An update from our Protocol Fiction special interest group
The Unreasonable Sufficiency of Protocols | Summer of Protocols
DRAFT Version 0.99, March 6th, 2023
In Search of Hardness
Protocol studies, the next crypto cycle, and the next age of the world
Protocol Reader - Summer of Protocols
The Protocol Reader The Protocol Reader is an 358-page book (currently only available as an epub) comprising 26 foundational essays by 31 authors from the Summer of Protocols program, carefully edited and sequenced to introduce you to the fascinating new discipline of Protocol Studies. It can serve as
Protocol Reader - Summer of Protocols
In the Fall of 2022, the word protocol was suddenly everywhere. The proximal cause was obvious: fueled, in part, by the highly visible and fractious change of ownership at Twitter, large numbers of people began heading for the exits. Most of them, of course, were just looking for
The Invisible Protocol Thesis: Tomorrow's Crypto Unicorns
Following the introduction of any new disruptive innovation, there is always a speculative phase to a technology cycle as the market tries to size and time the market opportunity.
Six Collisions for Protocol Monsters
Welcome to Monstrous Times, the magazine of strange rules fiction
AT Protocol, Part 2: Explanation For Non-Techies
Thanks to all who responded to my call for suggestions!
Protocolly Atmoseed - AT Protocol
News from around the Atmosphere, including a proposal to fix localhost, more webdevs getting into atproto, Mu Social's opinionated news feed, and more.
FediForum Talk: Introduction to Atproto Spaces
By Daniel Holmgren, head of protocol at Bluesky PBC. A technical overview of the recent extension of AT Protocol beyond public data to cover permissioned data and private group spaces.
How can open social protocols fail us in 2025 | shazow.net
Let’s compare the possible failure modes of various open social protocols: ActivityPub/Mastodon ATProto/Bluesky Farcaster/Warpcast Some scenarios I’d like to …
Challenges: Trivial, Grand, and Whitehead
Introducing the Protocol Institute Challenges program
Why a New Protocol? The History and Future of AT Protocol - AT Protocol
Bluesky CTO Paul Frazee and Head of Protocol Daniel Holmgren join for a wide-ranging conversation about what atproto is, why it exists, how it got built, and where it's going next. From a Twitter consultancy to an IETF working group, this is where to get started.
Inventing New Nature
Defining the Protocol Institute's research mission
Dangerous Protocols - Summer of Protocols
Protocols are frequently touted as the liberating alternative to walled technological gardens, but the historical purpose of protocols has always been to simplify decision-making and reduce human agency. How do we reconcile these two narratives? I explore the dangerous side of protocols, and how their ability to drive coordination means they also have
Theorizing Protocolization II: Atomic Protocol Questions
Solving real coordination problems to discover the formal laws of protocols.
Protocols: Power Hides in Boring Places
The fights over AI scraping and encrypted browsing are being settled in obscure standards bodies, and advocates need to be in the room, Mallory Knodel argues.
