







I forget the exact phrase/who said it, but yesterday, early during @atproto.nyc someone mentioned how much AT Proto work is focused on readers. Made me think of the excellent "In Defense of Readers" alistapart.com/article/indefenseofreaders/ by @aworkinglibrary.com
In Defense of Readers
alistapart.comAug 23, 2026 at 2:26 PM
“CEO said a thing!”
A blistering guide to what lazy journalism too often looks like


Creative Reading: Scaffolding Reading for Transformation
Reading augmentation systems increasingly help readers process text at scale. While these tools address real constraints of time and cognitive load, they often implicitly frame reading as information transmission, or "reading to discard," delegating interpretation and effort to the machine. Yet this delegation changes the outcome of reading. For example, in scholarly reading, deciding what a research text implies and why it matters is central to the work of scholarly production. We propose creative reading as an alternative goal: reading augmentation that supports readers in creating both readings and themselves as readers. By putting literary and narrative theories into conversation with scholarly sensemaking and creativity support, we present a provocation-oriented design space for valuing the process of reading as a way of preserving a plurality of readings and transforming readers over time.

Creative Reading: Scaffolding Reading for Transformation
Reading augmentation systems increasingly help readers process text at scale. While these tools address real constraints of time and cognitive load, they often implicitly frame reading as information transmission, or "reading to discard," delegating interpretation and effort to the machine. Yet this delegation changes the outcome of reading. For example, in scholarly reading, deciding what a research text implies and why it matters is central to the work of scholarly production. We propose creative reading as an alternative goal: reading augmentation that supports readers in creating both readings and themselves as readers. By putting literary and narrative theories into conversation with scholarly sensemaking and creativity support, we present a provocation-oriented design space for valuing the process of reading as a way of preserving a plurality of readings and transforming readers over time.

atproto made simple: publishing lexicons - underreacted
atproto made simple: publishing lexicons - underreacted
A budding discipline around how science gets read and judged - Aris
Scholarly publishing spent thirty years arguing about access. It has barely begun arguing about what readers do with the paper once they have it. At Aris we call that second argument scholarly interface design. Mike Morrison's community calls it ScienceUX. Either way it is becoming a field, and here is why it is worth your attention.
Ultra-Processed Minds: The End of Deep Reading and What It Costs Us
A reflection on the reading life. What formed it, what threatens it, and what remains.


Things we shouldn't say in polite company - Sherif's blog
you know, the stuff that makes sense when you work on ATProto but makes zero sense for everyone else

Finally had some time (to attempt) to catch up on reading the articles published on Offprint. Wanted to share a few that were fun reads First article is by @bunniesin.space. They’re exploring the world of atproto and reading their thoughts and confusion on @mu.social’s lex extension was a good read
Some thoughts on extending lexicons
amybunny.offprint.appWrote something that I'm down to talk more about #atprotonyc regarding book lexicons, having interoperable AppViews and getting to consensus for books. It's about the books, man!
A place of consensus making for the book lexicon — Olamaelcu
www.olamaelcu.netI wrote something about atproto from the perspective of having lived through the early days of the internet. timtrautmann.com/blog/the-nerds-are-building-a…
The nerds are building a new internet, and I could feel it in the room
timtrautmann.com1/ Scholarly publishing spent thirty years arguing about access. It has barely started arguing about what readers do with the paper once they have it. That second argument is turning into a field, forming around how science gets read and judged. Here is the map as I see it: aris.pub/blog/scholarly-interface-desi…
A budding discipline around how science gets read and judged - Aris
aris.pubHow to create reading experiences that "go beyond information transmission and toward reader transformation.” Great paper by @blue-phia.bsky.social @lepidopterane.bsky.social @yijunliu.bsky.social Sarah Sterman @sh1m.bsky.social @maxkreminski.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2606.04308 >

The Bluesky ecosystem has the juice (ATProto for normies) - Nate Spilman

nothin' but blue skies from now on
What It Means for Universities to Run Their Own PDS: The Potential of DID as Academic Infrastructure - Nightflight
From Attention to Intention - The Open Garden

Practical Decentralization