Daniel Supernault, the developer behind open-source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the further development of his apps, Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup. The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, which is powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by Mastodon.

The fediverse has seen significant growth in recent months, particularly after the sale of Twitter to Elon Musk in October 2022. As a result, decentralized social media apps like Mastodon and Bluesky have continued to gain traction, offering users an alternative to centralized platforms controlled by billionaires like Musk and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. Even Meta has taken notice, releasing its own X rival, Instagram Threads, which is in the process of integrating with ActivityPub.

Supernault's Kickstarter campaign aims to raise funds to support the continued development and growth of his open social communities. The campaign has already surpassed its original goal, with over $58,383 raised at the time of writing. Supernault's ultimate goal is to make his apps the first in the fediverse to reach a network of a billion people, a lofty target that will require significant development and support.

Despite the progress made so far, there is still much work to be done. Pixelfed, which has been around for years, only launched its 1.0 mobile app earlier this month. Loops, meanwhile, is still in alpha testing on Apple's TestFlight, and Sup has not yet been released. Both Loops and Sup will be released to Kickstarter supporters, and a fourth project, Pubkit, is also part of these efforts, offering a toolset to support developers building in the fediverse.

Pubkit includes interactive tools and testing frameworks, allowing developers to mock popular activities on their service, set up an inbox for ingesting and debugging activities in real-time, and tools to inspect, debug, and verify HTTP Signature implementations. The funds raised through the Kickstarter campaign will also help the apps manage the influx of new users, with Pixelfed.social, the main Pixelfed instance, now boasting over 200,000 users.

The funds will be used to expand the storage, CDNs, and compute power needed for the growing user base, accelerate development, and dedicate more time to the apps and the fediverse as a whole. Additionally, the funds will help expand the moderation, security, privacy, and safety programs that social apps need. Supernault also plans to introduce E2E encryption to the fediverse, a significant step towards enhancing user privacy and security.

If successful, the campaign would also fund a blogging app as an alternative to Tumblr or Livejournal in the future. The stretch goal on the Kickstarter campaign is to register the Pixelfed Foundation as a not-for-profit and grow its team beyond volunteers. With the growing interest in decentralized social media, Supernault's efforts could have a significant impact on the future of the fediverse and the way we interact online.