Replying to
First question from someone from #WSocial to the board: is it European or EU?
Answer from @bjoernsta@eimsbuettel.social
European.social is not about Nations, it's about common values and principles.
#wsocial
125 posts · Last used 4d
Replying to
@_elena@mastodon.social
you’re going to look like the #Wsocial of Halloween.... Happy Halloween 😋
Maybe #WSocial is a secret project by Big Tech to stop me and other activists from promoting the open social web... distracting us with daily rage bait instead.
Incredibly, the W Social folks are boasting that they received an innovation award at a glitzy ceremony (the award was just created, its website went live last week).
If you didn't know, W Social grabbed the ATproto codebase (developed by Bluesky PBC) and quietly went closed-source, à la Truth Social.
Enough with these 🤡 for today
When I started writing deep dives on #WSocial and their problematic ways back in May I was a lone dissenting voice; mainstream media just rehashed PR talking points.
I can't begin to tell you how GOOD it feels to see others doing deep dives:
1️⃣ "Just 18 unverified VIP accounts produce more than half of all W Social content"
🔗 : https://wdonthavetime.offprint.app/a/3my2tecrxkk23-top-25
2️⃣ “European public voices choosing W” —But are they?"
🔗 : https://aiueo-en.leaflet.pub/3mxzaemhlik2c
Alas these awesome folks are only on the Atmosphere 🥲
RE: https://mastodon.social/@_elena/117460655679973556
But on the other hand, it would be hilarious to actually make #WSocial a thing just to see the crypto bros from bluesky struggle to keep control of their platform. I mean, if it's shady billionaires either way, I'd go with the EU ones.
PS: Sampling 8h on a Sunday when nobody cares about social media or leaves their phone at home is a fun choice to "sample" anything. Not saying the results are wrong just... not how I'd approach "working with numbers" sort of posts.
Quoting
Sunday October 18th – 8:40am
15 minute firehose comparison between #WSocial (48.2k accounts) and #Eurosky (36.9k accounts). W has 151 events (likes, posts, follows, re-posts) whereas Eurosky has over 5 THOUSAND events.
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?!?
Hilariously, their co-founder even came up with the hashtag #NOGhostTown 👻
#EUBigTech #OpenData
Replying to
And apologies dear Fedi friends if I continue to write about #WSocial, but I have my reasons:
1) The platform is fully endorsed by the European Commission!!! With von der Leyen taking time away from G7 meetings to do a video ad for their launch (!!!)
2) The #openweb #privacy destroying #EUKidsAct has been discussed between W and the EC during a meeting in early September. If W Identity is the thing implementing it in Europe, we're all in trouble as they publish personal details to the open web
Sunday October 18th – 8:40am
15 minute firehose comparison between #WSocial (48.2k accounts) and #Eurosky (36.9k accounts). W has 151 events (likes, posts, follows, re-posts) whereas Eurosky has over 5 THOUSAND events.
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?!?
Hilariously, their co-founder even came up with the hashtag #NOGhostTown 👻
#EUBigTech #OpenData
Boosted by @_elena@mastodon.social
Replying to
Ahhhh, I could have hoped for nothing better than having lunch with #WSocial’s favourite bot 💕
Thank you @_elena@mastodon.social 🌻
#TencoTecnoTrip #Paris #Fediverse #ATmosphere #OpenSocialWeb
Replying to
@ben@werd.social
The embarrassment is not W Social. That is just an entrepreneur with a good sales pitch and limited creativity, calling his platform a single character (there is another platform that does that).
The embarrassment is the European Commission, which committed to a platform that recently only had 3,388 Users with more than a single post? 70%of them don't follow anybody?
It is not that Europe didn't have any alternatives to W. One even has a name with 8 characters 😉.
#WSocial
@_elena@mastodon.social
I just published a blog post that explains the latest #WSocial controversy:
W Social is publishing as a permanent record on the open web the full names, nationalities and approximate birthdays of their verified users... who may be unaware all this information is available for anyone to see, outside of the social network.
🔗 : https://blog.elenarossini.com/public-by-design-how-w-social-makes-their-verified-users-personal-details-visible-on-the-open-web/
#privacy #GDPR #EUBigTech
🤦♀️
#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" 🤯
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vggsjzvhakoa7l2m2mguqv4w/post/3mxgkjg335k2u
Sascha @pallenberg@mastodon.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:
🔗 : https://www.metacheles.de/w-social-datenskandal/
Sascha did a PHENOMENAL job explaining the GDPR implications.
