Fediverse

ChatGPT released a new mode, called Deep Research. Tech writer Casey Newton asked Deep Research to write a report about the fediverse. But how good is the quality of the report that ChatGPT puts out? Fediverse Report does some deep research on Deep Research's fediverse report.
A variety of smaller news updates this week.
Mastodon has announced it will add quote posts to the platform, and some other news.
This week I'm zooming in on the culture of the fediverse, prompted by the Superbowl halftime show. IFTAS announces they'll run out of funding soon, indicating the challenges with funding Trust & Safety in the network.
Large interest for the fediverse at FOSDEM, more conversations about data usage and consent, and multi-platform client Openvibe gets 800k in funding.
Its another massive week for Pixelfed, growing by another 100k active users and doubling their Kickstarter goal, raising over 100k CAD. Tumblr confirms they still intend to join the fediverse.
Pixelfed sees massive growth, NodeBB officially launches ActivityPub support, and Threads will not commit to a timeline on account portability.
If you were to design an open social networking protocol, what would that look like? Which metaphors and comparisons would you use to get a general idea of how the network functions? And what would you answer if people ask if your network is decentralised and federated?