Ben Pate 🤘🏻

Hey #Wagoneers does this look right to you? https://bsky.app/profile/bandwagon.bandwagon.fm

Thanks to the rockstars at Bridgy Fed, #Bandwagon is live on Bluesky, which means everything you post reaches ~10 million Fedizens, and andother ~45 million people in the "ATmosphere", too.

It's 100% opt-in, so if BlueSky isn't your thing, nothing changes. But if you DO.. just check the toggle here https://bandwagon.fm/@me/settings/visibility

Yeah, that's all you have to do. Rock on 🤘🏻

@snarfed.org

Tagging those who contributed to the Endorse activity design. Here's an update

https://github.com/EmissarySocial/fep-endorsements

There's more work to do, but it's enough that your input is super valuable. Another round and I'll post to codeberg.

Feel free to share with anyone with informed opinions, and no worries if you're busy/sick/uninterested/whatever - absolutely no obligation to join in 🤓

@thisismissem

@oli

So, what would “Better Safety Tooling” on the Fediverse look like?

And, what would meaningfully help the Fediverse to serve more people?

— Tagging

because you had some interesting insights I’d LOVE for you to expand on :)

A developer in Korea just built a Fediverse server that runs directly on CloudFlare.

/r/fediverse users responded: "this is cancer" "you are a horrible person"

???

Can you please help me with a genuine question: what would make the #Fediverse a more welcoming place?

Yes, humans are just grumpy sometimes. But a real solution can't just be more HOA members reading the rules at the door.

What do YOU think would make a difference here?

Its great to have

digging deep into the #E2EE project and clearing a path for everyone to get involved.

Thank you!

https://soatok.blog/2026/07/15/the-long-tail-of-work-left-until-activitypub-has-e2ee/

AI and LLMs have received a lot of shade on the Fediverse, and for many good reasons.

But after seeing some of the latest tools in action, I firmly believe that we are staring down a new prisoners dilemma..

In the very near future, software will divide into two basic groups: systems that have been secured by AIs, and systems that have been cracked by AIs.

Please somebody prove this wrong.

Hey #FediDevs I'm not claiming to be an expert, but I've been building ActivityPub software for a while now.

If you had to guess what's keeping me up late at my computer tonight, what would it be?

Round numbers make me happy. Let's celebrate 700 people trying out Bandwagon.fm -- you all are amazing 🎉

And pretty consistently, about half of those have actually followed through to publish music on the Fediverse. Even for a free tool, anyone who's managed a marketing funnel would be proud of that.

#Fediverse, I need your help.

I have a budget for a small contract to improve #Emissary, and am looking for a talented web designer to create a new default theme for the server.

Highlights:

• Probably ~60 hours of work
• Anywhere in the world
• Must be a good person

Details are here:

https://benpate.dev/20260601-html-designer

If you know someone who's great with HTML+CSS+Design, and is looking for a short gig, please share this with them :)

#FediHire #GetFediHired

I'm so excited for this next year on the #Fediverse.

And the more I learn, the more I think #BridgyFed is going to become a foundational part of our network.

I just posted my first messages from #Emissary across Bridgy to my account on BlueSky.

I still have some things to fix (on my end, not theirs) but it worked.

IT WORKED.

NGL, I feel a little like Morpheus right now. And just think of what it will mean for every account set up on #Bandwagon...

RE: https://mastodon.social/@HolosSocial/116416045056891863

ZOMG! #E2EE news on the Fediverse keeps getting better

The

team is planning to implement the same encryption standard as Mastodon, Bonfire, and Emissary.

When it lands, truly private messages should interoperate between all four platforms. This is an absolute_win for open platforms and open APIs.

Have you seen this news?

#Mastodon just got funding to add end to end encryption into their software.

So, some time next year, you’ll be able to send truly private messages to the vast majority of the #Fediverse

Im so excited about this.

Because it’s an open spec, this opens the doors for every Fediverse app to join the party.

Yesterday, this project was a proof of concept. Today, Mastodon has turned it into a stampede.

#E2EE

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/04/sovereign-tech-agency-funding/

Remember, kids:

Everything you do to make the Fediverse better is an act of resistance.

Go make things better today 🤘🏻

Check this out: https://clip.place/w/ajgJ5Hi69bbbxHCK3nXNdj

I just published a video of the new "end to end encryption" protocol for ActivityPub in #Emissary. The UX is rougher than I'd like, but you can see the client app is coming along nicely.

Today, it sends and receives messages using MLS, a widely used industry standard and successor to the Signal protocol.

By June 2026, it should be ready for you.

