Public addressing

Public addressing is discussed here. The essential point here is that Public, as:Public, and https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public are equivalent as JSON-LD and thus should be treated in the same way by Fediverse applications.

Examples

Example 1

activity

{
  "@context": [
    "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
    {
      "Hashtag": "as:Hashtag",
      "sensitive": "as:sensitive"
    }
  ],
  "type": "Create",
  "actor": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
  "to": [
    "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public",
    "http://mastodon/users/hippo"
  ],
  "id": "http://pasture-one-actor/activity/36gXmTyXaVA",
  "published": "2025-12-07T10:20:32Z",
  "object": {
    "type": "Note",
    "attributedTo": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "to": [
      "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public",
      "http://mastodon/users/hippo"
    ],
    "id": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/FXCUumRw4nc",
    "published": "2025-12-07T10:20:32Z",
    "content": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public"
  }
}

mastodon

{
  "id": "115677779247846530",
  "created_at": "2025-12-07T10:20:32.000Z",
  "in_reply_to_id": null,
  "in_reply_to_account_id": null,
  "sensitive": false,
  "spoiler_text": "",
  "visibility": "public",
  "language": null,
  "uri": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/FXCUumRw4nc",
  "url": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/FXCUumRw4nc",
  "replies_count": 0,
  "reblogs_count": 0,
  "favourites_count": 0,
  "quotes_count": 0,
  "edited_at": null,
  "favourited": false,
  "reblogged": false,
  "muted": false,
  "bookmarked": false,
  "content": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public",
  "filtered": [],
  "reblog": null,
  "account": {
    "id": "115677774182613185",
    "username": "actor",
    "acct": "actor@pasture-one-actor",
    "display_name": "Test Actor",
    "locked": false,
    "bot": false,
    "discoverable": false,
    "indexable": false,
    "group": false,
    "created_at": "2025-12-07T00:00:00.000Z",
    "note": "",
    "url": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "uri": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "avatar": "http://localhost:2970/system/avatars/original/missing.png",
    "avatar_static": "http://localhost:2970/system/avatars/original/missing.png",
    "header": "http://localhost:2970/system/headers/original/missing.png",
    "header_static": "http://localhost:2970/system/headers/original/missing.png",
    "followers_count": 0,
    "following_count": 0,
    "statuses_count": 52,
    "last_status_at": "2025-12-07",
    "hide_collections": true,
    "emojis": [],
    "fields": []
  },
  "media_attachments": [],
  "mentions": [],
  "tags": [],
  "emojis": [],
  "quote": null,
  "card": null,
  "poll": null,
  "quote_approval": {
    "automatic": [],
    "manual": [],
    "current_user": "denied"
  }
}

Example 2

activity

{
  "@context": [
    "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
    {
      "Hashtag": "as:Hashtag",
      "sensitive": "as:sensitive"
    }
  ],
  "type": "Create",
  "actor": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
  "to": [
    "as:Public",
    "http://mastodon/users/hippo"
  ],
  "id": "http://pasture-one-actor/activity/yyUMkuZt3dM",
  "published": "2025-12-07T10:20:33Z",
  "object": {
    "type": "Note",
    "attributedTo": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "to": [
      "as:Public",
      "http://mastodon/users/hippo"
    ],
    "id": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/qc9iFJRTTgI",
    "published": "2025-12-07T10:20:33Z",
    "content": "as:Public"
  }
}

