Big news for Mastodon GmbH.

[markwyner@mas.to]

Big news for Mastodon GmbH. They have formally joined the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

If you’re not in the design/tech world, trust me when I say this is a big step for the fediverse. The W3C establishes the standards used for the internet.

This is a solid path forward for small tech.

https://github.com/w3c/socialwg/blob/main/meetings/2026/2026-03-06-WG-kickoff.md

#Mastodon #News #Technology #Fediverse #W3C #SmallTech #FOSS

[slothrop@chaos.social]

@markwyner Great!

And kudos to whoever of the team subjects themselves to sitting through all those standards committee meetings

[bob@beamship.mpaq.org]

@markwyner

I keep hoping they stop selling code to MicroShit

[mastodonmigration@mastodon.online]

@markwyner

☝️ Fantastic news!

[julf@social.secret-wg.org]

@markwyner "The W3C establishes the standards used for the internet." Well, some standards, but it is mostly the IETF that establishes the standards used for the internet.

[hackillu@mas.to]

@markwyner How does Mastodon or the Internet benefit?

[wheresalice@woof.tech]

@markwyner hmm, maybe. There's a lot of other applications using activitypub and a lot of other experts, and we really need them to join too so that this doesn't become a mastodon-controlled group

[stefanmuenz@social.vivaldi.net]

@markwyner And among those are the both technical fundamentals of the #Fediverse, which are also implemented in Mastodon:
https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/
https://www.w3.org/wiki/Activity_Streams

[beaiouns@is.nota.live]

@markwyner

[markwyner@mas.to]

@hackillu good question.

The W3C is a neutral party, working to make the web a better place. They focus on accessibility and standards to make the web a more usable, inclusive, and enjoyable experience for everyone.

If Mastodon is working with them, it helps the fediverse (and FOSS) move the needle forward as open protocols do.

Any step forward *without* big tech is a giant leap.

That’s my take.

[markwyner@mas.to]

@wheresalice absolutely. Those other folks should get involved. I’d rather have someone at the table than no one. But I’d love to see others there, same as you.

[markwyner@mas.to]

@slothrop most definitely. I wrote a paper for the W3C for a workshop they were having in France. I attended the meeting, but only virtually. And it was all day.

[markwyner@mas.to]

@StefanMuenz yep. I love that ActivityPub is a recommendation.

[markwyner@mas.to]

By the way. They announced this new working group back in January:

https://socialwebfoundation.org/2026/01/15/new-social-web-working-group-at-w3c/

My original link was for the group’s kick-off meeting. I should have linked to the announcement as well.

I hope it went well, @darius! Thanks for being the chair. 👏🏻

#Mastodon #Fediverse #W3C #ActivityPub #FOSS #SmallTech

[slothrop@chaos.social]

@markwyner Those standards meetings are a real drag.

Except for this one person I met once who had really made it: she was a lawyer, doing standards work for an association of winemakers.

Their meetings usually took place in French chateaux, and very decent food and drink. 🍷

[markwyner@mas.to]

@slothrop oh, I think the meetings are productive and engaging. They’re just exhausting.