Grassroot Hoppers present
The open source social network that makes you more social.
Not by connecting you to strangers. By showing you who the people you already know really are.
An open idea looking for dreamers and builders.
Hopping across open-source projects to build what communities actually need.
All over the world, people are building open-source alternatives to the platforms that run our lives and make billions selling our attention. Cooperative delivery apps. Community-owned music streaming. Federated social networks. Open-source event tools.
Grassroot hopping is the act of taking the best of what exists, co-building what's needed, and leading, advocating, and driving even more open source alternatives. Then assembling it into something communities can use and own.
Not building everything from scratch — catching everything that's being built. Hopping from grassroots repos to grassroots repos.
A social network where readers discover the creative lives of people they already know — every event, every artist, every workshop, in one place. No ads, no noise.
Where creators get 100% visibility with people who already know their face — not strangers who scroll past. Real fans, not followers.
Where event planners and venues become the gravity that brings everyone back — the single source of truth for “what’s happening this week.”
No algorithm. No corporation. Owned by the people who use it.
Your dance scene, your art class, your coworking space, your running club. They invite you through a QR code at an event.
At a social, someone holds up a QR code and says the password out loud.
You scan it on your phone. Write the spoken password. Pick a username. Upload a photo.
You're in. A “reader.” No blog, no fees. The whole thing runs in your browser.
Through that community, you discover the personal blogs of other members — poetry, photography, newsletters about flea markets. And every event, all in one place.
Every community you belong to feeds into one view. Events, creators, member picks. All in one place.
A calendar designed for you — by the communities you chose to be part of.
Three weeks in a new city. Already surrounded by people.
From running shoes to art on the wall to co-op governance.
The app didn't just connect him to others. It connected him to a part of himself he was afraid to explore.
Someone starts it. A dancer, a gallery owner, a yoga teacher, a group of friends. They become the admin. They create a QR code and choose the first secret password.
People join in person. At an event, a class, a meetup. Scan the code, say the password, pick a username. No app store, no sign-up form — the whole thing runs in your browser.
Events are the gravity. The community calendar becomes the single source of truth for “what's happening this week.” People come back for the events. They discover the creators along the way.
The community governs itself. Members vote on decisions — password changes, new features, how things are run. The admin facilitates, but the community owns it.
Communities overlap. A dancer is also in the jazz community. An artist is in three neighborhoods. People bridge communities naturally. The web grows through real human connections.
“I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone.”
— Rainer Maria Rilke, Book of HoursNo bots can enter. No scrapers. No fake accounts. No shameless influencers. No creeps. You showed up at the community events — that's how you got in.
What you don't build is what makes it work. Every feature removed creates a cascade of simplicity.
Subtraction is the product strategy.
One possible model: a cooperative that funds itself, governs itself, and improves itself. No investors. No ads. Just members. This is a sketch — the first builders will shape the real thing.
“I'm a co-owner of the social network I use.”
One passionate person forks the code and starts with their own community. A city hub. A niche network on the web. A dance scene. A global poetry collective. Ultra-local or worldwide — the format is open, the code is open, the principles aren't. From there, it grows organically. Bottom up. Always.
What it could look like — three possible scenarios.
Coopyleft license. Any cooperative or non-profit can fork and launch. No permission, no franchise fee.
Model: CoopCycle →How to start, how to run, how to sustain. Written by the cities that came before you. Peer learning, not top-down instruction.
Model: Transition Towns →Each city governs itself independently. They can share decisions and templates. Or not. Nobody decides for them.
Model: Decidim →Every city starts with one person who cares.
This is not just a social network. It's the thing that actually makes you more social — by giving you reasons to show up, things to say, and the courage to walk up to someone. Fork the idea. Start a community. Challenge every assumption on this page. Tell me what's missing.
This is not a finished product. It's a dream that needs builders, skeptics, and people who care about what social networks could have been.
The other demo
While community builders are reclaiming their social lives, independent shop owners are fighting against ERPs and POS systems built for giants. David Toolkit is an open-source suite for every bakery, bookstore, and florist on the continent — every little shop needs a David against the Goliaths.