In 2024, Ghost is adopting ActivityPub and connecting with other federated platforms across the web.

This means that, soon, Ghost publishers will be able to follow, like and interact with one another in the same way that you would normally do on a social network — but on your own website.

The difference, of course, is that you’ll also be able to follow, like, and interact with users on Mastodon, Threads, Flipboard, Buttondown, WriteFreely, Tumblr, WordPress, PeerTube, Pixelfed... or any other platform that has adopted ActivityPub, too. You don’t need to limit yourself to following people who happen to use the same platform as you.

For the past few years the choice has been difficult. Either participate in closed networks at the mercy of algorithms, or set up an independent website at the expense of your growth.

Email gave us private messaging technology that isn’t owned by a single company.

ActivityPub is doing the same for social technology.

The open web is coming back, and with it returns diversity. You can both publish independently and grow faster than ever before with followers from all over the world & the web.

I can't express how much I love this. Personally I don't use Ghost, but given platforms like WordPress and now Ghost are adding support for ActivityPub, it empowers people to build their own platforms.

That said, this still doesn't address the challenges of building your own website, which as mentioned in the post are one of the appealing aspects of current closed networks.

Still though, there is a vast number of creators, businesses, and company websites or blogs that can benefit from this today. When paired with RSS, it gives people choice and autonomy in how they create and consume content as I mentioned in a previous post, Rediscovering the RSS protocol