are no misleading algorithms here, and every user owns their own data. It doesn’t consist of just one or two closed mega-platforms, but is a diverse ecosystem of dozens of social apps that can communicate with one another.

Open networks

There are various networks that enable communication between different services. These networks of apps are possible because they all use the same underlying open protocol. For example, the Fediverse uses ActivityPub, and the Atmosphere is build using the AT Protocol. An open protocol makes it easy to develop new apps that connect to the network, giving everyone the opportunity to develop their own apps and manage the data users generate themselves. Because the apps’ software is shared openly under an open-source license, anyone can build upon the apps and install them themselves, without relying on a central provider.

None of these networks are yet widely known to the general public, and organisations and sectors are still not making sufficient use of them. Within the Open Socials programme, Waag focuses primarily on making the Fediverse and Atmosphere more successful. Waag does this through its own accounts on Mastodon, Peertube, and Eurosky, as well as by hosting its own servers (waag.social, tube.waag.org) and building apps.

Transition

At the same time, Waag is bringing together different sectors to explore what is needed to make the transition to open social media possible. In July 2025, Waag brought together a coalition of news media organisations for a meeting at the mayor’s official residence with the mayor of Amsterdam. The participating organisations jointly pledged to shift from big tech to public tech. A year later, De Correspondent, Follow the Money, Volkskrant, and NRC have launched initiatives to make this a reality. This year, Waag is also part of the Incubator of the Stimuleringsfonds voor de Journalistiek (Journalism Stimulation Fund), where Waag is working alongside other organisations in the sector to develop the open social web.

Pluralism

Within Open Socials, Waag is explicitly committed to bridging the various network protocols in order to realise the vision of the open social web as a diverse ecosystem of social apps. In doing so, we align with and contribute to the overarching vision and the realisation of the European Social Stack.