Home / Technology / Ditch Big Social: Acorn Empowers Community Building
Ditch Big Social: Acorn Empowers Community Building
4 May
Summary
- Acorn allows organizations to build independent online communities.
- It uses Bluesky's AT Protocol technology for customization.
- Creators can design feeds, moderation, and onboard new members.
A new project named Acorn is offering a decentralized solution for building online communities, serving as an alternative to established platforms like Instagram and X.
This platform is built on the AT Protocol, the same technology powering Bluesky and other open social apps. Acorn enables communities to create custom homepages, starter packs for new members, and personalized feeds.
Acorn's parent company, Blacksky, has focused on creating safer online spaces, particularly for the Black Twitter community. This effort included forking Bluesky and developing custom moderation services.
With Acorn, Blacksky extends these tools to other communities aiming to establish their own controlled spaces on the open social web, moving away from the volatile policies and algorithms of large tech companies.
Features include tools for member onboarding, feed customization, moderation services, and growth analytics. Communities can also implement reputation systems with badges and awards, and tools to combat bots and trolls.
Community creators can define their own moderation policies and access tools for managing reports, bans, and post removals. They can also build topic-specific feeds and create dedicated tabs for announcements or resources.
Acorn's toolkit can be deployed on a community's own domain, with pricing tailored to their specific needs. Some communities may opt for the full suite of tools, including running their own Personal Data Server (PDS).
The average customer price ranges from $100 to $150 per month, with plans for a tiered SaaS model scaling with community size and tool usage.
Currently, Acorn is utilized by AT Protocol communities like Latinsky and Medsky, and the filmmaker community The Invite. Discussions are underway with other media companies and nonprofits.
The launch coincides with increased global regulation of social media and growing distrust in tech giants' profit-driven models. Automated bans on platforms like Facebook and Instagram have also motivated users to seek alternatives.
