MakingHistory is a project of the Open Media Network (#OMN), a long-running initiative to build community-governed, federated media infrastructure on the #openweb. Where the #OMN provides the broader ecosystem and values framework, MakingHistory is the concrete first-stage build: a working proof-of-concept that puts those values into running code.
The project creates a decentralised, participatory network for documenting and sharing grassroots movements, historical events, and underrepresented narratives. It empowers communities and institutions to take control of their own stories - preserving and amplifying them outside corporate-controlled platforms. At its technical core, MakingHistory develops a trust-based "flow layer" that connects existing Fediverse infrastructure into a coherent, media and archiving network.
The dominant social media platforms - Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and their successors - are built on surveillance, algorithmic amplification, and centralised control. Grassroots movements, histories, and social narratives are particularly vulnerable: they are either ignored, suppressed, or appropriated by these systems, and when platforms shut down or change policy, the record disappears with them.
The Fediverse offers a genuine alternative built on open standards, but it currently has significant gaps. Moderation models rely on top-down, per-instance control, with each instance acting as its own isolated kingdom. There are no coherent cross-platform content flows, no trust-based propagation mechanisms beyond chronological or algorithmic feeds, and very limited shared commons model for media and archiving. Many existing approaches simply reproduce the failures of commercial platforms at smaller scale.
MakingHistory addresses these gaps directly — not by building yet another platform, but by developing the connective tissue that existing Fediverse tools are missing.
The project delivers two interlocking things: a **trust-based flow layer** for the Fediverse, and a **community archiving environment** called the Witches Cauldron, used as the live test case for that infrastructure.
**The Flow Layer** is a middleware service that routes content between federated instances based on trust relationships rather than algorithmic ranking. Content moves through the network because communities choose to share it, not because a recommendation engine promotes it. Moderation emerges from those same relationships — flows slow or stop where trust is weak. This is built on ActivityPub and designed for interoperability with Mastodon, PeerTube, and Lemmy from the outset.
**The Witches Cauldron / MakingHistory Archive** is an open archive and data commons built on the #4opens principles (open data, open source, open processes, open standards). It creates a metadata-enriched digital collection hosted on a redundant, federated network of servers, with user-generated timelines, multimedia integration, and collaborative curation tools. Communities and institutions can document history in real time or retrospectively — uploading materials, tagging with hashtags for federated discovery, and contributing to a distributed archive that no single entity can take down or lock away.
Single column listing objects - two instances that can post to each other - objects (text, image, links). Listing objects by last posted. Very basic.
Ten hashtag columns - mastodon has this, can mostly copy existing implementation.
Add stories, simply another object that uses existing objects and links with context text. Think of this as a human story index. (a collective community account publishes this (how does this work)
We need to think about flows between instances, federating etc.
The central research question is: can trust-based moderation and distribution flows replace algorithmic amplification in a federated community media and archiving ecosystem? We will work to explored this through designing and implementing trust-driven flow logic, testing propagation across trusted versus untrusted nodes, and evaluating usability, resilience, and moderation outcomes across real community deployments.
Technical specification of the flow architecture; a prototype flow service routing between two instances; documentation of existing Fediverse flow patterns; early integration with one platform; initial archive environment and testing data sets set up.
A cross-platform prototype connecting at least two systems (Mastodon and PeerTube); a working demonstration of trust-based moderation flows; a public code repository with full documentation; and a user-facing MakingHistory test environment with real community content.
The project uses a hybrid infrastructure model that avoids the twin failures of fragile grassroots projects (no institutional support) and captured institutional ones (no community autonomy).
The **grassroots layer** consists of many small, low-cost, community-run instances providing built-in redundancy for text and media. The **institutional layer** anchors the network through larger nodes hosted by universities, libraries, public service organisations, and European institutions — providing stability without centralisation, and public-interest support for core infrastructure without control over the edges.
Sustainability is treated as a social and infrastructural challenge, not just a financial one. Core infrastructure is supported through institutional hosting partnerships (discussions are underway). Network resilience comes from distribution and redundancy rather than dependence on any single host. Development is sustained through commons collaboration under the #4opens framework, with no reliance on advertising, venture capital, or extractive funding models.
Community engagement — workshops, onboarding sessions, and outreach through the Fediverse — is built into the project from the start, not added at the end.
**Hamish Campbell** (Project Lead) — 40+ years in grassroots media and technology; 8+ years working with Fediverse and ActivityPub systems. Responsible for vision, coordination, network-building, and core documentation.
**Michael** (UX & Logic) — Ten years developing #OMN projects; focu on, dev, core system logic and user-facing design; experienced in building small, working coding projects end-to-end.
MakingHistory directly supports European digital sovereignty and aligns with Next Generation Internet (NGI) goals: human-centric internet development, open and interoperable technologies, and trust and resilience as core infrastructure principles rooted in the #4opens framework.
The project builds on 20+ years of directly relevant prior work — from Indymedia to the ongoing #OMN — and represents the next concrete step in a long-term effort to reclaim community narrative power and ensure grassroots history is preserved and accessible for future generations.
