Open platforms are gaining momentum, and Ghost, the newsletter platform, just released what can be seen as a manifesto in support of the ActivityPub protocol, with plans to integrate it by the end of 2024.

This is a major boost for the “fediverse”—a network of open, interoperable social services that have been rapidly growing over the past year. Ghost founder John O’Nolan recently revealed that ActivityPub support has been the platform’s “most requested feature” in recent years—a statement he made on Meta’s Threads, which is also beginning to explore federation.

The concept is simple: these networks will allow users to follow and share content across different platforms seamlessly, removing the need for multiple accounts or follower lists. You’ll be able to engage with content from any service, across various platforms. Ghost’s manifesto makes a clear analogy to email:

“Closed networks are in a heated zero-sum competition for users, so your reach is limited to people on the same platform. Email, the web’s original open protocol, is used by more people than any platform or social network that has been invented before or since; because it shares users rather than competing for them. The ActivityPub network works the same way.”

This vision has been a long-held dream, and platforms like Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, and Flipboard are embracing it, while closed systems seem to be struggling. Ghost has benefited from the migration of users away from Substack during its controversies, and its move to make content distribution easier for authors stands in sharp contrast to Substack, which has responded to its business challenges by making it harder for users to leave its increasingly social-network-like environment.

Ghost is collaborating with Mastodon and Buttondown, another newsletter platform, to bring ActivityPub support. It’s also enhancing its reading experience, allowing users to follow fediverse authors directly from its platform. Notably, Ghost’s FAQ mentions that paid content should work with ActivityPub—something no other platform has tackled yet.

The fediverse combines old ideals of the web being open and interoperable with the potential for entirely new innovations. At this point, any new social platform that doesn’t consider federation may struggle to survive in the long run.