mastodon

{
  "id": "115677779304092445",
  "created_at": "2025-12-07T10:20:33.000Z",
  "in_reply_to_id": null,
  "in_reply_to_account_id": null,
  "sensitive": false,
  "spoiler_text": "",
  "visibility": "public",
  "language": null,
  "uri": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/qc9iFJRTTgI",
  "url": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/qc9iFJRTTgI",
  "replies_count": 0,
  "reblogs_count": 0,
  "favourites_count": 0,
  "quotes_count": 0,
  "edited_at": null,
  "favourited": false,
  "reblogged": false,
  "muted": false,
  "bookmarked": false,
  "content": "as:Public",
  "filtered": [],
  "reblog": null,
  "account": {
    "id": "115677774182613185",
    "username": "actor",
    "acct": "actor@pasture-one-actor",
    "display_name": "Test Actor",
    "locked": false,
    "bot": false,
    "discoverable": false,
    "indexable": false,
    "group": false,
    "created_at": "2025-12-07T00:00:00.000Z",
    "note": "",
    "url": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "uri": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "avatar": "http://localhost:2970/system/avatars/original/missing.png",
    "avatar_static": "http://localhost:2970/system/avatars/original/missing.png",
    "header": "http://localhost:2970/system/headers/original/missing.png",
    "header_static": "http://localhost:2970/system/headers/original/missing.png",
    "followers_count": 0,
    "following_count": 0,
    "statuses_count": 53,
    "last_status_at": "2025-12-07",
    "hide_collections": true,
    "emojis": [],
    "fields": []
  },
  "media_attachments": [],
  "mentions": [],
  "tags": [],
  "emojis": [],
  "quote": null,
  "card": null,
  "poll": null,
  "quote_approval": {
    "automatic": [],
    "manual": [],
    "current_user": "denied"
  }
}

Example 3

activity

{
  "@context": [
    "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
    {
      "Hashtag": "as:Hashtag",
      "sensitive": "as:sensitive"
    }
  ],
  "type": "Create",
  "actor": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
  "to": [
    "http://mastodon/users/hippo",
    "Public"
  ],
  "id": "http://pasture-one-actor/activity/0_C8tf5ZPN0",
  "published": "2025-12-07T10:20:34Z",
  "object": {
    "type": "Note",
    "attributedTo": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "to": [
      "Public",
      "http://mastodon/users/hippo"
    ],
    "id": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/pa1wC00s3V0",
    "published": "2025-12-07T10:20:34Z",
    "content": "Public"
  }
}

mastodon

{
  "id": "115677779360782932",
  "created_at": "2025-12-07T10:20:34.000Z",
  "in_reply_to_id": null,
  "in_reply_to_account_id": null,
  "sensitive": false,
  "spoiler_text": "",
  "visibility": "public",
  "language": null,
  "uri": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/pa1wC00s3V0",
  "url": "http://pasture-one-actor/object/pa1wC00s3V0",
  "replies_count": 0,
  "reblogs_count": 0,
  "favourites_count": 0,
  "quotes_count": 0,
  "edited_at": null,
  "favourited": false,
  "reblogged": false,
  "muted": false,
  "bookmarked": false,
  "content": "Public",
  "filtered": [],
  "reblog": null,
  "account": {
    "id": "115677774182613185",
    "username": "actor",
    "acct": "actor@pasture-one-actor",
    "display_name": "Test Actor",
    "locked": false,
    "bot": false,
    "discoverable": false,
    "indexable": false,
    "group": false,
    "created_at": "2025-12-07T00:00:00.000Z",
    "note": "",
    "url": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "uri": "http://pasture-one-actor/actor",
    "avatar": "http://localhost:2970/system/avatars/original/missing.png",
    "avatar_static": "http://localhost:2970/system/avatars/original/missing.png",
    "header": "http://localhost:2970/system/headers/original/missing.png",
    "header_static": "http://localhost:2970/system/headers/original/missing.png",
    "followers_count": 0,
    "following_count": 0,
    "statuses_count": 54,
    "last_status_at": "2025-12-07",
    "hide_collections": true,
    "emojis": [],
    "fields": []
  },
  "media_attachments": [],
  "mentions": [],
  "tags": [],
  "emojis": [],
  "quote": null,
  "card": null,
  "poll": null,
  "quote_approval": {
    "automatic": [],
    "manual": [],
    "current_user": "denied"
  }
}