For more details on the project and my progress, see: https://emissary.dev/e2ee

#JustBetweenUs #e2ee

There's a lot of energy on the #Fediverse right now to discuss/find a #Federated alternative to #Discord using #ActivityPub.

suggested that I put this out there to anyone who's thinking about it. We could probably rebuild most of Discord's features as an #Emissary inbox without doing a lot of back end code.

I'm too swamped to start on this right now. But if you're a great HTML+CSS designer, I'm able to give some time to a team who wants to take this on.

A couple days ago, I saw a post here about a literal nazi newsletter hosted on #Substack. I won't repost it because I don't want red and black swastikas in my timeline.

I sent a note to their "terms of service" team asking for clarification, hoping they would say "oh wow, thanks.." and do something about it.

Or maybe at least, they might say "gosh, this is bad, but they're not actually doing anything illegal."

But so far, no response...

I just signed up for the #FediForum "Un-Workshop" coming up in March. Who else is planning to sign in?

🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️

"Growing the Open Social Web" was already on my bingo card for 2026. I have my own ideas, but I'm more excited to hear what others have to say.

https://fediforum.org/2026-03-growing-open-social-web/

If we blame misinformation on social media for the trouble in our democracies, then growing the #Fediverse (responsibly) may be our best path forward.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@eff/115996451312302984

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could send encrypted DM’s on the Fediverse BEFORE you could do it in Bluesky? #JustBetweenUs

It's live.

I've just released my final software update for 2025, which includes 100% fidelity account migrations between #Bandwagon servers.

This long-overdue enhancement means that everyone can take their identity to any other #Emissary server on the #Fediverse. EVERYTHING moves with you.. music uploads, album sales, everything. And, your followers are forwarded to your new address.

There's plenty more, including a 2025 recap, and some plans for 2026 here: https://bandwagon.fm/2025-december

Oi #Fediverse..

Check out this 2min walkthrough of #Emissary's upcoming data migration tool. It's the last big feature I'm delivering in 2025.

It uses the "LOLA" data portability spec to transfer account data from one server (like Bandwagon.fm) to a new one (like bandwagon.your-band-here.biz)

No CSV files required. Just authenticate and approve, and everything just moves.

There's tons more to do, but I'm confident this will be live by Christmas. 🤘🏻

https://clip.place/w/joEazgBP38z81WsZZQNd1r

Do you know of a community that could use their own Federated mapping server? Please DM me.

In six weeks, I've made TONS of progress on Atlas Maps, and I'm confident with real people using it in the field.

https://atlasdemo.emissary.social

So I spent this morning reaching out to a handful of integrators and consultants, but I can't find everyone.

Please help me reach out to the activists, builders, and organizers you know who need to map local events in their communities.

Who should I contact next?

I'm so happy with the progress on #Atlas.. ESPECIALLY considering that it's been just over 3 weeks since the initial concept.

Here's a live, working demo of where we are:

https://atlasdemo.emissary.social/

This is just a silly city guide of some spots around Boulder, Colorado. Please don't take the content seriously. But do look at what a federated map could do out in the world. It's time to start working up use cases.

And, if you're inspired to join the party, I'd love to have your help :)

I'm excited to show off #Atlas - a social mapping server for the #Fediverse. In about two weeks, we've gone from crazy on I70 to a fledgling app that lets me annotate any location on the globe and share it over #ActivityPub

There's still a lot to do. But there's enough here for me to ask for your help. I would love to hear what you think of this short video, and to start talking to everyone out there who's interested in making maps on the Fediverse.

https://clip.place/w/4JHMF5FQoZw58UPwL6BLyv

Pspsps #Fediverse

I'm collecting info for a Federated #Map server. Something that would let people share info and comment on what's going on at specific places out in the world.

There are lots of ways this might be useful to our community, so I've written a super-rough-draft spec on my website.

https://benpate.dev/annotated-maps

Just like #Bandwagon, this app would sit on top of #Emissary so most of this is already built. We just need to connect the dots.

#AskFedi #FediHelp

https://mastodon.social/@benpate/115335093845889524

#Spotify has earned its ire from the #Music community - maybe mostly because of the increasing #enshitification of the platform.

But here’s a really great summary of a presentation from the CEO that demonstrates HOW to grow software from nothing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS/s/8YE2C9MY8r

This☝🏻is the playbook that the #Fediverse competes with, and a blueprint for how we can win at this game.

https://bandwagon.fm/2025-september 👀

More updates to #Bandwagon are now live on https://bandwagon.fm, including a beautiful embeddable player, Federation improvements, and upgrades to the core application.

We're continuing to move the #Fediverse forward for #Musicians and #Artists

Let me know how it works for you, and what would be the best next thing to work on.

