#WSocial posted a message on their official account talking about "temporary profile issues" for "some W users." Reality (exposed in my latest article): their network was BRICKED for ALL NEW USERS who joined starting on June 22 (some 3100+ accounts out of 5000) for 7+ days. An amateur reporter and self-hosting newbie (aka me) figured out the problem and the solution, bringing attention to this matter. I had to respond: https://mu.social/profile/elenarossini.com/post/3mpig4ggkpk2q hope others chime in 🤭
Elena Rossini 🌈 (@_elena@mastodon.social)
Scoop: #WSocial has been experiencing major technical problems for over a week: it is effectively a ghost town, filled with thousands of new accounts that cannot use the platform. Because my new article contains a possible solution to their problem, by the time you read this the issue may have been fixed. Or not. It has been going on for 7+ days, with complete radio silence by its developers and founders. My exclusive: 🔗 : https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-a-broken-ghost-town/ #SocialMedia #ATproto #RateLimiting
W Social (@wsocial.eu)
It is not strange at all. We where among the first users to signed up. As communicated 👇 wsocial.eu/profile/wsoc...
W Social: a Broken Ghost Town?
W Social has been experiencing major technical problems for over a week: it is effectively a ghost town, filled with thousands of new accounts that cannot use the platform.
Elena Rossini 🌈 (@_elena@mastodon.social)
Attached: 1 image 📝 #WSocial state of the network - Friday July 10th 📣 for those who are curious about it, considering the enthusiastic endorsement by prestigious European institutions #OpenData allows me to crunch numbers. On day 23 since its beta launch in Brussels, W Social has 11291 accounts: - 469 new users since yesterday - 899 users have published one or more posts - 72 new users posting since yesterday - 92% have never* published a single post *may be related to #WIdentity and its 13-step process
W Social's Beta Is Live. The Problems Didn't Wait. - Ewan’s Blog
I am definitely not touching W.
Elena Rossini 🌈 (@_elena@mastodon.social)
📝 #WSocial state of the network 📣 for those who are curious about it, considering the enthusiastic endorsement by prestigious European institutions. #OpenData allows me to crunch numbers (information about Bluesky PDSs is readily available). On day 18 since its beta launch in Brussels, W Social has 7935 accounts: - 90,5% have never* published a single post - 82,2% have 0 followers - 78% follow 0 accounts (may be related to #WIdentity and its 13-step process) LMK if you find this useful
I drew a bunch of dots to explain why social media is broken.
Two years ago last month, I shut down This., a social media platform that allowed each member to share just 1 link a day. The service was…
Elena Rossini on GoToSocial ⁂ (@elena@aseachange.com)
[1 media attachment] #WSocial state of the network - September 15th, 2026 There is a lot of misinformation regarding W Social and how active/successful it is. So, from time to time, I'd love to share some numbers. The beauty of #opendata! The network endorsed by the #EuropeanCommission may be the darling of Brussels political circles and European media organizations (who simply rehash PR talking points). But the look behind the curtain is really troubling. As @pallenberg often says, this network is #DOA (dead on arrival). A social media graveyard, or rather, a simple moribund database. There is no way that Zeiter, Rentzhog & co. can start monetizing it in 2027. Numbers from this morning at 10:30am: - Accounts on their PDS: 37,531 - Users with verified ID: 7,492 - Users with 1+ post: 3,388 - Users who have never posted: 34,143 - Users with 0 posts and who follow 0 accounts: 26,444 - % of users with 0 posts, who follow 0 accounts: 70,4% - % of users who have never posted: 90,97% So, whenever you hear someone hyping it up, feel free to forward this post or point people to my articles at https://blog.elenarossini.com/tag/w-social/ The one thing I will give W credit for though is how good they are at lobbying and hyping up their image. While this playbook may have worked in the past, not anymore. On an open network, with open data, it's child's play to expose misrepresentations and show the real, raw data. sources: pdsls.dev, clearsky.app, atproto.at and the csv of their full PDS that I download daily 💁♀️
Just 18 unverified VIP accounts produce more than half of all W Social content. | W Don't Have Time | Offprint
W Social says users must verify themselves before they can post, yet most of the top 25 posters have no verification records and between them have created over 250,000 posts. Find out who gets to post on W Social without verification.
The thought occurred to me (belatedly) that maybe there are other accounts on the promotional website that aren’t actually on W Social yet. Right now, wsocial.news shows me 4 users who are indeed on W Social and 3 who aren’t: @london.gov.uk, @beate.neos.eu, and @teresaribera.ec.europa.eu.
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@london.gov.uk is still on wsocial.news and is still not actually on W Social. It’s been long enough to really make it look like it could be the Greta Thunberg thing all over again Sources: pdsls.dev/at://did:plc:axuvbckddrg7lwlp… blog.elenarossini.com/the-untold-story-about-w-soci…
I'm glad that my article helped bring attention to this problem - which had bricked your network for all new users who had joined starting on June 22 (3000+ accounts, for 7+ days - I've got .csv records to prove it). Happy that my proposed solution worked 🫡
W Social
Some W users may experience temporary profile issues (e.g. "Profile not found" or "Invalid handle"). We’re actively resolving a minor AT Protocol issue and will update you shortly. Thank you for your patience - and for helping shape the future of European digital infrastructure.
SCOOP: #WSocial: a Broken Ghost Town? W Social has been experiencing major technical issues for over a week: it is effectively a ghost town, filled with thousands of new accounts that cannot use the platform. I discuss the problem and a possible solution here: blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-a-broken-ghost-town/
W Social: a Broken Ghost Town?
blog.elenarossini.com
