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What is the Atmosphere? A plain-English guide to ATProto

Short answer: The Atmosphere is a name people use for the ecosystem around ATProto, the AT Protocol. It is often associated with Bluesky, but the broader idea is a social web where identity, data hosting, feeds, and apps can be separated more than they are on a traditional platform. ATProto is different from ActivityPub and the Fediverse.

Why we chose this

TouchGrass talks about the Atmosphere because open social software is not one single path.

ActivityPub and the Fediverse show one approach: independent servers using shared protocols to exchange social activity. ATProto shows another approach: a system where account identity, personal data servers, feeds, relays, and apps can be separated in different ways.

For TouchGrass, the important question is not “which protocol wins?” The important question is: what gives people a safer, more open social home for real life, without addictive feeds or platform lock-in?

That means caring about exit doors, understandable identity, meaningful audiences, and posts worth keeping. It also means refusing to blur different technical systems together. ATProto, ActivityPub, Solid, ActivityPods, federation, portability, and private sharing all need precise language.

How this works on TouchGrass

TouchGrass focuses on the social product first: friends, circles, public visibility, friends visibility, circles visibility, profiles, posts, long-form writing, photos and albums, recommendations, and a design that avoids addictive mechanics.

That matters when discussing the Atmosphere. ATProto can support public social ecosystems and third-party experiences, but TouchGrass still has to make product decisions about audiences, safety, profiles, and what people can actually do today.

TouchGrass avoids videos, algorithmic engagement feeds, public like counts, infinite scroll, and other mechanics that push people toward constant checking. The open-web direction should strengthen user choice, not rebuild the same engagement traps with more technical language.

Our feature status page shows which protocol and portability features are available now.

Worth knowing

Portability can involve identity, data hosting, social graphs, posts, media, moderation, and app-specific features. Each piece matters.

TouchGrass still needs friends, circles, clear visibility, moderation choices, and caveats around screenshots, recipient misuse, and remote systems.

FAQ
Is the Atmosphere the same as Bluesky?

No. Bluesky is the best-known service associated with ATProto, but the Atmosphere is a broader term for the ecosystem around the protocol.

Is ATProto the same as ActivityPub?

No. Both are part of open social web conversations, but they use different designs and make different tradeoffs.

Why does TouchGrass care about ATProto?

Because TouchGrass cares about open-web exits, user choice, and avoiding platform lock-in. ATProto is one possible direction in that wider work.

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Open social web

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