I'm a software developer working on a bunch of #Fediverse things: #Emissary, #Bandwagon, and bandwagon.fm - with several more in the pipeline.

It's a pretty strange mix that doesn't really fit today's Fediverse, but it makes sense when you see the end goal.

I got an opportunity at #Fedicon to explain myself, so here it is:

https://spectra.video/w/eod3ybLu7sHzAEMihej8km

It's not the greatest talk about Fediverse tech, but it's the best I've got so far, and I hope it inspires you to make great things here with me.

After months of work, I'm excited to share these updates to #Emissary that let you sell #Music on the #Fediverse with #Bandwagon.

• Use YOUR OWN Stripe account
• Sell music as digital downloads
• Sell exclusive memberships to band updates
• 0% fees from me

This is free for everyone now, and will become a part of Bandwagon Premier when it launches later this year. More details are in the blog post:

https://bandwagon.fm/2025-july

Let's go make some noise.

A question for all of you on the #Fediverse (and especially #Musicians, #Writers, and #Artists) who sell your work online:

Do you know how you receive payments right now?

I want to connect the most fedi-friendly platforms into #Bandwagon, #Emissary, and beyond.. so I'd love to hear what works best for you :)

It's so awesome that Bandwagon is getting attention alongside the tech world. Here's one from https://thenewstack.io/bringing-joy-back-to-the-web-fediverse-vs-centralized-apps/

"My personal favorite at FediForum was Bandwagon, an app for musicians to share their work and get paid using Stripe or other payment providers."

😍 😍 😍 😍

This wouldn't happen without the Fediverse. The network effect is already strong, and it's growing daily.

Awesome #Bandwagon news: I've just pushed a number of cool updates to bandwagon.fm - including newly revamped profile pages that are smarter, more streamlined, and easier to manage.

The new profiles highlight your albums, concerts, and news posts separately, showing each in its own customized layout.

If you're already a Wagoneer, then sign in to see the results of the spring cleaning. And if you're a musician and you're not on Bandwagon yet, well…. you know what to do :)

More #Bandwagon news to share:

I'm really proud of the progress we've made this month.

Today, on Bandwagon.fm, you can now FOLLOW SEARCH RESULTS in your inbox.

What? Yes, really. Here's how it works:

1. Search for albums or tracks using tags and keywords
2. Click "Follow” then enter your fediverse handle
3. Bump over to your home server to authorize the follow
4. Receive new album releases in your Fediverse timeline.

More info on this here:

https://bandwagon.fm/2025-03-22-search-update

Check this out..

is killing it right now, and working hard to do the important (but un-shiny) work of making a site for #Musicians that anyone can host inexpensively

This is the endgame for the #Fediverse - thousands of indie sites, not mega instances - but it’ll take this kind of work to pull it off.

Good job, guys. I’m super jealous of you rn.

https://mirlo.space/post/222

Hey #Fediverse #Musicians - I'm once again trying to figure out premium pricing for #Bandwagon

I've committed to hosting profiles 100% free forever, but I still believe there should be some paid "premium" hosting as well.

What's the best way to split this? Here are a few ideas I've been kicking around. What kinds of things should be the "extras" that require a paid Premium (but still cheap) account?

You should pay for accounts to…

Hey #Musicians, if you're on #Bandwagon, the time has come.

I'm prepping the #SearchEngine and giving you a preview of how it'll work. Just jump over to bandwagon.fm and hit "Discover" to check it out.

I'm really pleased with this first step, but it will still be a just dumb, empty shell until we can get all your music is tagged, and optimize the tags/categories together.

You can read my full post at https://bandwagon.fm/2025-01-22-Search-Engine for all the details.

I can't wait to hear what you think.

Huge thanks to

for creating https://respectfulplatforms.org. This is the kind of declaration everyone should get behind.

Honestly, it's still a bit of a "to do" list for #Emissary and #Bandwagon. Moderation tools, in particular, are still lacking right now. But I'm going to work hard to complete these, because I believe every person - all 8 billion of us - deserves to use an Internet that values people over profits, privacy over censorship, and humanity over technology.

https://mastodon.social/@dansup/113851929699796097

Hey #Musicians, between Christmas and New Years, I've been pretty quiet about #Bandwagon.

But I have a bunch of huge news that I'm super excited to finally share with you.

Here's the full news release. I'll put highlights in a reply

https://bandwagon.fm/2025-01-01-January-Update

So, 2025 is going to be a huge leap forward for the #Fediverse in general, and #Bandwagon specifically. I've finally made enough progress on the search engine that it's finally worthy of sharing a screenshot.

There's TONS more to do, but I'm so excited about getting this into your hands in January that I couldn't wait to share this now.