Bonfire Social Launches Modular Open Social Web Framework

In an era dominated by centralized social media giants, Bonfire Social emerges as a breath of fresh air—a new framework designed to empower communities on the open social web. Launched during the FediForum online conference, Bonfire Social is a federated app based on the ActivityPub protocol, the same technology behind Mastodon. However, it takes federation a step further by offering a highly modular and customizable platform that puts control directly into the hands of its users and communities.

Unlike traditional social networks governed by corporate agendas and algorithms, Bonfire Social is built around a disruptive mission: to create a space where all living beings thrive and communities flourish free from private interests and capitalistic control. This vision is supported by its nonprofit structure, funded by donations and grants rather than venture capital, ensuring that the platform’s evolution aligns with community needs rather than shareholder profits.

At the heart of Bonfire Social are “flavors” — preconfigured bundles of extensions, features, and defaults that serve as customizable templates for communities. When a community selects a flavor, it gains the authority to govern the app’s functionality, add new extensions, and set its own development roadmap. This modular approach is a game-changer, enabling communities to tailor their social experience without being locked into a one-size-fits-all platform.

Bonfire Social offers many features familiar to social media users, such as feeds, user profiles, content sharing, and moderation tools like flagging or blocking. Yet, it also introduces innovative capabilities that set it apart:

• Custom feed-building tools with intuitive filters for content type, date, engagement, source, and “circles” — groups of users for targeted sharing.
• Nested discussions allowing threaded conversations to branch into sub-threads, fostering deeper dialogues and collaboration.
• Multiple profiles per account, enabling users or groups to maintain distinct identities with separate followers and content.
• Boundaries feature to control who can see or engage with posts, allowing fine-grained privacy and interaction settings.

These features collectively shift the social media paradigm from centralized control to community empowerment. For example, the concept of “circles” revives and enhances Google+’s grouping idea, letting users privately organize contacts into meaningful clusters that can be selectively shared with or hidden from others. Similarly, the Boundaries feature offers nuanced control over engagement, a level of privacy customization rarely seen on mainstream platforms.

Customization extends beyond functionality to the app’s appearance. Users can choose from 16 built-in themes or design their own layouts, colors, and fonts, creating a personalized social environment. This visual flexibility complements the modular architecture, supporting diverse community identities and cultures.

Bonfire Social also embraces interoperability through ActivityPub federation, connecting with platforms like Mastodon, PeerTube, and Mobilizon. This ensures that communities are not isolated silos but part of a broader open social web. While the software is designed for self-installation, a hosting network is in development to ease adoption. For those eager to explore, a demo instance is available to experience Bonfire’s capabilities firsthand.

Bonfire Social’s launch signals a promising shift toward decentralized, community-governed social software. By prioritizing user control, modularity, and open collaboration, it challenges the dominance of Big Tech platforms and offers a blueprint for healthier, more inclusive online communities. For developers, community leaders, and digital activists, Bonfire represents both a tool and a movement—one that invites participation in shaping the future of social interaction.