In December 2023, [this blog joined the fediverse](
) (pt_BR). Thanks to a WordPress plugin — the publishing platform used by **Manual do Usuário** — it became possible to follow updates here without leaving Mastodon, Pleroma, GoToSocial, or any other application compatible with the ActivityPub protocol.
Over nearly two years the plugin has improved a lot. And it’s set to improve further, judging by the [developers’ roadmap]( ), to the point that — if all goes well — it may one day be possible to turn blogs into full actors in the fediverse.
Despite that, I plan to remove ActivityPub support soon. Here’s why.
***
The situation today is a bit messy. The implementation works, but it’s confusing. A basic example: there isn’t a “profile” page for the **Manual** in the fediverse. That makes sense: the blog itself is the web presence. What doesn’t make sense is how someone used to other social platforms and to Mastodon itself is supposed to find the blog in the fediverse without a “Follow” button to click.
(The workaround is to use search or find a way to follow @blog@manualdousuario.net. Even for me it’s awkward and clumsy.)
A more technical and worse problem is that ActivityPub is a distribution model, not a remote information access model. As [Rob Shearer explained]( ):
> The important technical point is that ActivityPub is (again, among other things) a protocol for one instance to tell another “I am interested in the following kinds of posts from you, so please send them to me when you see any” and for that other instance to periodically say “here are some posts you’re interested in”. Obviously there’s lots of technical detail, but what matters is that it’s not (primarily) a mechanism for accessing remote information; it’s a way to asynchronously distribute data so that the data is available locally.
It’s a subtle distinction, but enough to separate social platforms from blogs. Blogs are already “social” by nature (comments) and have established distribution channels (RSS).
In practice, ActivityPub’s distributive nature replicates content across a multitude of servers (every server where someone follows the blog), which, while not catastrophic here, is at least inefficient.
***
Given that — and the fact that few people follow and almost nobody interacts via ActivityPub — I’ve been considering removing **Manual** from the fediverse for several months. I held off because, until the end of August, there was no way to do it. It was only in [version 7.3.0]( ), released on the 28th, that the plugin gained a self‑destruct feature.
That feature is important to notify other servers that **Manual** is no longer in the fediverse. It’s the formal, proper way to say goodbye to the fediverse: to remove profiles and ask other servers to stop “pulling” posts from here.
I imagine some people got used to following **Manual** via ActivityPub. That’s why I’m publishing this notice in advance so the message reaches anyone it may concern. ActivityPub support will be disabled next Friday (9/26). I invite anyone who wants to keep following me on the fediverse to find me on Mastodon at @npub1706x...6hk6. I echo almost everything published on **Manual** there.
Manual do Usuário
Acompanhe o Manual do Usuário no fediverso (Mastodon)
O Manual volta ao fediverso com uma instância própria, baseada no plugin ActivityPub para WordPress. Nosso perfil aqui é feed@manualdousuario.net.
What we shipped so far in 2025 – ActivityPub for WordPress
Rob’s Posts
Mastodon Exit Interview
I am currently winding down the Mastodon bots I used to post sunrise and sunset times. The precipitating event is that the admin of the instance ho...
7.3.0 – Ctrl+Fed+Delete – ActivityPub for WordPress
). I feel a bit like a walking ad.
Apple fills the AirPods with gimmicks, and to be fair most of them are neat and/or useful. The buds switch between phone and computer seamlessly, without the need to open Bluetooth or audio settings, and playback pauses when I remove one. They do a basic hearing test and can act as amplifiers if your hearing is poor.
It’s all very intuitive, zero hassle from the moment you open the case: pairing is embarrassingly simple.
The gestures, while useful, feel odd. I can shake my head to answer or reject calls and to stop Siri from reading a long notification. (She insists on reading calendar addresses, which… seems unnecessary.) It’s great to have hands‑free options, though you risk looking crazy to people around you.
Apple devices have several of these unnatural gestures. Besides the AirPods Pro head gestures, the Apple Watch has its own (pinch gesture, twisting the wrist). I feel like the company’s products create a mildly schizophrenic effect — someone already absorbed in their earbuds shaking body parts in odd, inexplicable ways.
Despite everything — the steep price, the limited lifespan — it was one of the best purchases I’ve made in recent years. The noise cancellation delivers on its promise and the audio quality is excellent, at least to my ears.
