As X shuts down Communities, Acorn debuts an alternative that puts creators in control
Acorn, a new decentralized community platform built by Blacksky, offers creators and organizations an alternative to centralized social media platforms like X and Instagram. Leveraging the AT Protocol used by Bluesky, Acorn enables users to create customizable, self-moderated online communities with tools for onboarding, analytics, and reputation management. The launch comes as X shuts down its Communities feature and growing distrust in major social platforms fuels demand for user-controlled spaces.
- ▪Acorn uses the AT Protocol, the same technology behind Bluesky, to enable decentralized community building.
- ▪The platform allows communities to create custom feeds, moderation policies, starter packs, and reputation systems like badges and awards.
- ▪Acorn is already being used by AT Protocol-based communities Latinsky and Medsky, as well as filmmaker group The Invite.
- ▪Pricing starts around $100–$150 per month, with plans to adopt a tiered SaaS model based on community size and needs.
- ▪The platform supports deployment on a community’s own domain and offers options including running a Personal Data Server (PDS).
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A new project called Acorn has launched a way for organizations and creators to build their own online communities as an alternative to centralized social media platforms like Instagram, X, and Threads. It uses the same underlying technology that powers the decentralized social media app Bluesky, allowing communities to build their own homepages, create starter packs for new members, and customize feeds and moderation tools. Acorn’s platform hails from Blacksky, a company building its own decentralized social media toolkit around the AT Protocol. The AT protocol was developed by Bluesky’s team and is used by it and other open social apps, like Flashes, Spark, Skylight, Surf, Streamplace, Leaflet, and more.
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