Seeing the Politics of Decentralized Social Media Protocols

TL;DR

This paper develops a framework to analyze how different decentralized social media protocols distribute control and power, revealing the socio-technical implications of their design choices.

Contribution

It introduces a novel conceptual framework for understanding decentralization in social media protocols, based on analysis of four major protocols and their socio-technical goals.

Findings

Protocols distribute control over components differently

Arrangement of components affects power dynamics

Values embedded in protocols influence social and political outcomes

Abstract

Calls to decentralize feed-based social media have been driven by concerns about the concentrated power of centralized platforms and their societal impact. In response, numerous decentralized social media protocols have emerged, each interpreting "decentralization" in different ways. We analyze four such protocols -- ActivityPub, AT Protocol, Nostr, and Farcaster -- to develop a novel conceptual framework for understanding how protocols operationalize decentralization. Drawing from protocol documentation, media coverage, and first-hand interviews with protocol developers and experts, we contextualize each protocol's approach within their respective socio-technical goals. Our framework highlights how control over key components is distributed differently across each protocol, shaping who holds power over what kinds of decisions. How components are arranged in relation to one another further impacts how component owners might offset each other's power in shaping social media. We argue that examining protocols as artifacts reveals how values shape infrastructure and power dynamics -- and that with a holistic framework as a guide, we can more effectively evaluate and design decentralized platforms aligned with the social and political futures we envision.