I wish the @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu would reconsider their support of #WIdentity and W Social - people's private data is not safe with them.
#privacy #EUBigTech #OpenData
RE: https://mastodon.social/@_elena/117421240937679336
DAMMIT BIG FEDI IS FUNDING ELENA!
NOBODY IS GONNA STOP ACTIVITYPUB?
#wsocial #satire
Quoting
RE: https://ohai.social/@dcoderlt/117420992135195411
Good morning to everyone except #WSocial people who are forcing me to work on a Sunday.
New article about their latest scandal coming soon (tomorrow or Tue morning at the latest). There is SO MUCH more to unpack that hasn't been revealed yet - and I've got plenty of evidence to share.
The W Social people had a meltdown about this yesterday on the Atmosphere, asking critics "who is funding you?"
This reporting is entirely self-funded, with childcare help from my in-laws and my husband 💁♀️
Open quoted postRE: https://ohai.social/@dcoderlt/117420992135195411
Good morning to everyone except #WSocial people who are forcing me to work on a Sunday.
New article about their latest scandal coming soon (tomorrow or Tue morning at the latest). There is SO MUCH more to unpack that hasn't been revealed yet - and I've got plenty of evidence to share.
The W Social people had a meltdown about this yesterday on the Atmosphere, asking critics "who is funding you?"
This reporting is entirely self-funded, with childcare help from my in-laws and my husband 💁♀️
Quoting
New #WSocial data fuckup, posted by @_elena@mastodon.social on Bluesky but not on the Fedi?
Apparently, during signup (which requires your real ID) you get an option to “display real name and age publicly”, and if you do, your nationality, real name, and age (offset by < ±1 year) are included in the data that is accessible to anyone, even people without a WS account, and to any scraper bots who care to look.
WS claims this is “public by design” and works as intended.
https://bsky.app/profile/elenarossini.com/post/3mxgkjg335k2u
Open quoted post
New #WSocial data fuckup, posted by @_elena@mastodon.social on Bluesky but not on the Fedi?
Apparently, during signup (which requires your real ID) you get an option to “display real name and age publicly”, and if you do, your nationality, real name, and age (offset by < ±1 year) are included in the data that is accessible to anyone, even people without a WS account, and to any scraper bots who care to look.
WS claims this is “public by design” and works as intended.
RE: https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:qmmejsc3d7yju4eaq4y5mjxa/post/3mxhjeyjkbs2z
I still have to find the link for that info on Mastodon, for Elena is on Mastodon @_elena@mastodon.social (She has so many accounts that I often don't find the main one.)
#WSocial #dataprivacy #datasafety
Quoting
🤦♀️
#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" 🤯
RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vggsjzvhakoa7l2m2mguqv4w/post/3mxgkjg335k2u
Open quoted post
#widentity ist ein digital identity provider, der ein geschäftliches Interesse an einem Internet hat, das möglichst wenig anonym ist. Nebenbei basteln sie an #wsocial, um Identitäten einzusammeln
https://t1p.de/widentity (lol)
#xss #rofl
I just got an invite from W Social, the anti-disinfo, 'privacy-focused European alternative' to X and other US services controlled by tech loons. Purportedly, all user data is legally stored in the EU & governed by European law. ID required. Anyone have any experience or thoughts about W?
#WSocial
someone built a #wsocial page with numbers and something like "relevant yet" or so as domain... does anyone remember?
Boosted by @DataKnightmare@mastodon.xyz
To become independent from X, @EUCommission@ec.social-network.europa.eu is betting on … #WSocial, a sort of revamped BlueSky with exactly 3388 users with at least one post.
@elena@aseachange.com is trying to alert people about this comical disaster:
https://blog.elenarossini.com/tag/w-social/
Which is now even more nonsensical as they inadvertently invented BoratCasting !
https://aseachange.com/@elena/statuses/01M2MQXYZ177XDMX349PBFG7Z2
#WBoratCasting Is Very Nice European Technology for Make Benefits Glorious Nations of Brussels!
https://ploum.net/2026-01-22-why-no-european-google.html