Organisers for WordCamps—local events held by and for WordPress users—have been directed to hand over social media credentials for their event accounts. This mandate, issued by an employee at Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, seeks to mitigate the issue of new organizing teams losing account access.
Yet, the requirement for shared access arrives amid a deepening divide within the WordPress ecosystem, primarily centred on the role of competing hosting services, including WP Engine, and their contribution to the open-source project, reports The Register.
The directive to provide login details comes via a letter distributed to WordCamp organisers, explaining that account continuity has been a recurring challenge as event teams change. However, this move has raised eyebrows within the community, especially given the current dispute between Matt Mullenweg, co-creator of WordPress and CEO of Automattic, and hosting provider WP Engine.
One instance that heightened tensions involved a recent post by WordCamp Sydney on X. The post, which defended WP Engine’s support for WordCamps, argued that the company’s sponsorship was beneficial and that contributions to WordPress are not solely about adding code.
Shortly afterwards, another Automattic employee contacted WordCamp Sydney’s organisers, asking for the post’s removal due to a perceived realignment with the ‘Community Team’s view.’ The Community Team, composed of Automattic staff supporting WordCamps, argued that official event accounts should remain neutral and consistent with community guidelines.
WordCamp employees are in shock. They view the letter as a veiled ultimatum and fear expulsion from the organizing team if they don’t comply. Kellie Peterson, former head of domains at Automattic, describes this as a “hostile takeover” rather than a genuine effort to streamline social media continuity for WordCamps.
According to her, this pattern of behaviour has caused rifts within the community over the years, leading to disengagement and diminished volunteer morale — a sentiment echoed by other event organisers.
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