WordPress.org news are currently published to multiple social networks via the accounts listed here: Social Media

Notably absent from this list is the Fediverse.

While its reach isn't as wide as other social networks like X, its popularity has continuously risen in the past couple of years. The network's popularity is currently still limited to a more tech savvy crowd. That is slowly changing. More users join the network via tools that target a wider range of people, like Threads.net. The WordPress community has already quite a few active actors on the Fediverse, as we can see from this list.

Furthermore the Fediverse remains an idea that aligns fairly closely with WordPress' ideals and open-source roots.

I think it would make sense for WordPress to have an official presence on the Fediverse. This would allow WordPress to reach users there.

In a related ticket, #7306, we discussed the option of creating a Mastodon account for WordPress. That is certainly one way for WordPress to join the Fediverse. However, I believe there would be a more frictionless way for WordPress news to reach the Fediverse. As @properlypurple mentions in that ticket, it should be able to install and activate the ActivityPub plugin on WordPress.org. We would then activate the Blog-Profile option so all new posts on WordPress.org would be posted to a central account on the Fediverse, e.g. @news@wordpress.org.

I realize that adding a new plugin to WordPress.org is not something we can do lightly. That said, I think the good news here is that the ActivityPub plugin is actively maintained, has an active GitHub repository for bug reporting, a security bounty program on HackerOne, and is active on another large Multisite network on WordPress.com. Those are all good signs of a healthy plugin imo.

Would this be enough to consider enabling the plugin on WordPress.org?

• Related discussion: Should WordPress get an account on a Mastodon instance?

cc'ing @pfefferle on this discussion, as he's the main maintainer of the ActivityPub plugin today.